Helvick Gold
Dungarvan Brewing Company

 

Beautiful looking ale. Amber gold with yeast floating freely. Good, foamy white cap, moderate lacing. Fluffy, ful and light, with mild citrus, bread and pine afters cutting through. Really solid drop. Won't say no to this again.

 

 

 

500ml bottle, an 'Irish Blonde Ale', and another new offering from this actual Irish brewery to show up around these parts.

This beer pours a hazy, yet bright medium golden copper hue, with three fingers of puffy, rocky, and well creamy off-white head, which leaves a broad array of chunky splattered lace around the glass as it slowly sinks away.

It smells of bready, doughy pale malt, a bit of biscuity cereal, subtle citrus rind and pine needle bitters, and a soft stoney flintiness. The taste is grainy, crackery pale malt, damp white bread, laid-back orange and white grapefruit pith, a hint of earthy yeast, wet bar-top nuts, and a further leafy, grassy, and floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is nice and fluffy in its plainly supportive frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, just a small hoppy astringency poking and prodding as it is wont to do. It finishes off-dry, the sweet graininess fencing with the lingering citrusy, piney, and hard water notes.

Overall, a rather pleasant and engaging blonde ale, no matter the national stripe (though I would argue American - its classification here - solely due to the apparent hops employed). Easy to drink, and peppy, something I would love to tuck into if I were enjoying a relatively rare sunny summer day in the greenery of Eire herself.

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a Seidel.

Appearance - A very dirty/cloudy amber colour with a thick three finger head that reminded me very much of the foam from the weir in my local park after a good winter storms. The Head had great retention but seemed to stick to the top of the beer and leave very little lacing on the side of the glass but it was still in the bottom of the glass when I finished. There is also evidence of good natural carbonation in the glass.

Smell - Gooseberry and citrus were very apparent along with caramel sweetness some malts and earthy notes as well.

Taste - Simply great. Wonderful malt flavour straight off the bat, really nice citrus and hop finish some very light notes of the caramel from the nose but not too sweet. Earthy nut flavour also comes through.

Mouthfeel - Some very mild carbonation much less than I expected given the appearance. Not very metallic or mouth-puckering but there is a clear sharpness that moves from the gums and cheeks to the throat and linger a long time. Some mild coating also apparent. Mouth watering I'd say.

Overall - Very good. I don't think I have had this style before so I was not sure what to expect but it was very, very pleasing! This beer surprised me no end it had big flavour and I will be getting this one again.

 

 

 

 

A-slightly hazy light golden color with a nice white head and good lacing

S-grain, yeast, light fruit, hint of sweetness

T-toasted grain, yeast, light sweet malt, hint of fruit, mild bitter finish

F-medium body with moderate carbonation, crisp and clean

O-enjoyed this blonde ale, good flavor and easy drinking at this low abv

 

 

 

 

 

On cask at Against the Grain, Dublin.

Pours cloudy tangerine gold with a steady white carpet. Honey, blossom and citrus on the nose. Honey on flour biscuit malts with a bit of pear and floral, slightly resiny hops. Bittersweet honeycomb finish and dry linger. Soft, medium, sticky.

Balanced and summery, but the hops don't pop on cask they way they do with, say, O'Hara's IPA. Bittering comes out over aroma, and I could see where it might cloy, leading me to wonder if the cask has sat a bit. Either way, I'd prefer the bottle, which shouldn't be the case with cask.