IRELAND
May as well start with the most familiar and the country in which we are most spoiled with beer choice. From each of the 4 provinces, there are a great range of beers being brewed. Stouts, Reds, Pale Ales, IPA's, Weiss beers, Sours and barrel aged numbers, we're being spoiled at the moment!
In Leinster, there are some amazing beers being produced. IPA's are everyone's favourite at the moment, Rye River Brewing's Big Bangin IPA and Kelly's Mountain Brew's Reality Bytes are my favourite local beers!! Some newer breweries in the province are really pushing the boundaries such as DOT brewing and beer geek favourites Yellow Belly this year - looking forward to seeing what they roll out in 2017. Also this year there are some new breweries/side projects coming up! Third Circle and Stone Barrel have joined forces and moved in to their brewery, should be some good beer on the way from these lot. Also Jason from Wicklow Brewery just announced his own side project Storm Crow will be releasing beers from April onwards. If the beers he is producing for WB are anything to go by we're in for a treat.
Down in Munster, we have arguably the best breweries as a collective in the country. Stylish beers from White Gypsy in Tipperary, kings of the IPA, Eight Degrees in Mitchelstown and founding fathers of the Irish craft beer scene Franciscan Well in Cork city still bringing great beers to the table (bought by Molson Coors). Eight degrees began a barrel aged series which got good reviews before Christmas and their latest offering, a barley wine aged in Chardonnay barrels in due to be released late spring. Fran Well continue to host great beer festivals in their awesome bar in the city. Make sure you visit next time you're in Cork. Also cant talk about Munster beer without mentioning my favourite stout - Worlds End from Blacks of Kinsale. An imperial stout released late in the year, loads of vanilla and chocolate flavour in this one.
In Ulster, particularly Belfast I believe the craft beer scene is hampered a bit by the pubs being controlled by the likes of Tennants. There is only a small number of free houses in the city. But there are some great breweries up north! I had a fantastic sour stout (interesting style I've only tried the once) from the Boundary brewing co-op at The Great Irish Beer Festival last September. Kinnegar Brewery also releasing some of the most popular beers in the country. They often release beers under the kettle sour series, the latest of which, Olan's Tart - a collaboration with Dan Kelly's cider is out now.
Finally there's Connacht. Probably one of the biggest success stories since the craft beer boom began here is Galway Bay brewery. To date, not only have they release quality beers such as Of Foam and Fury double IPA and their barrel aged 200 fathoms but they have also opened 11 bars. These bars in Galway and Dublin along with the likes of The Porterhouse pubs have created meccas for beer fans in Ireland. Mescan Brewery over in Westport are brewing up some lovely Belgian style beers with an Irish twist. Their head brewer is a Belgian man so you know he knows how to brew a good beer. The best beer I had from them was the Christmas special, Beoir na Nollaig.
So next week I'll have a look at England and Scotland? Sure. Why not? 😉
Cheers - TBH
No comments:
Post a Comment