In this series I’ll be re-visiting breweries which I’d usually avoid and seeing if I’ve changed my mind.

This has been prompted by my being surprised that several breweries I once thought were only capable of producing utter scour putting out some solid beers.

The first lucky fellows up for the Crafty Hoor school of second chances is Rye River, I’ve picked up their sample pack of four beers and then a single bottle of a separate beer, which I’ll give an individual opinion of and conclude by deciding whether or not I was a bit hasty in my previous judgement of them.

The format will be the same for every brewery. I’ll be judging the beers solely on their taste and appearance, but I’ll also have a “judging it by the cover” opening where I look over the labeling and then move on to the beer itself. So without further ado, let’s get started.

I started with McGargles (a Rye River brand) “Granny Mary’s Red Ale”. All of the branding for the McGargles is pretty similar so I’ll only do this section once.

Ok, first off, I’ll get this out of the way, I hate the branding on these beers, and it’s one of the things that turned me off so much initially. It’s just cheap paddy whackery and makes it seem gimmicky and to me it looks like the company cares more about aiming the beers at a certain market than making decent beer. Maybe that seems a bit harsh, but it’s my genuine opinion and there’s no point in pussy footing around it.

Judging the beer

Ok, first up apparence wise, It’s pretty dark for a red ale, and it smells pretty roasty, this is something I like, as it gives me hope that it won’t be just another red ale which all Irish breweries seem to think they’re obliged to make and tend to just “phone it in” and make a boring beer.

Taste wise, it’s a pretty ok red ale. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Red ales tend to be boring beers, and I don’t know why, there’s no need for them to be, but breweries seem to just make them for the sake of having something to offer Smithwicks or McArdles drinkers. Some breweries such as O’Hara’s and Bru have managed to make beers which are interesting in their own right, and some who I won’t name have managed to make downright terrible red ales.

Granny Mary’s Red Ale doesn’t fall into either of those categories. Like I said, it’s pretty ok, it’s inoffensive, it has some of that roasty malt bitterness you get on the nose to it and it finishes a little bitter from the hops which is nice, but there’s also a very noticeable dextrin sweetness to it in the middle and it’s a little light in the body department.

If you’re a McArdles or Smithwicks drinker this will be something you could try without being too out of your depth flavour wise, but it’s not something I’d go out of my way to acquire again.

2.5 out 5 for Granny Mary’s Red Ale for me, it’s worth trying if you like red ales, and it’s better than the offerings some other craft brewers have produced.

Next up is Uncle Jim’s Stout.

Appearance wise, Uncle Jim’s Stout pours a kind of cola-like dark brown, lots of red hue around the edges, the head is a little over a finger thick and didn’t stick around very long.

Taste wise, well, it’s got a little bit of a mocha-y taste at the start and some dry roast malt notes to it, there’s not much evidence of the hops here but that’s pretty normal in the world of stouts but as a result the sweetness is a bit cloying after you finish your sip. On the nose you get some of that coffee and roast malt and some caramel. The body is extremely thin, this is not a heavy beer. To be honest, I’m not blown away by this beer at all and I’m a little disappointed in it. Again, it’s not a terrible beer, it’s perfectly drinkable, but I wouldn’t drink more than one in a sitting. I think if it was a bit more well carbonated it would be a better beer. I’ve heard reports from people more knowledgeable than myself that it’s actually very nice on draught so I’ll be keeping an eye out for that and may amend this later once I’ve tried it.

2 out of 5 for Uncle Jim’s stout for me. I don’t hate it, but I’m not really sure I’d recommend it to anyone either.

Next up, Knock Knock Ned’s IPA.

Disclaimer, the first time I drank this beer back when it was launched, I poured it down the sink half way through I disliked it that much. But with the knowledge that the brewery has since employed a new head brewer and is now producing some good beers, I approach with an open mind and hope in my heart.

Appearance wise, it pours an extremely clear, light amber colour. The head is pretty thin. On the nose you get some citrus, a bit of grassy pine and some bready sweetness.

Taste wise, you get a bit of the piney hop bitterness up front followed by a very sweet malt base. I’d describe this as an English style IPA and if you’re a fan of that style you might like this. Personally, I’m still not a fan at all. Again it has a very thin mouth feel and the sweetness doesn’t work with that in my opinion. It’s not as bad as I remember it being, but I’d struggle to finish a pint of it if truth be told.

