Wednesday 18 January 2017

Brew day with BrĂș

Hey beer fans! I had a super day in Navan last Saturday... I know Navan, right? 😉 So my wonderful wife got me a voucher for a brew day with the guys up in BrĂș Brewery for Christmas. For 2 weekends in January, BrĂș House Navan are hosting groups of 16 to brew a beer on their 300ltr test kit out the back of their pub (sold out I'm afraid but I'm sure they will run these days again). 

Day started off with pick up from the 2 other BrĂș houses (Fairview & Newbridge) - the latter for me. Had a good chat with Founder Dave O'Hare on the way up to Navan, sound man. Have to say I was impressed with how open and honest he was with regard to the brewery and future plans. A lot of people in the industry are cagey with the information they give out but Dave was happy to chat away about plans for more seasonals this year being trialled on the test kit, planned food menu and bottled beer changes in their pubs. 
So we got to the Navan bar and sure it would be rude not to grab a beer before we got started. I had a spiced winter ale, a recent seasonal on draft in the bar. Lots of cinnamon and nutmeg flavours, would be ideal for sipping on in front of a big open fire! 




Lovely modern, bright bar but we were off out back to get a-brewin' in the beer garden. Here we met other founding BrĂș man Daire who would be guiding us through the brew day. Funny bastard is Daire, got everyone in great form for the day. He gave us a quick guide to different malts and hops and we decided on brewing a pale ale. 



We got to see the brew through from start to finish, including mashing in, boiling the wort, hop additions, chilling and transferring to fermenter. Half way through the day we stopped for lunch and I have to say the food is fantastic in the BrĂș bars, well worth popping in for a bite if you're near any of them. 
 

These brew days are a great way to get to meet fellow beer enthusiasts and after a few cheeky pints we were all having a great bit of banter. Also if you homebrew or have any interest in getting started, this day will help understand the processes involved. 



 The day is an absolute bargain, as well as learning how to brew a beer start to finish, you get a two course lunch, guided beer tasting, 12 bottles of the beer when it's finished and are picked up/dropped back from your chosen BrĂș house! Happy days đŸ» 

I also got to catch up with the beer snobs (Wayne & Janice) for a couple of beers so great day altogether! If you weren't following #Irishbeerchat on twitter this Monday evening, they are launching their own beer school with thebeerclub.ie - you can check it out here

Cheers - TBH



 


 


 

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