Hail Glorious Saint Patrick Extra Stout - Beer of the Month

KRISTIN JENSEN, co-author of Slainte! The complete Guide To Irish Craft Beers and Ciders - introduces us to Jack Cody’s Brewery Hail Glorious Saint Patrick Extra Stout

ABOUT THE BREWER

In 2014, Geoff Fitzpatrick opened his brewery in his hometown of Drogheda, County Louth. It’s the first brewery in the town for over 50 years, ever since William Cairnes closed in 1960.

Geoff launched with two beers, Smiggy Amber Ale and Puck Pilsner. Since then he has expanded the range to include an IPA, a cream stout and perhaps most interesting of all, a grapefruit tea pale ale. The brewery also offers seasonals such as a summer saison, a Samhain brown ale or an extra stout for Saint Patrick’s Day. Geoff is not afraid of big, bold flavours in his beers, making this brewery one to watch.

ABOUT THE BEER

Beer style: Stout
ABV: 6.3%
Matches well with: Beef, berries, black pudding, burgers, chocolate, roasted and smoked meats, steak, stew

With a name like Hail Glorious Saint Patrick, this is the seasonal beer to keep your eye out for this month.

The aroma is of cola and lots of vanilla, which makes sense once you read the label and see that the beer was brewed with Madagascan vanilla pods. (For the record, the label also says the beer includes espresso beans, Boyne water and “a pinch of craic”.) Those espresso beans come into play in the flavour, which is of bitter black coffee and treacle, with a dry finish.

This beer has very little carbonation, which makes it a bit cloying if you’re drinking it on its own – but that’s just a good excuse to pair this with some hearty food like beef or stew before the weather warms up and we move on to lighter beers and lighter fare.

As for cheese, you’ll need something good and strong to stand up to this extra stout. The salty Bellingham Blue or Cashel Blue would both provide a good contrast to the sweetness of this beer, as would a mature hard cheese like Coolea or a strong farmhouse Cheddar.

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Secretary of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, Kristin Jensen is a freelance editor specialising in cookery and food books and has worked with many of Ireland's top food writers and chefs.  She writes the Edible Ireland blog and is a co-founder of the Irish Food Bloggers Association and, together with Caroline Hennessy, is joint author of Slainte! The complete Guide To Irish Craft Beers and Ciders .