1 out of 5 for Knock Knock Ned’s for me, I’d struggle to find something about this beer I like, I didn’t finish the bottle.

Up next is Grafters IPA.

Grafter’s is a range of beers that Rye River producer exclusively for Dunnes Stores, currently there is a Pale and an IPA, They’re priced very reasonably indeed, the IPA is €2.45 per bottle and weighs in at 6.5% abv, so it’s definitely a lot of bang for your buck.

I first tried Grafters IPA last summer and I remember at the time I was perplexed by just how little aroma there was, I also remember that this lack of aroma carried on into the taste where there is a decent amount of bitterness but really not much less. I didn’t hate it but I never bothered buying it again. I did however like the Grafters Pale Ale which I thought was a pretty solid American Pale Ale style beer. So lets see how I fee second time around.

Appearance she looks like an IPA anyway, a sort of hazy pale yellow with a fluffy two finger head. This is a good start. On the nose I instantly get everything I didn’t first time around. Big ripe citrus and stone fruit smells, a tangerine kind of sweetness and some floral grassy notes. This is promising indeed.

Taste wise, this beer is right up my street. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there’s been a bit of tinkering between when I last tasted this beer and the current version because the difference is night and day.

This is a proper American style IPA in my books. Sweet clementines, dank tropical fruits that remind me of jackfruit and mango, bitter grapefruit and pine, the malt base is evident in the body and caramel notes which balance it all out and there’s even nice dry finish that begs you to go again.

I’m half way through this in about 5 minutes. This is one of the better IPA’s I’ve had from an Irish brewery lately. This has just become one of my go to fridge beers. Value for money wise, this is hard to beat.

4.5 out of 5 for Grafters IPA, a massive thumbs up from The Crafty Hoor!

Go to your nearest Dunnes Stores and buy 1. Actually, on second thoughts buy 4, because you’re going to want a second and maybe a third and sure you may as well have a fourth while you’re at it and there are far worse ways to spend a tenner.

Next up, Francis’ Big Banging IPA

The Francis’ Big Banging IPA actually came as part of the 4 bottle sampler pack I picked up (€7 from Dunnes Stores, Tesco and SuperValu nationwide) but you can also pick it up as a four pack of just Francis’ for €8 from Dunnes Stores. At 7.2% abv it’s definitely not a light weight and represents very good value for money.

Appearance wise Francis’ pours a crystal clear pale orange with a light one finger head. It’s one of the clearest IPA’s I’ve ever seen.

On the nose you get a big, bold, brash tropical and citrus fruits. This is followed up in the taste. You’d never know this beer was 7.2% abv unless you read the label, it’s ridiculously drinkable. I’d almost say this beer needs a warning sign on the bottle because you will drink it quicker than you probably should. Grapefruits, peach, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, blood orange, lychee, it’s all there and it’s all good.

What you get here is a beer that is pretty much designed to be a showcase for a collection of some of the most prized hops in the world. The brewers at rye river got a hold of some Simcoe, Mocaic and Columbus hops and decided “sure feck it, lets go mad”, and mad they went.

This is one of the stand out Irish beers of 2015 for a very good reason.

It’s my feeling that Rye River’s brewers decided to respond to the people who were critical of them when they launched in 2014 (myself included) and release a beer that was not just “good” by their standards but good by global standards. This is up there with Galway Bay’s Full Sale, White Hag’s Bran & Sceolan, Eight Degree’s Full Irish and Trouble Brewing’s Viet Now as one of the best IPA’s currently produced in Ireland.

4.5 out of 5 again for Francis’ Big Banging IPA from The Crafty Hoor. Since it was launched a few months back this beer has become a staple in my fridge, value for money wise I think it’s near unbeatable right now.

In conclusion, I still have my reservations about their branding and one or two of their beers aren’t to my tastes at all, but they are also capable of producing some very, very good beers.

If you want to try some of the Rye River beers for yourself and make up your own mind, you can grab 4 bottle sampler packs for €7 as well as four packs of individual beers for €7 or €8 each form Dunnes Stores, Supervalue and Tesco nation wide.

They also produce the Grafters range exclusively for Dunnes Stores as well as the Solas range exclusively for Tesco.

Because the Rye River beers are retailing at such reasonable prices, it’s worth the investment to a few different styles.

Seán