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Third time... lucky?
Gueze is hard to resist. That's why I've come back to Lambiek Fabriek, even though I don't think their beers are as good as those of their more established competitors. But they're available here now,...
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In the loup
A new pair of Wicklow Wolf beers arrived in early May, adding respectively to the brewery's collaboration and limited edition series.Mayo's Mescan is not really known for its collaborations, and as a...
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A right bunch of prinks
This Saturday sees the first ever Mullingar Wild Beer Festival at Smiddy's Bar. It promises to be quite the event and I'm really looking forward to seeing, and tasting, what the brewers have brought....
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The mask slips
Brand extensions are nothing new, and the big English ale breweries in particular are no strangers to them. They've invested heavily in their flagships so they (or their accountants) must feel that...
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Birthday boys
Two of Belgian brewing's big brands are celebrating round-number anniversaries at the moment, and have released special beers to mark the respective occasions.The gnomes at La Chouffe are presumably in...
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Back in the game
My summer of beer festivals began in Cork, with the return of the Franciscan Well's Easter gig, delayed a month or so. It was a wise choice as the weather was beautiful.I started in Rising Sons, for a...
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Defcon FUN
I missed this one the first time it arrived on these shores, but it's back, in an even larger pint-can format. The strapline on Sierra Nevada's Atomic Torpedo is "Juicy West Coast DIPA", a phrase...
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You don't pass Adnams
An addendum to my post on this year's Spring Real Ale Festival at Wetherspoon, a beer that didn't reach the tap in Keavan's Port until after the festival was officially over but which I was...
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Business as unusual
It's a new start for Dublin's DOT Brew, launching a new core range of beers for (I think) the third time in its six-year history. This time there are five of them, with the first three landing in early...
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Broad horizons
An Irish brewery that specialises in Belgian-style beer making an eastern European take on a classic British style. That's what's in front of me. Mescan Seven Virtues Baltic Porter is the latest in...
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As above, so below
I'm absolutely loving the variety of beer provenance we've started getting here of late -- breweries of all manner of exotic nationalities. I've been trying to make a point of trying a couple from each...
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The wilds of Westmeath
The summer of revived beer festivities continued earlier this month with a brand new event. It was an unlikely one, and all the better for that: a one-day festival of assorted wild-fermented beer,...
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Happy squash
I have become quite blasé about top-tier hyped-up American breweries' wares landing in Ireland. They're mostly hazy IPAs of the sort any brewery can make, and it's entirely unnecessary to ship such...
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The style council
Today's trio have little in common with each other, only that they're in styles we rarely see from Irish brewers.First it's a cream ale. This adjunct-laden retro American beer type had a brief revival...
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Hop whirl summer
It's pale ale round-up time again. Let's see what the nation's hop slingers and haze merchants had for us in the first half of Summer '22.We'll begin at Third Barrel and an ickle 4%-er called, in...
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Bluebell Freezes Over
Out in west Dublin, Whiplash is the brewery with the esoteric song references in its beer names, the high-end arty labels, the bespoke brewhouse and the sparkling international reputation. There's also...
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The Augsburg Confusion
It was nice to see Bavarian brewer Riegele show up in bottled form in Molloys. The selection of German beer available in this city isn't brilliant, but if you're picking a new brand to offer, this is a...
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A new lease on life
Hopfully has begun the next phase of its existence, becoming once more a standalone brewery having taken over the former Metalman Brewery in Waterford. They had been brewing there for a while already...
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The variation enigma
Rye River looks to have completed the retiring of its McGargles brand. It was hackneyed when they introduced it in 2013 so I'm not sorry to see it go. The new branding is clean and classy and the beers...
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Under the radar
Since I got out of the habit of going to pubs I've missed that Galway Bay has been quite busy with new releases, not all of which I've managed to get hold of. I need to pay more attention to their...
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