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There's no IPA in team
It's fun how several Irish microbreweries have now adopted local League of Ireland football clubs. Galway Bay is the latest, pulling on the jersey of second-division strivers Galway United. The tie-in...
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Play to your strengths
Wicklow Wolf has got right into gear for 2022 with a bunch of new releases: permanent, seasonal and one-offs. The full-spectrum craft beer experience is what we come to them for.First up is a new core...
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Where you been?
It's almost three months since I last did a pale ale roundup, and with an even ten candidates in the backlog it's time to get a new one published. Here's what a selection of the busiest Irish brewers...
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Darkest Romania
Two strong and dark yokes from Romanian funsters Hop Hooligans today. The brewery was a highlight of my visit to Bucharest a few years back so it was a cheery reunion when they arrived in Dublin.I...
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I learned the truth
The blog's birthday rolls around again. Today I'm marking 17 years of writing about beers, and wondering if this was the plan. Regardless, I haven't yet run out of beers to write about so we...
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Take four
It's rare that one gets to see the inside of 57 the Headline on a Monday. This occasion was a charity tap takeover by Trouble Brewing, bringing a bunch of new releases as well as several old...
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On familiar ground
The trip to Germany was originally planned and booked for April 2020 and I spent the months running up to it fervently hoping that this Covid thing will prove to be a damp squib and we'd all be back to...
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Here comes a new challenger
Bamberg, capital city of beer culture in Germany, is not known for a here-today, gone-tomorrow approach to breweries. The establishments that put it on the map for the beer tourists of recent decades...
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Heidelbräu
After Bamberg, the next stop on the Germany trip was Heidelberg. It's a charming little city, the old town squeezed into a narrow valley on the river Necker, overlooked by the castle and, above it, a...
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Stash Killing as a Service
The reason I was in Heidelberg was as a base for paying a visting to Barry and the Kertelreiter brand home in Schefflenz, an hour away via some stunning scenery. Trees were examined, ciders and perries...
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Cask central
Time was, the twice-annual Wetherspoon Real Ale Festival meant setting off on two wheels to the outer suburbs of Dublin. Its post-pandemic return has seen a change in the dynamic, however, with central...
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We're mad we are
I'm always a little concerned when a country's entire beer output gets represented by one single brewery. It's the case with Hungary and Mad Scientist. Of course there are plenty of other Hungarian...
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Friends and allies
Ballykilcavan began its "Clancy's Cans" series of limited editions two years ago with a raspberry wheat beer. It looks like they've decided to make it a regular part of their range now, adjusting the...
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Punching up
Summer appears to have brought with it a slew of fruited sour beers. It's been observed, and I think quite rightly, that sour beer has a very limited appeal in Ireland, though our brewers remain...
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A hazy shade of summer
There can be no clearer indication that I don't drink as much IPA as I used to than coming home on a sunny evening and thinking "Ooh, I'd love an IPA about now." Basqueland was the brewery that...
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CANarchist party
"CANarchy" would be a ridiculous name for a start-up microbrewery with delusions of youth appeal, but as the collective brand of several fully mainstream American producers it's downright cringeworthy,...
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Stout mask replica
When Dublin City Brewing first graced these pages, I mentioned that their intended line-up included "Parnell Porter". That never materialised but they do have a new dark beer, simply called Irish...
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Oi oi oi
The recent surprise realisation that I'd never posted a review of Augustiner Dunkel on here had me checking the status of the rest of the range. Sure enough, Augustiner Pils was absent too. It would...
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Dry state of the art
It's time for one of my periodic checks on the state of non-alcoholic beer. Brulo (formerly Coast) is one of the new wave of UK brewers who make nothing but. The company is headquartered in Edinburgh...
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Home and Garden
In the summer of 2019 I spent a pleasant sunny afternoon in the taproom of Garden Brewery in Zagreb. Their beer does get out and about as well, and today I'm at home getting reintroduced.I've had most...
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