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Decisions
Frank Boon never wanted to do retail. He was frequently advised to start -- the brewery he set up in 1975 is right beside Lembeek train station, a 30 minute hop from central Brussels: the potential for...
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Dutch detour
I didn't go directly home after Brussels but instead took a Sunday morning train up to Amsterdam to pay a flying visit to some of my favourite and familiar haunts.A burger in a randomly chosen burger...
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Untamed beasts
Time for one of my occasional Canvas catch-ups, thanks to a trip over to Blackrock Cellar, the primo Dublin stockist of beers from down the country that rarely make it to Dublin.First it's a beer...
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The throwback
A drizzly grey evening seemed like the appropriate occasion to open this Californian take on brown bitter: Firestone Walker's Double Barrel Ale. I hadn't realised when I bought it what a throwback it...
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Top stuff
I'm trying out a new brewery today: HopTop, based in Budapest. First the fundamentals, then a bit of silliness.To begin, a Vienna lager called Bécsi Ászok. It's one of the paler ones, I guess, being...
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Pale Black
Black's of Kinsale supply the goods today, mostly at the pale 'n' hoppy end of the spectrum.First it's a matching pair of 5% ABV fruited IPAs with American hops, beginning on Pineapple & El Dorado...
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Long live strong beer
Today's candidates come courtesy of the clearout bin at Craft Central. I swerved all the unsold American hazy IPAs and went for styles where a bit of age wouldn't be a problem. As it happened, both of...
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Beat the January rush
I feared I might have missed the new-year specials when I rocked up to Rascals for an overdue visit in late February. Thankfully everything was still in stock -- shout-out to all the dry Januaryers of...
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On the rebound
It's been a while since I had any Boundary beers on here, so let's get a rake of them logged and blogged.We'll start (broadly) sour with the 4.5% ABV To Here Knows When. They're calling this a Berliner...
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Two big lads from Galway
This pair of whoppers from Galway Bay brewery arrived simultaneously in late March. When I noticed they were on draught side-by-side in Against the Grain, I went in to try them out.The lighter of the...
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Card carrying
I had been keeping up with the beers from the revived Post Card brand but somehow missed their Custom House pale ale. When I noticed, and bought one, it was only a couple of months from the best...
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On the straight and narrow
Festival time at JD Wetherspoon rolled around again in late March. As usual, I had a few preliminaries before it got under way.That started in Keavan's Port with Lancaster Brewery's Lancaster Red. At...
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Bandwagons west
Did we really need another extension to Sierra Nevada's "Little Thing" series? Especially since this one is called Juicy Little Thing: wasn't juiciness the whole point of the original, and still best,...
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Who's your daddy?
In that this blog is the nearest thing I have to a child, today's the day I get to take it out for a first legal drink. It's 18 years since I started, and I'm not seeing any reason to stop yet.To mark...
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Confounded expectations
I've been enjoying Third Barrel's 4% ABV session IPA series, Day Drinkin and I notice they have abandoned the numbering system for iteration five, simply telling us it's Strata, Citra, Simcoe. As usual...
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Flight of the navigator
The Northside is the east coast and the Southside is the west coast in this pair of geographically confused double IPAs, brewed by Hope for Craft Central. Both are 8% ABV and hopped with Columbus,...
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Promise kept
I told you that when DOT completed the launch of its core range, first presented in the media in June of last year, that I would let you know. Easy Amber was the straggler, featured in the press...
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Don't call it a comeback
New pale ales from Irish breweries are back on the shelves after a winter hiatus. Here's what I've picked up in the last couple of months.They like a session IPA at Kinnegar. Brewers At Play No. 29 is...
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Down and up
It's been a while since I've had any Mourne Mountains beer on here. I don't get to do much beer shopping up north and they have only just returned to the shelves down here, so I'm well behind on what...
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The kennel club
Another BrewDog post so soon? Once again, I'm pleading circumstances. In March the Scottish brewery's Dublin megapub generously hosted the National Homebrew Club's first national competition since...
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