STOUT has become a quintessentially Irish thing, which is a bit strange considering 'porter' is thought to have originated in London in the 18th century as convalescing beverage for the city's street and river porters.
But when a certain Mr Guinness, while living in the English capital, was also taken with the drink, he decided that it would be the main style of beer brewed at his Dublin brewery and so a worldwide link between stout/porter and Ireland began.
Undeterred by the black behemoth, Irish craft brewers have conjured up their own signature stouts which have been well received by dedicated drinkers.
If you were try to convince a sceptic to dip their toe in the welcoming world of craft beer, then I would recommend that one of the finest examples of Irish craft brewing is Boundary's Export Stout. Bursting with flavours of coffee, caramel and dried fruit, it is a stout that is truly hard to beat and something of a standard bearer for local independent brewing.
Of course, the folks at Boundary are also toasting the fact that one of their other stouts, Gift, has been named the top-rated beer in Northern Ireland for the third year running on Ratebeer.
The east Belfast co-operative is adept at knocking out a great range of styles, but when I spied another Boundary stout in the DrinkLink in Newry, I was suitably intrigued. Yes, Means To An End is another stout – but one, as the label points out, that is brewed using Trappist yeast.
So here we have a beer which originated in England, being brewed in Ireland with a strong Belgian influence. It was definitely one to prick the interest.
Once you get Means To An End into the glass, you'll struggle to see through it. It's jet black with a dark tan head which doesn't hang about. Coming in at 5.9 per cent abv, It’s pretty light on the carbonation and actually quite thin for a stout, but there's plenty of character to it.
There's the roasty, coffee, bitter chocolate aroma you'd expect from a stout. The chocolate continues into the flavour where there is also a hint of licorice. You also do get a bit of that candy sweetness from the Trappist influence, both on the nose and on the palate.
