Take it Home Mescal Red Tripel & Ch. Lorgeril

Take it Home from the Irish Times, Friday 28th August, 2015

Mescan Red Tripel, Westport

MescanI began hearing great things about the Mescan beers from friends in Westport, but Westport was the only place you could buy them. Eventually I made a trip down there and succeeded in trying out the Red Tripel. It was worth the wait. This is a delicious full-bodied beer with masses of rich malty caramel and peach fruits. At 8 per cent, it is definitely not a session beer, but I sipped my way slowly though a bottle while reading the Sunday papers.

Cillián Ó Móraín and Bart Adams weren’t deliberately trying to create publicity through an artificial shortage; they both worked as vets (Adams has now given up and works full-time at brewing), and simply didn’t have the time or energy to make more beer. “After twenty years as vets, we were both looking for a new challenge or interest,” says Ó Móraín. The Red Tripel is matured for ten months before release, so managing demand is a nightmare. “We have to sell it sparingly because it will be a while before the next batch is ready,” he adds.

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Ó Móraín is from Dublin, Adams from Belgium. They both learned about Belgian beer from many visits to that country over the years, and decided to brew Belgian style beers in the shadow of Croagh Patrick – hence the mountain logo. The reek means a lot to both men. The water used in brewing is drawn from under the mountain. The year before they started, they made a weekly ascent together to plan the brewery. According to Ó Móraín, Mescan was a disciple of St Patrick and his personal brewer (we could all do with one of those).

Classic Tripels are golden with lots of malt and are 8-10 per cent in strength. Red Tripel is made with roasted malts, hence the darker colour. O Móraín thinks they were the first to make this style, but several others have now appeared in Belgium. Mescan now appears to be available nearly nationwide, at least in some specialist beer off-licences. I also managed to snaffle a bottle of their latest creation, Westport Extra, made, as the label says, with extra hops, extra malt, extra alcohol (9.3 per cent, and extra conditioning. But you may have to travel to Westport to find a bottle. “We are,” says Ó Móraín, “small and self-contained; we recycle everything, including the water and the spent grain, which is fed to the animals and our beers get a long maturation. We are in the process of expanding but we will never be massive.”

So, not easy to find, but worth the effort.

Ch. Lorgeril 2011, Cabardès
Available from SuperValu at €10

The multiples swing into autumn mode once September comes, usually with a French wine sale. Lidl start theirs on September 7th; SuperValu next week on Thursday 3rd with over 100 wines on offer. I enjoyed two Bordeaux, the light, easy Ch Moulin Lafitte (€14) and the richer softly fruity Ch La Baronnerie (€12). But my wine this week comes from Cabardès in the Languedoc. I remember standing high up in the hills, in the stunning vineyards of Ch Lorgeril a few years back. From the south comes the warm Mediterranean sun, and from the north-east, the cooling Atlantic winds. This unique climate makes for wines with a certain elegance and freshness, despite being less than ten kilometres from the heat of Carcassonne. Nicolas and Miren de Lorgeril are the 10th generation of the family to have overseen the estate. Local noble Bernard de Pennautier built the impressive château back in 1620, during the reign of Louis XIII. It is available for hire for seminars, weddings and other events, and just a handy five kilometres from Carcassonne airport.The wine is soft and earthy, with some nice ripe cassis fruits. At €10, it is something of a bargain.