The Five Lamps Dark IPA (Whiskey Barrel Aged Series in assoc with Glendalough Distillery)

The 5 Lamps Brewery in an interesting venture with "Irelands First Craft Distillery" (Glendalough)  Arriving in a lovely little gift set (pic below) you get a sense of real quality from this collaboration.

Don't be fooled by the size of The 5 Lamps Brewery, quality & credit where its due in fairness. I have already reviewed their Dublin Lager if you wish to be further convinced. The "classy" yet confident labeling oozes appeal to a whiskey connoisseur and those who are in the know about The 5 Lamps lads should be looking forward to what should be a match match in crafty heaven, lets jump right in!

The Sniff
That familiar "pssssst" from the removal of gold bottle top and straight in with me nose! Coffee tangs and robust familiar hops breathing deep murky tones, just like you would expect most dark beers to offer. Theres a hint of malt in there aswell but just a hint. Theres a glimmer of something else in there, Im gonna quiz myself and say its from the 6 month old aged process from Whiskey casks from Glendalough! Think Imperials smell with a dash of something else.

The Squint
Looking through the bottle it looks as if this Indian Pale Ale isn't going to be that pale, well its not. This is a DARK IPA! The 5 Lamps really do pride themselves on their beers and so they should! Aslo very appealing is the Batch no, Bottle no, etc on the label. Only 1100 of these boyos created. If anything alone, the bottles will become collectors pieces!

The Quench
10% folks and make no bones about it, Its a cracker.  Theres more than enough of the residue in the casks it's aged in to make you stand up and pay attention.  As I write this it still is celebrating in my gob and the after taste is quite delightful, lasting well over a minute. Unexpected but very welcomed!

It has a lovely head that diminishes very slowly and plenty of lacing. Forgot to say that you get a free half pint glass in the gift pack and like the quality that comes all wrapped up in this bottle, it will appeal to the Gentleman and Gentle-ladies over and over! I include ladies as I got a small peach note in their after the 4th or 5th sip AND I AM DRINKING SLOW TO SAVIOR!

Another sup and its toffee, more hops, AGAIN a warm Whiskey hint that's more punchy than actually hinting! Bravo! Other notes would be a slight pine, even a "charcoaly smell", is that even a word - charcoaly?, well it is now.

The Finale
I'll be honest, all the thirst quenchers to date I've had from these guys has come from cans and bottles, I'm aware their driving force behind the business is the drafts, let me tell you, if their bottles and cans are of what I would consider decent quality, I cannot wait to try their drafts, I will by the way.

Getting back to whats on offer tonight, I shall be buying up as many of these as my bank balance shall allow. I'm sure the rest of the bottles in the gift pack are as good, The Porter and The Red Ale. Clever production aswell just in time for Christmas! Anyone who knows me and wants to show the love for 2016.......cough cough!

Well done John & Co!





As an add on, one of the other beers in the pack has made my Craftvent Irish Craft Beer Advent Calendar, stay tuned.

Sláinte

@davyod