Beer Reviews, beer trips

Ultimate Revenge. And it was sweet.

Posted by Ian on

Recently myself, my wife & our dog were invited to Kelly’s Mountain Brew, which is local to us in Clane, County Kildare for a wee BBQ & knee’s up because I’m quite fond of its owners Ronan & Jacqui. I also fell for their Justice Pale Ale when they launched it for its honesty as a beer in its simplicity and lack of pretention.

Great atmosphere at the shindig, & my best mate in the world (also my former Podcast-Protegé – he & his wife have now become the masters and the producers of Ireland’s #1 Beer Podcast) Wayne Dunne from IrishBeerSnob.com was on hand with me, as we were able to try an ‘Ultimate’ version of their Ruby Porter, ‘Revenge’.

The Ruby Porter while nice & well made is not my bag (I’m spoiled right now with some seriously strong takes on Porter such as Whiplash’s Scaldy Porter — f**k you Alex!!!! Make more of it damnit, my stash is dwindling!!!) the Ultimate Revenge was frankly something special.

‘Ultimate Revenge‘ is a very VERY small batch beer from Kelly’s Mountain Brew that is an imperial porter that’s been aged in whiskey barrels with a crapton of a locally produced small-batch coffee added for good measure. And wow, is it special. Let’s be clear here & I’ll get a few things out of the way:

  1. When you add ‘ultimate’ to anything, it better be fucking ultimate
  2. When you say you’re adding coffee to a beer, I don’t want a hint – I want 60 seconds of spacey-ness Mister McIlroy.
  3. When there’s whiskey in the mix with a.n.other speciality ingredient, do not for the love of all things beery & fantastic let it dominate!!!!

That being said – ‘Ultimate Revenge‘ did not disappoint on ANY of those counts. While being north of the 7% ABV mark, it wasn’t heavy, the whiskey was a nice background hum while the coffee was amazingly up front on the porter notes and had incredible dark fruit notes. Another bonus, it wasn’t dry or so sweet you’d need to pre-book a dental appointment before having it.

I’m not sure how available it will be (if at all), but as the first in a line of ‘Ultimate’ versions of their mainstay beers, it was utterly stonking. IF by some small chance you get a chance to try it, DO NOT PASS IT UP.