In praise of…The Porterhouse, London
On a recent trip to London I needed to seek refuge from a crowded and extremely wet Covent Garden, when I managed to scurry to nearby Maiden Lane and into the Porterhouse – billed as Ireland’s largest ‘genuine Irish’ brewery (who can they be getting at there?). From the outside it looks like part of Aintree has been erected to keep the punters out, but once you get over the fences the inside is enormous – many levels, several bars, and all kinds of different historic beer bottles in wall-mounted cabinets.
Porterhouse are a chain, having been founded in Bray, County Wicklow in 1989. Four more have since opened, three in and around Dublin, and the one I scuttled into in London, which has been there since 2000. To me, it looked like an American-style brewpub (which may or may not be their intention), with long tapped bars and chrome and tile fittings, everyone there was very friendly. My visit coincided with their seventh annual Irish Beer Festival, which meant there were things on offer from other producers, as well as their own hefty range. I had a couple and then left, definitely to return at some point in the future. Although they serve their beers nitro’d under pressure (so are not classified as real cask ale), they are more than worth a visit.
Porterhouse Red (4.4%) Porterhouse Brewing Company, Dublin
Leaving aside stout for a moment, red ales are a classic Irish style produced by many breweries, the roasted barley giving a distinctive deep colour. Porterhouse’s ‘house red’ is served with a creamy head which takes some getting through, but the sweet caramel flavours come out eventually once the beer warms. As it does so, more bitterness becomes apparent as well – it’s pretty good, and was a favourite of legendary beer writer Michael Jackson, who remarked “It makes Caffrey’s taste like Tizer”
Galway Hooker Dunkelweiss (4.8%) Galway Hooker, Galway
As the festival was on, for my second I sampled a guest from the Galway Hooker brewery. I would have tried their Pale Ale – apparently modelled on the peerless Sierra Nevada – but alas it wasn’t on yet, so I went for their Dunkel Weissbier instead. It poured with a large head, but one that dissipated very quickly. It was very roasty on the palate, but not thick or chewy, with a nice touch of fruit at the beginning. Malt takes over in the aftertaste, and rounds off the flavour, which is extremely refreshing indeed.
