Dublin: the lighter side of porter.

Name: Dublin Porter.
Brewery: Guinness, St. James's Gate, Dublin.
ABV: 3.8%
Style: Porter.

Availability: Widely available in most supermarkets.

What I paid for mine: £1.79 (Tesco).

Try if you like: Coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, stout, porter, dark ale.

When I'm about to drink a porter, there is a volume of expectation with a bar set extremely high by both Fuller's London Porter and the similarly syrupy Anchor Porter: I want a porter to be rich, dark, smokey and bittersweetly indulgent which both of these aforementioned ales most certainly are. Guinness have made a porter which brings forth some of these things but also foregoes and in their place are some surprises - ones that were a welcome change and a fresh interpretation of something I deeply adore: the porter.

Guinness have been 'upping their game' of late no doubt thanks to all the microbrewery shenanigans that have been dominating the brewing headlines for the past five years and anyone who has been reading this blog for a wee while will know what I think of their recent Hop House 13 lager, released as part of the 'Brewer's Project' range. Dublin porter also hails from this recent mega-engagement that the empirical St. James's Gate brewery has been making with the modern market. I'm very pleased to say that those lads and ladies in Dublin have made a porter definitely worth spending time with. At 3.8%, nobody is going to need a stomach pump before they operate heavy machinery post-Dublin consumption and you don't feel that in the head at all. What surprised me the most was that nor do you feel it in the stomach: this is a light porter. You could session this boy. That's right: session. It's that light.

However, this 'lightness' come with a compromise on indulgence: where some porters are essentially smoked-treacle-sumptuousness, Dublin forgoes the real smack of full body and as a result, has a slightly more measured flavour than you might expect from this type of beer. I feel that I must interject myself here, though, and state that this is not a negative for the brew in any way, shape or form: it simply is just lighter. I dare say it is also more refreshing than any other porter I have tried and this is what surprised me the most: it was fresh both on the nose and the tongue.

The characteristic porter treacle-brown is definitely presented in the pour and on the palette but, as I mentioned before, it is measured in favour with more a vanilla tone as opposed to the traditional dark chocolate smoke and I mean it when I say vanilla: it is most certainly there more so than the caramel the bottle cites. These smokey flavours are definitely there but they come in the echo of the finish and the memory of baking biscuit will waft from the back of your throat as you finish your drop. 

You keep going back for sip after sip awaiting the weight of the beer to come in yet it never does. You do get coffee and you do get toasted malt but a reserved delivery is the overall experience. I can really see this doing well as a beer to enjoy when watching outdoor sport in Autumn and winter and its lighter percentage will mean you can actually engage in critical analysis of the action with your comrades without needing to concentrate like a neurosurgeon. Guinness have made a good porter hear and if you do find some porters a little too sickly or indeed, find Guinness draught too thick and disappointing, this is a fantastic antidote. 

Hop House 13

Guinness have been bringing forth a new array of beverages of late (such as the West Indies and Dublin Porters) and the latest offering from the Irish Empire is a lager: Hop House 13. I love lagers as  any who have read this blog will know and I'm always keen to find one with flavour and balance to make it both the perfect summer-quaffer for those warmer evenings and a tasty beer that doesn't just achieve both being wet and cold. I have tried this in two forms: bottled and draught and there is a difference and these differences bring a delightful dimension - proving further how bottle and pump can vary.

As a bottle, this beer sails ever so close to the coastlines of American IPA's but fear not, it doesn't follow the current trend for being over-hopped and unpalatably bitter. There is a real tendency for many new nectars to follow in the American style and when I first opened a bottle of this golden brew, I feared the worst as I sipped before smelling: bitterness was at the front along with the almost mossy grassiness something like a Pale Ale would thrust forwards. However, the finish was malty and sweet. This hooked me back. The next sip I took came before the almost peachy-floral nose wafted into my foolish nostrils - a striking aroma the likes of which I haven't seen since Badger's Golden Glory. Served cold, this was a lager with a difference and one that nearly bailed me out but a malty surge at the end won me over.

In draught however, this is closer to a Czech Pilsner something akin to Pilsner Urquell in that the body is smoothly carbonated, the front is sweet and malty but the finish is bitter and lingering with a final smack of the field of richly toasted summer crop. I expected the peachy flowers but none of it came (no matter how hard I sniffed!) and it would seem that this quality is reserved for the bottle.

With either presentation, I really enjoyed this beer and what with the weather improving, I can see it becoming a staple at BBQ's and pub-garden catch-ups. A delicious drop and one that I urge you to try in any way that you can get it!

Try if you like: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Pilsner Urquell.