Brewery: Clanconnel
Location: Waringstown, Northern Ireland
ABV: 4.5%
Version: 500ml bottle
Source: Gap Wines

Clanconnel are the newest brewery in Northern Ireland, having only been founded in June 2008, and take their name from the ancient lands in which the brewery is located. You can read a bit more about the history of the area here. Their aim, to quote from their website, is “to create more choice and alternatives to the mass produced beers that exist in the marketplace”, and you won’t find me complaining about that. The Northern Ireland beer industry needs more enterprising people like founder Mark Pearson.

Weavers Gold is the first brew from the company, launched earlier this month. It’s a blonde ale, a golden yellow colour with a very pleasant light, zesty, lemony citrus aroma. It has a light fruity flavour with some bitterness, a hint of biscuity malt and a dryish mouthfeel, which lingers into the finish. It’s perhaps a bit too dry to be fully refreshing, and I felt the bitterness was too restrained, but it’s a decent enough first offering. While this one is not totally to my taste I’ll be checking out any future releases, of which there’s another two hinted at on their website. Is one of those going to be a stout or porter perhaps?