Brewery Name: Dingle Brewhouse
Beer Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.2%
Country: Ireland

Tasting Notes

Dive into the sensory experience of Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale.

• Appearance: Pale golden in the glass with bright clarity and a soft white head that lingers in a light lace as you drink.
• Aroma: Gentle notes of biscuit malt, soft grain and a hint of light fruit esters, backed by a subtle floral hop character.
• Flavour: Clean and easy-going from the first sip. Lightly toasted malt gives a soft biscuit sweetness, balanced by delicate floral and herbal hop flavours and a low, well-judged bitterness. The finish is crisp, dry and refreshingly moreish.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied with smooth, fine carbonation. It feels soft on the palate but finishes clean, making it very sessionable and perfect for relaxed, un-fussy drinking.

This is a quietly classic blonde ale: simple in the best way, with enough flavour to keep you interested but never so much that it gets in the way of conversation. It’s the sort of beer you can happily enjoy a couple of over an evening without palate fatigue.

About the Brewery: Dingle Brewhouse

Get to know the creators behind Dick Mack’s Blonde Ale.

Dick Mack’s Brewhouse is housed in a building from the 1850s on Green Street in Dingle. Over its lifetime it has been a cowhouse, a loft for drying Blasket Island wool, and later a working space where Guinness barrels from Dublin were tapped and hand-bottled for the pub next door. By the late 20th century it had become a simple keg and delivery store, weathered by decades of Atlantic storms.

In 2015, three friends – Aussie, Seamus and Finn, Dick Mack’s grandson – decided to give the old brewhouse a new purpose and bring brewing back to the site. After years of planning and graft, Dick Mack’s Brewhouse reopened with modern Braukon brewing equipment, allowing the team to brew small-batch beers with tight control over every step of the process, while still keeping the story of the building at the heart of what they do.

The brewery now offers tours, where visitors can walk through the historic brewhouse, hear these stories first-hand, see the brewkit in action and taste the beers just a few metres from where they’re made – a proper Dingle beer experience.

Style Spotlight: Blonde Ale

Explore the roots of this easy-drinking beer style.

• Origins: Blonde ale emerged as brewers started to produce lighter-coloured, approachable beers to sit between traditional ales and pale lagers. It often acts as a “bridge” style, welcoming lager drinkers into the world of craft beer without overwhelming them.
• Evolution: As craft beer has grown, blonde ales have become a staple in many breweries’ line-ups. They’re a way to offer flavour and character without going full-on bitter, sour or super hoppy. Brewers can highlight good-quality malt and yeast while keeping things relaxed.
• Key Characteristics: Typically pale gold to light amber in colour, with gentle biscuit or bread-crust malt notes, low to moderate bitterness, and a clean, dry finish. Hop character is usually subtle and floral or lightly fruity, and ABV tends to sit around the 4–5% mark for easy session drinking.
• Modern Takes: Some breweries nudge the style in different directions with local ingredients, a touch of new-world hops, or a slightly fruitier yeast profile, but the heart of a blonde ale remains the same: unfussy, refreshing, and very drinkable.

How This Differs from a Belgian Blonde

Although they share the word “blonde”, Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale is a very different beer to a classic Belgian blonde.

• Strength: Belgian blondes are usually stronger, often in the 6–7.5% range, with a bit more warmth from the alcohol. Dingle’s blonde sits at 4.2%, so it’s firmly in session territory.
• Yeast character: Belgian blondes are yeast-driven, with spicy, fruity notes like clove, pepper, pear or banana. Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale is much cleaner, with only gentle fruity esters and no big spicy or clovey edge.
• Sweetness and body: Belgian blondes tend to have a fuller body and a touch more sweetness, sometimes with a honeyed or candy-sugar note. Dingle’s blonde is drier and crisper, designed to finish clean and refreshing.
• Flavour emphasis: In a Belgian blonde, yeast is the star of the show. In Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale, the focus is on light biscuit malt and subtle floral hops, making it feel closer to a modern pale ale or golden ale than to a Belgian abbey beer.

In short: if a Belgian blonde is a richer, yeast-driven sipping beer, Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale is its lighter, cleaner, easy-going cousin – perfect for a couple of pints, not just one contemplative glass.v

If You Like This Beer, You Might Also Enjoy…

Expand your horizons within this easy-drinking corner of the beer world.

If Dingle Brewhouse Blonde Ale hits the spot, you might also enjoy:

• Brehon Blonde 50Cl 4.3% – another Irish blonde ale with gentle malt sweetness, soft citrus hop notes and a crisp, balanced finish.
• Heaney Irish Blonde 50Cl 5% – a smooth, easy-drinking blonde from Co. Derry, offering light biscuit malt and subtle fruit character.
• Hopburg Helles 50Cl 4.7% – a clean, refreshing Helles lager with soft malt, delicate bitterness and a crisp, satisfying finish.
• Vocation Hop Skip & Juice Pale Ale 44Cl 5.7% – a juicy, low-bitterness pale ale with plenty of mango and citrus flavour but a soft, easy-going profile.

These are the beers to reach for when you want flavour and refreshment, but you also want “just one more” without overthinking it.

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