LOCAL brewers made it into the 'big news' again this week and once again it is the routine frustration at legislation which restricts their ability to sell directly to their customers on a regular basis.
Bullhouse may have managed to open their own bar last month after securing a licence to do so, but Boundary are banging their head up against the proverbial brickwall trying to get the go ahead for a permanent taproom.
Seeing any progress is about as likely as witnessing me downing a pint of Rockshore and with, at the time of writing, seemingly no functioning government on either side of the Irish Sea, any changes to the current legislation seem remote.
Of course, allowing politics to creep into what is essentially a social pursuit can sometimes be ill-advised, but I have to concur with the words often attributed to former American statesman and all-round bon viveur Benjamin Franklin: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
Ah, now we're into the realms of religion too.
But it turns out that the quote itself has been twisted somewhat and Franklin never said it all. Of course, modern politics in this part of the world has concerned itself chiefly with two things – a complete disregard for the truth and an antagonist attitude towards Europe.
Thankfully, though, modern beer brewing here doesn't follow suit. In fact, there is a strong European influence among many Irish beers, even they have also become slaves to the American-inspired hop hype.
And so I arrive back at Boundary. This week, without a hint of irony, I cracked open a can of Well Rounded Expert (haven't we had enough of those?) – 10.6 per cent Belgian quad.
It pours a ruby red colour in the glass with a minimal white head. There are the expected whiffs of dried fruits and on the palate, you get a sweet toffee-like malt before those flavours of dates and raisins come flooding through.
It's really a sipper, as the strength would suggest, and there's also a slight burnt sugar vibe throughout it all which put me in mind of candy floss – well I suppose it does seem like we are in the middle of a circus sometimes.
