One great beer: James Brown Brews Chocolate Orange Stout
5%
€3.79
James Brown (not the soul singer) is one of the latest recruits to the Irish craft beer revolution. Only 23 years old, he became interested at the tender age of 18 and started brewing at home. His favourites were off-the-wall beers including a coffee IPA, a whiskey and American oak ale, and a rhubarb tart beer! He doesn’t have his own brewery yet, but uses the facilities of Brú in Trim to produce his beer. I was intrigued by his first commercial release – a Terry’s Chocolate Orange of a beer? "I’ll never be 100 per cent happy with it," says James. "I change it a little each time and it gets better." The brew he made yesterday had more chocolate and orange. In the future, he promises "more beers with fruit twists and other insane things." The Chocolate Orange Stout, winner of a bronze medal at the Alltech beer festival, is a very moreish dry stout, with good malty flavours, some dark chocolate on the finish, and a subtle twist of orange.
One great wine: Cimarosa Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Marlborough, New Zealand
12.5%
€8.79
I have become very jaded with Sauvignon Blanc recently but I know that many of you cannot get enough of it. I spied this bottle in the Yealands winery in Marlborough. The owner, Peter Yealands, said they were happy to supply it to Lidl. It is not the same blend as the more expensive Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc available elsewhere for €15, but it is a pretty good version of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with classic lifted aromas, fresh crisp green fruits and at an amazingly cheap price.
