The Kernel: The Darks

...So let's wrap up my long weekend of unabashed Kernel-worship with a jaunt through their darker beers. First up, London Porter, weighing in at a moderate 5.5%abv. It's a super-amiable, easy drinking porter, which is surprisingly complex. There's digestive biscuit on the nose, finished off with a hint of woodsmoke - and the full mouthfeel turns out sweeter than you'd expect, with loads more biscuit and a drying seam of coffee towards the end. It's wonderful stuff, and I fear I drained my glass rather quicker than I really wanted to. This beer would be awesome with some smokey ribs or sausages.

Getting a little stronger at 7.8% abv, Export Stout (London 1890) is an absolute riot of Stouty goodness. Through the thick, tan-hued head peeps a nicely Phenolic nose, layered with even more smokiness than the porter. The tongue-coating mouthfeel only adds to the richness of the beer, which explodes with a vine-fruit profile rather than being the dryer taste you might have been expecting. The finish is all about bitter, black chocolate - drying at the end, only slightly creamy at the start.

I'm not the biggest fan of Black IPA's - simply because I've yet to find one that blows me away - but Kernel's (6.8%abv) comes damn close. Easily the best example of the style I've tasted, beneath the jet-black exterior lies tropical fruitiness; Lychee and a slightly peppery note on the nose, and a drying sip that leaves you wanting more. Balanced subtly, it's a big, fruity beer that comes wrapped in a smooth, smoky disguise. This beauty was joint-brewed by Evin and our favourite degenerate Bar Manager, Rakebar Glyn.

Finally, Imperial Stout (12.5%abv). Wow. This is a massive beer all right, as you'd expect. Rather than being Export Stout on steriods, there's a much more Dundee-cake, Raisin/Sultana note to this rich brew, with bitter chocolate and a hint of Vanilla coming in at the end. It's sweet, but ultimately smooth with it, and the hallmark of Kernel's beers is here in abundance; flavoursome, complex beers that remain drinkable. I mean really drinkable; I'm pleased to report that this beer saw in the New Year with a few others, and rather than tip me over the edge, it warmed the belly and gave me no headache the day after. If that's not a sign of quality then I don't know what is.

Tell you what, it's been an absolute plasure drinking these Kernels. Best of luck to Evin, and long may The Kernel prosper.

The Kernel: The Pales

...So let's get onto the beer itself. First up, is the simple Nelson Sauvin (4.7% abv) - does what it says on the tin. Amber in colour, it's a refreshing, zesty thirst-quencher with sherbert lemons and gooseberry on the nose, a sweet, honeyed body and then a high, long, grapefruit-led bitterness at the end of the sip. The sweetness in the body levels all the pithy bitterness out, and manages to be both a no-frills example of a single-hopped pale and a wonderfully balanced beer all at once.

A little more complex is the Centennial-Chinook (5.5%abv). It's darker in colour - my notes say 'Marmalade shade' in this respect - with slightly more biscuit flavours in the body, but still manages to achieve the green, clean bitterness that one wants from a hoppy beer. The nose is ever-so-slightly more herbal, and it's more bitter, even more pithy than the Nelson Sauvin. Although billed as a pale, there's more than enough here to satisfy hop-heads.

S.C.A.Ns (7.7%abv) is a wonderful concept; simply lump Simcoe, Cascade, Amarillo and Nelson Sauvin togethet and watch magic happen. The vibrancy I alluded to in the introduction really applied here; slightly less sweet than the previous pales, the aroma is the ace in the pack here. Lychee, Grapefruit, Orange Peel, Lime, Pineapple all jockey for position with an underlying, slightly catty undertone that reminds you it's a hoppy beer, not a tropical fruit salad. With all those high Alpha-acid hops in there you'd think it would be unbalanced, but no - the bitterness is only rising, and refreshing rather than rasping. It drinks nowhere near it's abv, which seems to be another hallmark of Evin O'Riordan's beers. Another version of this is available now with added Columbus hops.

The beer that rounds everything off was the Citra IPA (6.2%abv). Smooth. Really smooth; sweet, but not cloying, you can guess what a hop called 'Citra' is going to be like before smelling it; lemon/limey, with emphasis on the lemon, but slightly cleaner and purer almost than other other high AA hops. That cattiness is there again, with a hint of Lychee too. The bitterness is light and manageable, and you get another highly drinkable, incredibly tasty beer.

Citra IPA was probably the beer that caused the most stir at the back end of 2010. It appeared in many 'best of' lists and undoubtedly made Citra the hop du jour, a breath of fresh air for hop-heads all over.

To give this beer its due, it's worth bearing in mind that this runs against the style of the year being 'Black IPA's' - or whatever you want to call them. In the face of a worldwide trend, The Kernel's Citra IPA - a simple, single hopped, well made, well balanced India Pale Ale - reclaimed the IPA as the domain of the pale.

Next up: The Darks.

The Kernel-A-Thon Starts Here

Trends can often spread like wildfire amongst Beer Bloggers; the way we communicate with each other constantly and our eagerness to share new finds with each other means simply that if your beer is good, it will be known across the land in a very short space of time.

Brewery of the moment is undoubtedly The Kernel. Although 'Trend' might be the wrong word to use, please don't think I'm attaching negative connotations to the term; The Kernel have produced the most exciting beer over the past year - simple as that.

What makes their beer so damn good? If I had to coin one word, it would be freshness. Or maybe vitality. Their beers are so uniformly vibrant in flavour (something Evin touches upon further down), and the flavours so clean, well balanced, that I seriously can't think of a brewer with a stronger portfolio right now. Even the branding works; simple to the point of unassuming, modern and yet all-purpose. When lining them up to take pictures for this feature, the design - geek in me was very pleased indeed.

Over the next few days I'll be letting you know what I thought of their beers, but I did manage to pin Evin down for a little intro.

Despite being quite possibly one of the nicest blokes I've ever spoken to, he spent years selling cheese and trying to write a phD on Samuel Beckett. However, homebrewing soon took over (as it does), and The Kernel was born. When I asked him what inspires him to brew, he said: 'Flavour. Does that mean anything? The fact that there is this world of flavour to explore, and share. To get people to taste things, and to learn to trust their own tastebuds. To experience flavour'.

He's spot on of course; brewers - like chefs, cooks, piemakers, butchers, chocolatiers - are sensualists at heart. It's nice to hear that sort of statement coming from a brewer; surprisingly it doesn't happen that often. He doesn't believe in an all-time-greatest beer either, simply stating: 'The world is too full of wonder and beauty to limit yourself to favourites.'

The Kernel are busy; according to their site there's a collaboration with Redemption which which will be bottled for Kernel and Casked for Redemption. In fact, looking down their news section reads for a collaboration overload; Square Mile Coffee, ZeroDegrees, Glyn from The Rake, Saints & Sinners, Phil Lowry, and Dark Star have all had the pleasure of a day's brewing with Evin.

Anyway - this is just an intro. If you've not tried any of their beers (and there can't be that many of us now, surely) then consider it a beginner's guide. For more behind -the-scenes action, you can check out fellow Leodensian Ghost Drinker's excellent post here.