Mark Adams
Jameson Caskmates sees the reuse of old whiskey barrels. Nothing new in that, but in between, they’ve been used to age stout from Cork’s Franciscan Well brewery. This has added notes of cocoa, coffee and butterscotch to this classic Irish whiskey.
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Caskmates Jameson Review:
The Black & Tan wine mix is a rather nice mix in between a sweet and sour; and the beer really complements it well. The beer pours black with a tan head, which leaves a nice lacing on the glass. It has a slightly sweet taste of chocolate and mint, which is countered by a dry finish and a bitter aftertaste from the hops in the mix. The beer is good to drink though, and I don’t think you would turn up your nose at the mix – a good beer is a good beer!
Verdict
I don’t suppose you’d go out of your way to try the beer, or the range, but it is a decent mix that is decent to drink. Long may they experiment and the best of luck to Franciscan Well, that is making good old traditional beer and making it well.
Caskmates Jameson Review:
I’m not always the best at having the courage of my convictions. I suppose that’s something I’ll have to work on one day. Drinking two bottles of stout for no other reason than drinking two bottles of stout is certainly not the wisest move I’ve made since I started working for a decent company. However, this is what I did, and 2’s got to be better than 1, thought I’d do it and enjoy myself – no less!
The Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition Stout is an alcoholic version of a Tesco chocolate stout. This beer comes in a full-strength alcoholic version of the same beer that leaves the field clear for all other chocolate-based beers to compete. This is done by adding chocolate from New Zealand and then letting them sit in the barrels to add that sublime chocolate flavour.
And they did lay a good plot, for what could have been a bitter drink turned out to be a sweet drink that is a good drink.
The Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition Stout is a different type of stout from Stout-o-holics, with a blend of being an Irish Stout and a Stout of the wine variety – well, it’s just a stout with malt and a Barleywine. This is done by using Franciscan Well Stout to add a little bit of colour, flavour and fruit to the mix.
Caskmates Jameson Review:
The beer is very good to drink and what more can I say. It is a different type of stout, it is bitter, chocolatey, slightly sweet and it is a very nice beer to pour down your throat. I don’t mind this beer and I can bet the kind that has spent the best part of their drinking life drinking stout are the kind that are single malt beer, although the whiskey on this makes for a good mix.
Verdict
Nice beer and highly recommended, I’ll be back for another bottle when the dust settles – in order to collect my odds and ends!
If you’re a banana lover, then this is a beer for you. It’s basically a fruit-flavoured Barleywine with the addition of bananas – which will result in a nice mix like Guinness toffee and stout.
So, it’s a Barley-on-burgundy for those that enjoy the taste of barleywine, but with a drink that is a bit more sweeter. It also has those banana notes that some Barleywines have, which is very nice.
The beer pours a dark brown amber with a creamy foam head that leaves a fine lacing on the glass. This beer is good to quench a thirst and is a good beer, but thankfully the price is a little less than it might have been.
Caskmates Jameson Review:
I always forget how long a side a bottle will last me, but, I’d say I’d have to be realistic and say that the bottle will last me a few weeks. I don’t review a beer that will be out of date within a few weeks. That is just silly, although I don’t expect a beer to last forever.
The beer has a sweet aroma and light taste of malt. The taste is more on the malt side of things with a hint of honey, which is very nice, and some banana, which is very appropriate. The finish is dry, but has a nice aftertaste with the malt that balances the sweet.
The beer is good to drink and although I do like to drink my beer cold, this is a good beer to drink somewhere that the weather is getting warmer, or you just want something different to drink.
