Take it home: rhubarb beer and a Catalan mouthful

Rhubarb Tart IPA, James Brown Brews

This seems more of a crumble than a tart, but lets not be too picky. James Brown is not the first to make a rhubarb beer, but I haven’t seen any other Irish craft brewer produce one before.

He used 300kgs of rhubarb and 28kgs of hops hoping to create something fairly big and memorable. The result is an interesting beer, light, belying its 7 per cent alcohol, tangy and lightly fruity with a cleansing tart sourness from the rhubarb. There is a nice biscuit character and an attractive hoppy touch.

When I talked to James, he was very busy with his day job as assistant manager in one of the O’Briens off-licences. He did say his next batch will be tweaked a little to give a little more rhubarb kick. In the meantime, this is well worth trying out.

XIC Xarel Lo 2014 Agustí Torelló Mata

A bit of a mouthful to say, unless you are Catalan, but the wine is certainly worth trying out. Xarel Lo, otherwise known as Xarello or even Pansa Blanca, is a local Catalan grape variety, mainly used to make Cava, the Spanish fizz.

In the past, it often gave a very funky flavour of burnt rubber to the sparkling wines. However, improved viticulture seems to have tamed this tendency, and Cava has got a lot better. If you are tiring with Prosecco, you really should give it a go.

Over the last few years, some really interesting still wines made from Xarel Lo have emerged, including the XIC above, a wine made from organic grapes and a mere 11.5 per cent in alcohol. Agustí Torelló and his three sons produce some of Catalunya's finest Cava along with some very tasty still wines. This is a lovely fresh light fruity wine that will revive tired taste buds over Christmas. €15.95 from Sheridan's cheesemongers.