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Brace for the nonsense
Not for the first time, Melissa Cole said it best: "Are you here for the nonsense?" The nonsense in question is the Belgian Beer Weekend, a festival of sorts which takes over Grand Place in Brussels on...
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And what else?
Continuing from yesterday, my run-down of the beers I drank at the Belgian Beer Weekend festival in Brussels last month.Early on, I spotted a new entrant into the lambic world, with an unusual product:...
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The 51st state
It was finally time to put my 2020 travel plan into action! Latvia, a country I'd never visited, had been top of my list back then, and in September 2023 it became the 51st country I've been to.My...
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Further abroad
Yesterday we got introduced to Riga and its beer via some of the bars in the historic centre. Today we're firing up our transport pass and moving out into the sprawl for more.It's not very far to...
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The cat and the barley
For my last entry in the Riga Chronicles, two of my favourite pubs in the city's historic centre.Up by the northern perimeter is Kaķis Maisā, another roomy vaulted basement like BEERA. I didn't get to...
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Seems familiar
From Riga, I flew to the Netherlands, for just a brief stopover on the way home. Utrecht was chosen solely because it's so convenient to Schiphol. And it has several favourite pubs to return to.Top of...
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New-trecht
My short stay in Utrecht in September provided an opportunity to explore some beer venues I hadn't been to before. On a sunny Tuesday afternoon I set off down the canal to the city's southern reaches.I...
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Marking time
Landmark Dublin pub The Palace, one of the few reasons to ever venture into Temple Bar, is celebrating 200 years in business. Like most such drinks-related anniversaries it requires an asterisk or two,...
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A cheap celebration
The Autumn Real Ale Festival at JD Wetherspoon kicked off last week, with the promise of 40 different special beers on rotation across the branches, and the usual handful of international...
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Two harted
It's been quite a while since I've had any new 9 White Deer beer on here. Today's post was prompted by a couple of the Cork brewery's less-known beers making an appearance in Blackrock Cellar.The first...
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Anything but IPA
When a slew of new beers from Budapest's Horizont arrived in, I took a judicious look through what was on offer. Not deliberately, but I found myself eschewing all of the IPAs: beers that just seemed...
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From zero to loads
It's catch-up time for me with Wicklow Wolf. In my defence, Locavore Summer 2023 arrived late, only showing up on shelves near me in late August. This year's twist on the all-local ingredients spec is...
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Amber gambles
The German brewing establishment haven't lasted as long as they have by being innovative, or at least what passes as innovative here in the craft age. So it's always interesting to see them doing...
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Hot and sour
I don't know what the deal is with "Ginger & Co", purported maker of this sparsely branded Ginger Beer. They've dealt with the requirement to put an address on the label by printing a bare Eircode,...
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Caribouze
Blimey! They've gone all-in for craft beer at Moosehead: an absolute plethora of "Small Batch" beers covering a whole range of styles of the sort that discerning beer drinkers demand. I'm intrigued to...
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Muscling in
Belfast's Hercules brewery, home of the Yardsman beers, has featured sporadically on the beer shelves in Dublin. I hadn't seen their beer in several years when I got a surprise in the beer aisle of...
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Gross to the most
I'm guessing the San Sebastián brewery is not intending to do a lot of exporting to the USA. Or maybe they just like the idea of selling English-speakers cans with GROSS written down the side in huge...
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Today's Schnitzls
Schnitzel doesn't grow on trees, or so I believed until Privatbrauerei Schnitzlbaumer entered my life, its name conjuring an image of juicy breaded cutlets, hanging ready to be picked. Four beers from...
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Wintercore
Rascals has branded The Phoenix Dark an "autumnal ale", though it was October by the time they canned it and I suspect it may be around a little while longer. No matter. I'm theorising it'll be fine...
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Two lonely lagers
Usually, Lineman releases new beers in multiples. When I saw Reflector for sale during the summer I figured that a companion beer wouldn't be long behind it. However, in the months since, the brewery...
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