14th April 2017, when I first came across a small brewery in Kilkeel, my home town. For those that know me, this brewery has been the backbone of my Craft beer Odyessy since then, so much so that my wife knows that when they release a new beer, she will go out of her way to pick me up a couple (what can I say she's a keeper) for me to ahem review....
I have watched and tasted the progression of this small brewery from inception and I find it amazing that they still can surprise me with their new brews and since Lockdown they have continued to brew exceptional beers week after week.
I named this Post O Captain my captain, some would think for the famous line in the film Dead Poets Society or from Walt Whitman poem about Abe Lincoln, but in fact, it is for a beer that I have used as my measuring stick for all craft beers that have come since... It goes by the name Ahoy Captain and it was a 7% Salted IPA, that stood out from the crowd. In my review of it three years ago I said 'it is a quite drinkable beer, that hides the 7% like an assassin hides a stiletto'. And boy was I right, it drinks like a micro and kicks like a DIPA, all the while being very sessionable.
The brewery has brewed a second iteration of Ahoy Captain recently and to be honest you could tell the three years of brewing experience that had gone into it. It was a more refined and elegant version of the raw passionate version that had started me on my journey to taste good,,, no great local beer, and isn't that what craft beer is all about great beer brewed locally that can be enjoyed knowing the fact that it is two guys in a HUT brewing the beer and not some automated factory where the brewers don't even see the raw ingredients let alone have to dig out the Mash tun by hand...
So for those in the know and for those that don't, I give you the Beer Hut Brewing Company
