COLLOQUIAL vernacular is something I've always been fascinated by and it’s why I get a bit annoyed when I see a stock Irish accent being clumsily served up by a Hollywood actor.
For all the eulogies espoused about the late Sean Connery, his questionable lilt in The Untouchables has been sympathetically glossed over.
In this particular part of Ireland, we take great pride in the many words and sayings with which we can bamboozle ‘Free Staters’ (or even those from further afield). A language which has been hailed as quintessentially ‘Norn Iron’ has naturally sprung up.
So it’s no great surprise then, that with the craft brewing scene also retaining a sense of local pride, a brewery called Norn Iron Brew Co would be born. Working out of Derriaghy in south Belfast, Norn Iron released their Lockdown Pale Ale earlier this year and I tried out a couple more of their offerings this week.
Flux is billed as a champagne lager, but I’m not really too sure what that means and I suppose if you really want to play the provenance card here, then ‘Norn Iron’ and ‘Champagne’ are quite far apart.
It did have that light golden colour of a sparkling wine, helped by the tiny bubbles racing up the side of the glass. Flavour-wise, it’s quite subtle and smooth. Lagers are meant to be well chilled and this can make it hard to pull out the flavours, but even as this warmed up a bit, it still felt light and unobtrusive. There’s a hint of grassiness about it, a little bitter bite and a very light malt profile.
That all comes together to make it highly quaffable and I could see a couple of these slipping down very nicely on a hot summer’s day – but I had to settle for a wet and windy night in the middle of autumn.
Tilted is a session IPA that was a similar thirst quencher, albeit with a slight bit more going on. I say slight, because, again, the flavours are a bit shy and understated in this one.
The beer pours a light amber colour and at 3.5 per cent, you’re not really expecting it to pack that much of a punch body-wise. There are a few fruity aromas and a refreshing grapefruit flavour coming through on the palate which leads to a crisp and bitter finish.
