IN TERMS of value, barbecues must be right down there at the foot of the table. For the 51 weeks of the year they sit in the shed, providing spiders with the perfect structure to weave their webs through, they are probably the least cost-effective purchase you'll ever make.
And yet, when the Irish sun does make its all to fleeting appearance, they are yanked from their hibernation with alarming urgency.
The heat's turned on and the beers are chilled. Chomping hefty slabs of meat, topped with the requiste relish and bap requires a light and manageable beer so if you're lucky enough to be dusting off the old grill, why not get grab a few bottles of these brews and get them chilling in anticipation?
Outdoor cooking requires a Clearsky and the Tyrone brewery have helpfully provided a lager for just the occasion. Tidefall is clean and crisp as you'd expect, but like many lagers coming out of craft breweries, it has a lot more going for it. It has initial malty biscuity notes and a hint of sweetness to it before a short bitter finish.
It would wash down a burger from the aforementioned barbecue nicely but would equally make a nice accompaniment to a curry, convenient if the rain spoils your cook-out plans.
Another refreshing Irish beer which would make an ideal barbecue accessory is Mourne Mist pilsner from Mourne Mountain Brewery.
I have already identified myself as something of a lager sceptic to Mourne Mountains head brewer Tom Ray but this is a solid pilsner and can really hit the spot. Again, it's a beer with plenty of character, a light maltiness and hint of sweetness which see it lean more towards the Vienna lager style.
It also has a nice level of bitterness, well-balanced and enough to separate it from the mundane lagers which cram supermarket shelves. It's like they bottled summer, albeit those Irish summers I remember with warm, mizzly rain gently caressing your face as you gaze out onto Carlingford Lough clinging on to a poke and the hope that the sun might peep out.