Galway Hooker Sixty Knots India Pale Ale

First published in the Irish Times online, Wednesday 23rd March, 2016

Galway Hooker Sixty Knots India Pale Ale
6.5%

Galway Hooker was one of the first craft brewers in the country, set up in 2006 by cousins Ronan Brennan and Aidan Murphy. Murphy is very happy with the boom in new craft brewers. ‘It’s a funny kind of thing; the competition elevates the whole craft beer market so it is mostly positive. The more beers, the more momentum we all seem to get.’ Originally set up in Roscommon, they moved to a bigger new brewery in Oranmore two years ago. ‘It is certainly a lot more comfortable’ says Aidan.

Sixty Knots was launched about a year ago, and is now a permanent fixture, alongside the original Irish Pale Ale, Stout and Amber Ale. ‘Basically we were trying to produce a traditional India Pale Ale with high alcohol content and a high level of bitterness (it has 60 ibu). It is a little bit different from other Irish IPAs in that it has a combination of the punchy citrus of American hops combined with the earthy spiciness of European hops’. Sixty Knots certainly has a lively bitterness, but it is very nicely underpinned by pine resin and a broad maltiness.