THIS IS a definite winner for St Patrick's Day.
Last week, we reported on a brand-new beer from Sligo brewery The White Hag-- the Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Ale.
A bit of a mouthful to say, but what is it like to actually drink it?
Well, we at The Irish Post managed to get our hands on the real thing-- here's what we thought.
The White Hag's Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Ale (Image: CraftCentral Twitter)The Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Ale, released to celebrate St Patrick's Day, was inspired by the ever-popular Shamrock Shake which hits McDonald's each year.
It would have been easy for The White Hag to dye their ale green, give it a bare scent of mint and call it a day, knowing the name alone would entice people to try it-- this is not what happened.
The Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Ale is smooth and creamy, giving a proper purpose to the 'ice cream' part of its name-- it is an experience far closer to drinking the minty milkshake than it is to just drinking a mint-flavoured beer.
The problem with mint-flavoured drinks is that there's always a danger it will just smell and taste like you're drinking mouthwash, but the smooth and creamy texture of the Shamrock Shake ale avoids this-- it's sweet and refreshing without being overpowering.
Besides the taste, the Shamrock Shake ale has another unique twist to offer: it is bright green.
Shades of green in a drink are hard to get right-- too dark and it looks like a spinach smoothie, too bright and it looks like toxic waste. The Shamrock Shake ale is on the toxic waste side of the spectrum, but no more so than Fat Frogs or other alcopops.
Mint might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're a fan of the ice cream or Aero bars-- or the original McDonald's Shamrock Shake-- you're guaranteed to enjoy this.
And even if you're not ordinarily a fan of mint, the Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Pale Ale is definitely worth a go, if even to try something different, particularly on St Patrick's Day.
That being said, you probably wouldn't want to drink six of these in a row-- there's such a thing as too much of a good thing, and the sweet, minty taste and creamy texture would likely get sickening after a while-- but it's a perfect drink to start off with.
The Irish Post definitely recommends the White Hag's Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Pale Ale-- and we'll be partaking in a few this St Patrick's Day.
You can find out more about the Shamrock Shake Ice Cream Pale Ale on the White Hag's website here.
