Clotworthy Dobbin is a well known beer amongst Irish beer enthusiasts, it seems to be the go-to-beer for a lot of craft beer drinkers when they are looking for something Irish that hits the mark each and every time. I have tasted this beer a few times and really liked it and the other night I decided to taste it with a bit more of an analytical eye.
Brewed by
Whitewater Brewery, Clotworthy Dobbin is , as the brewer describes, 'a rich ruby porter style beer', to me it is a mix between an Irish Red Ale and an American Amber Ale, it gets its malt profile from the former while balancing this out with a hop profile more associated with the latter.
The beer pours a nice rusty red colour with a thick off-white head. Aroma is of floral hops and crystal malt, the latter giving a sweet edge to the aroma. Medium bodied with a nice mouthfeel. The taste favours the crystal malts with a nice caramel flavour coming from these, however the hop bitterness kicks in at the end to balance out the taste.
To me this represents what Irish Red Ales should be, a strong sweet malt backbone, a bitter finish and a sprinkling of flavour and aroma hops.
A very well balanced refreshing beer. Highly recommended.
2 comments:
It's one of the few beers I'd happily hand to a foreign visitor with the words "Here, taste this, it's Irish". Wrassler's XXXX is another. I don't think I've encountered beer that tastes like them anywhere else.
I think another key differentiator is the consistency, you get this with Clotworthy Dobbin and also the Porterhouse beers (maybe also O'Hara's). I find with some of the other Irish Micro's that sometimes the quality and consistency can be a little hit and miss!
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