Wednesday's beer is full of woe.

It's not, I just thought that would be a witty title for a blog post. When I took this bottle home from the Drink Store I had that funky Friday feeling that the red ale I was pouring into the pint glass was going to be a beautifully refreshing craft beer. The funky Friday feeling was actually due to the fact that I was pouring the beer from a bottle of Dungarvan's Coppercoast red ale. Since I'll eventually wind up giving every Dungarvan brew top marks I'll give the verdict now, three shots short of a dead deer in Poacher vocabulary - seven out of ten. My first reason being the subtle caramel flavored malt is potent as is the the fruity aromas and textures creating a nice balance that is further aided by the ale's own malt. Which leads me to the next pint (sorry, I just had to!) this balance creates a strong tasting beer and I love strong tasting, craft brewed ales.

-The Poacher

From the creator's of the most expensive beer!

Tuesday's beer is Hardcore Imperial Pale Ale made by BrewDog of Scotland. I was going to take this opportunity to prove that the young creators of this craft beer aren't only out to make high alcohol content beers but I have an old habit of trying the pale ale of each new brand that I want to taste. However the upside is Hardcore IPA is together with Punk IPA is the cheapest of BrewDog's range of beers.

Anyhow this brew, I believe is the Scottish equivalent to the Irish Porterhouse's An Brainblasta. Hardcore IPA may have a relatively high alcoholic volume. What I loved in particular about this craft beer is . . . drum roll please, Maris Otter hops. This very luxurious addition to the brew works very well with the alcohol content, giving the toffee malt a chance to sooth the drinker's tastebuds. I find this gives Hardcore IPA a very pleasing and therefor surprising balance which I thoroughly enjoyed. This beer doesn't feel watery on the tongue in any way whatsoever which is why only drink craft brewed beer now and furthermore I thought the relatively high alcohol content was going to overshadow the taste of the beer but I was surprised by the balanced taste of BrewDog's Hardcore IPA.

So BrewDog's Hardcore IPA falls a single shot short of the mark at nine out of ten.

-The Poacher

Monday's beer is a blonde ale.

I'm a staunch advocate of red ale but this fine brew from the Dungarvan brewery is really opening my mind to the delicious properties of what the Poacher finds is a very brew in the Republic of Ireland-blonde ale! The wonderful brewmasters in the Dungarvan brewery co. Waterford have named this very tasteful ale Helvick Gold and I cannot agree any less with such an apt name. The hops in this ale are strong but not overpowering at all as this brew is well balanced beer evident of it's creator's years of experience and skill in homebrewing. Furthermore, the rich citrus flavour of this beer willfully compliments the barley content which I thoroughly enjoyed tasting with this fine ale! I give this seductive blond a nine out of ten or in the Beer Poacher's language one shot short of the mark!

-The Poacher