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The cask task
JD Wetherspoon Real Ale Festival: are any words more stirring to the human soul? Â Late October means it's time for my annual ritual of cycling out to the South County coast and seeing what's on the...
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Just super
The SuperValu supermarket around the corner from me has featured in a few posts this year, including the one about them setting up their own growler station (no, I haven't seen anyone actually use it...
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Sour Brits
The fashion for sour beers continues apace, and is mostly to the good, in my opinion. Today I'm looking at one each from two English breweries who have produced some of my favourite British beers of...
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Baby got backlog
Before I went on holidays in September I made a concerted effort to clear as much as I could out of my beer fridge. This post represents that hurried few days' swigging -- an express train through some...
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The crawl is on
In late September I headed off on an 18,000km round trip to the United States, taking in three cities, 38 pubs and a fair handful of beers which you're going to hear all about in varying levels of...
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Big Apple turnover
Yesterday's post left off with me leaving McSorley's Old Ale House and crossing a couple of New York city blocks to visit the next bar on my list: Proletariat. It's a small space, most of its narrow...
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Serious craft
I'm a daytime drinker by preference, especially when on holidays. But there was so much to cover on the trip to New York that some places only got an evening visit, a time when I'm not at my best and...
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Brooklyn brews
Time constraints meant I didn't get to do anything like as much exploring of Brooklyn's beer scene as I'd wanted to on my recent visit to New York. It all ended up being squeezed into one frantic...
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Curiosity and the skunk
I went to the USA with a small mental list of well-known American beers that tend not to get described in the general beer discourse. They're frequently mentioned as background references, as though...
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Specific north-west
Portland, Oregon divides roughly into two halves. The Willamette river bisects the city on a north-south axis, with downtown — the main commercial district — on the west side, and an industrial (and...
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Being thorough
I first encountered beer from Portland's Breakside Brewery quite inadvertently. We had just arrived into town and lacked the energy for any proper exploring so settled for dinner in a decent-but-pricey...
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Into the cluster
In the last post we had just left Mt. Tabor Brewing on the east side of Portland. We'd actually got there via a couple of other breweries, the ones grouped together in the neighbourhood just beyond the...
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Points north
I mentioned in Tuesday's post the single Portland brewery that was on Jeff's must-see list. There was only one on mine too: Upright Brewing. This was partly because I'd read good things about it,...
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Goodbye Portland
There comes a time on every holiday, regardless of where I am, that I decide it's time for a curry. Not every place is accommodating, but Portland, Oregon was. I don't know if it's a coincidence that...
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Capital scoops
If you can go the whole taxi ride from Ronald Reagan airport to downtown Washington DC without the theme from House of Cards playing in your head you have better self-control than me. The American...
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The last brewpubs
As I mentioned on Monday, Washington DC isn't exactly a full-spectrum, multi-faceted beer destination, but it does have beer. I really wasn't expecting much from its brewpubs: the two I visited both...
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Get your shades on
The rise of the craft beer can has provided a big opportunity for graphic designers and the brewers who commission their work. I suspect that this in turn is leading to a bit of a promotional arms race...
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Trans-Shannon exports
On the daytrip to Galway back in July I managed to sneak a look-in at the Fine Wines off licence just down the street from The Salt House. In there I grabbed a handful of local beers I hadn't seen...
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Ghost chilli
The beers of Brasserie Fantôme can be hit-and-miss, to say the least. And yet what often tastes like your mate's dodgy homebrew seems to have garnered a cult following around the beeriverse and I'm not...
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Of Saints and Rascals
There's much to catch up with as regards new Irish beer in recent months. Going all the way back to early October, St. Mel's were in town, occupying some of the taps in The Beerhouse for an evening....
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