O'Hara's Freebird White IPA
Carlow Brewing Company

 

Experimenting is generally a great way to come up with new ideas. But...

Top: it forms a very thick and long lasting head, (slightly off) white, that is promising. I like when a beer looks good, not only tastes well.

Colour: very hazy golden, she looks great with the thick white duvet on top.

Smell: apricot dominates, hints of tangerine, orange and coriander.

Taste: well, that is where it all goes wrong. After decanting, it has a weird, but moderated bitterness on a fruit bed. Citrusy mouthfeel, yeast is definitely present. Some very light boozy tones in the background. It's well carbonated. The aftertaste is overly sour to me, with dry finish.

Summary: meh, where to put this. It feels like a mixture of witbier and ale. Unfortunately, like you mixed it at home from two bottles into a glass, not made by a brewery. Instead of getting the goodness coming from both types, it just amplifies the differences and makes it a strange homemade beer cocktail. It doesn't work for me at all. Having a crisp, refreshing witbier or a good old ale/IPA, apparently to merge them it’s quite challenging and in this case, well, the end result was rather stange/poor. There are better examples of white IPAs in Ireland and around the world too. Some might like its weirdness, but it's a big nope from me, it’s an absolute miss. Sorry.

Clear golden color with a mist of floating yeast. Slightly foamy and creamy white 2-3 finger head, lasting around 5-10 minutes, with shy legs, okay lacing and swirl reaction. Flavors of coriander, lemon, orange, sweet barley, wheat, caramel, and herbal hops. Slick medium to full body with a moderate crisp and a bit prickly. Medium strength finish of citrusy hops, slightly piney and dry. Dominantly lemony and zesty, less herbaceous. Some white beer character is present with some spicy clove. So it represents decently a white IPA, although a bit shy with the yeast and hops, makes the accessibility higher. Good freshness and well balanced. Lacks in the body department, could be fuller and more carbonated. Overall very good quality craft.

 

 

Pours a hazy orange body with just a faint bit of effervescent white head at the top. The beer has a light aroma, recalling lemon and orange zest, along with some clove and minute black pepper. The taste is fairly rich in soft and stronger citrus flavours, such as clementine, orange, and lime zest, with a slight touch of sweetness at the front well-balanced by a strong bittering at the back. In addition to these flavours, it is possible to detect some very faint cocoa bitterness, likely from the way the hops and malt combine in this particular beer. Very nice!

 

 

 

 

500ml bottle from Reilly's, Lisnaskea (£2.29):
Quite an enjoyable beer from O'Hara's & one that was about on par with their Notorious Red IPA that I reviewed previously. This one was definitely a lot more like a witbier than I'd been expecting, particularly with the nose & the touches of citrus that featured throughout. It was a fresh & quite lively beer that touched on some sweetness nearer the end & featured some classic wheat beer elements with a little banana & some cloves appearing at times. An interesting beer from the Carlow based brewery & one that I enjoyed a little more than I thought I would going in which is always nice.