Once upon a time, there was a lonely roof in Dublin city centre. However, it is not lonely anymore. It was adopted by Radka’s Broof Club, who has a wee session up there every now and then. Even if it is Baltic outside! Because beer makes us warm and happy. Preferably hoppy.
In my opinion, there is a beer for everyone. At least one. You just need to find it. You just need to pick the right one. This chapter of the broof club session is a real proof of my statement. I took a chance and invited Saoirse – my beautiful friend – to climb the roof and have a little broofing session with me. I carefully picked the beers according to what I thought she would like. And I have to say – it was a success! Hooray!
Saoirse wouldn’t describe herself as much of a beer drinker. She would usually drink cider, ginger beer or as a true Irish woman – proudly and occasionally a nice pint of plain. I wouldn’t describe myself as a cider drinker. I would usually drink ANY beer. Not a cider. So with this exchanging experience I made a compromise and decided to start with a can of COONEYS IRISH CIDER. I will be honest, I do understand such a strong popularity of ciders on hot summer days, and this one was a refreshing opening choice, as we have been lucky to catch the very last summer day in Ireland. Fizzy apple juice for adults – sure, why not! (Am I a cider drinker now?)
Saoirse Kavanagh. Young. Smart. Beautiful. Talented. Saoirse loves music. She finished her degree at BIMM and her angel voice is as beautiful as Saoirse herself.
Saoirse Kavanagh – Strong (Youtube). Just play it!
Listen to the tune and atmosphere of her own song ‘Strong’ that she wrote. It describes the atmosphere and character of the beers that we were drinking. Smooth, relaxed, and delicious. Full of feelings and emotions, full of flavours. And with this exciting gradation in her song, there was a gradation in our beer repertoire as well.
Our playlist was very fruity. Saoirse is a sweet girl, and we were drinking ‘girly’ beers!
Lagers are mostly represented by big brands and big names all over the world as the most common and known beers. I wanted to show Saoirse that ‘boring’ lager-style taste can be twisted and upgraded, so we opened this grapefruit lager by SKA BREWING – Rue B. Soho. Smell of citrus, refreshing taste of grapefruits in the background, nice touch of hops… not a disappointing one, comparing to lagers that she tasted before. And she finished her share of taste, which was a good sign!
We stayed in a grapefruit-y mood with the next beer, this time we levelled up style-wise, entering the world of pale ales. A wee bit of discotheque now – Daft Punk are singing about how to Get Lucky – I am singing about LERVIG’s Grapefruit Edition of Lucky Jack every time I can, as I can’t help myself, but this beer is a fixed star in my fridge. We got lucky to get this beautiful weather accompanying our beer session… Saoirse’s glass became empty again. To my surprise, she liked the highlighted grapefruit flavour more in this pale ale, because it was more intense. Extra point for Jack! You are very Lucky, Jack.
Sun was still shining – time to move ourselves to our imaginary beach, with a cocktail in our hands… Pina Colada Pale Ale by RASCALS. And Rupert Holmes’ tune in the background. ‘If you like Pina Coladas…’… well, we actually can’t be objective talking about the authenticity of the taste, as neither of us had a real Pina Colada before. Definitely kind of a cocktail beer, even though I was missing a stronger kick of hops in there. RASCALS is experimenting with weird combinations of flavours all the time and I am very excited about them every time they release something new. One of them became my obsession during this summer – Raspberry Sundae IPA. Both of us voted for Sundae IPA, as Rascals did a nicer job with lactose and the whole milkshakey kind of flavour was a little bit sweeter with a longer lasting finish. While the first one was more cocktail-y, the second one stayed in beer-y beer-y category.
Pint of plain is your only man, but there was a nice (and looks pretty too!), pink alternative to it hidden in a big bag of cans. Blackcurrant Nitro Ale by LEFT HAND BREWING. We poured it hard into our glasses and watched this hypnotic magic process of settling down. We got rid of our creamy moustaches that the beer drew on our faces and satisfied with its appearance and a light smooth taste moved on to THE ONE.
And here it comes, Prince of our beer selection fitted for Saoirse…
‘Raspberry Rubaeus,
The kind you find in an off-licence store,
Raspberry Rubaeus,
And if it was on her, she wouldn’t drink other ones anymore!
Raspberry Rubaeus,
I think she loooooooooves it.’
Smile on her face is a proof. I found(ers) it. I found the one for her! Thank you, FOUNDERS, for your sweet & tart taste of summer.
Our ladies’ broofing session ended with a special dessert, limited edition of Bearded Lady – 10.5% Imperial Stout by MAGIC ROCK BREWING. Aged in Woodford Reserve barrels for 3 months, this stout had all that was promised: bourbon flavour, sweet vanilla, hint of oak, cacao nibs, cinnamon, we also tasted some kind of nuts in there (or were we going nuts at this stage?)… super rich flavour all together! And all these flavours were appearing unexpectedly from nowhere, dancing all around your mouth, wildly jumping on your taste buds… with lightly spicy exit sign at the end of this adventure.
Broof = beers on the roof! Roofing and drinking some special craft beer jewellery made with love and hearts of brewers around the world. Potential ‘bro’ for this ‘broofing’ is anyone who loves craft beer, or anyone who would like to lose virginity with the beers I will choose for them! Sometimes it can be a perfect match, but sometimes it can be very challenging. Give me a shout if you have enough of courage and want to become Radka’s Broof Club Bro!
I would like to thank Saoirse for her time, courage and trust. I hope you did enjoy this broofing session as much as I did, and here’s cheers to many more beers! (Is it, yeah?)
Sláinte – Cheers – Nazdravie!
Radka's Beer Club 