Irish porter aged on Irish whiskey (hence the ‘e’) barrels, from a stubby, classy bottle shared by Craftmember, cheers! Yellowish ecru-coloured, moussy, medium thick, closed and dense, stable head, very dark chocolate brown robe – virtually black, with ruby red glowing edges. Aroma of clear vanilla-scenting oak wood, coffee grounds and cold black coffee, bitter black chocolate, roasted walnut, black peppercorns, dried fig, nutmeg, pecan, toast, hints of wormwood leaf, porcini and cracked leather. Dried-fruity onset, dried blackberries and figs, hint of prune, sweetish with light porcini-like umami note at the sides, softishly carbonated with smooth, lean, oily mouthfeel; toasted brown-bready, unsugared-black-chocolatey and roasted-walnutty malts with slight caramelly touch, quickly moving from sweetish-nutty to full-fledged roasted bitter, with coffee-like aspects in the end – the roasty bitterness in itself quite strongly enhanced by wormwood, peppery hop bitterness and drying tannic woodiness. Still the smoothness of the malts prevails, adorned by a light, soft and in that sense indeed ‘Irish’ whiskey note in the end – yet without annoying booze effects, so only a whiskey flavour and no alcohol burn at all (which would have been weird at this ABV anyway). Another solid, old school offering from Brehon, delving into its own Irish beer history in a very credible, elegant and balanced way. Recommended, if, within the stout and porter realm, you need a contemplative and ‘quiet’ distraction from all those showy, flavoured imperial stouts many craft breweries try to outdo each other…

13/9/2022. Bottle shared by SHIG, cheers. Pours black with a small frothy beige head. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, wood, whiskey, liquorice, coffee. Light sweetness, quite heavy bitterness. Full body, smooth, soft carbonation. Flavoursome sipper.

33cl can from Gopsmore. Medium beige head. Clear almost black pour. Nice smooth stout.

Cremig malziger, trocken schokoladiger Beginn. Alkoholische Nuancen, moderat herb, wenig holzig. Leicht süßlich malziger Mittelteil, schokoladig bleibend, langer Nachhall. Nett. 10/11/10/10/9/10

330 ml can. Murky dark brown with fluffy brown coloured head. Dry grassy hops, caramel, toffee, light chocolate, whiskey barrel, roasted nuts, dried dates and raisins. Mild dry bitterness, malty sweetness. Full bodied, oily texture, lively carbonated, dry bittersweet finish. Nice and unexpected crisp.