The days of looking longingly at the likes of Belgium and Germany are over. Ireland now has a range of craft beers – and ciders! – to match any in Europe.

Team Hot Press discovered that for itself a few weeks back when we sampled a range of brews in Against The Grain (11 Wexford Street, Dublin 2. Tel. 01 470 5100. winefoodbeer.com), a gastropub that handily for pre- and après-gig quaffing is diagonally opposite Whelan’s.
Along with some great food – their falafel burger and hot roast beef sarnie with boozy onions both come highly recommended – they have such fine tipples as Galway Hooker, O’Hara’s Irish Stout, Trouble Brewing Dark Arts, Curim Gold, Belfast Blonde and Bay Ale and Lager on tap, plus a hundred more bottled Irish and world beers of which Belgium’s dark, toffee-ish Gouden Carolus is a particular Hot Press favourite.
Against The Grain is also home to the beer bat, which allows you to have sampler glasses of any three of their draught brews for €6.
Another great place in the capital for food and craft beer is Bowe’s (31 Fleet Street, Dublin 2. Tel. 01 671 4038. www.doylesintown.com), a pub with genuine old world charm and a fantastic Sunday night trad session whose participants include renowned uillean piper Eoin Dillon. Making sure that whistles and other instruments are kept whet are O’Hara’s Red and Pale Ale both bottled and on draught; Galway Hooker; the Dungarvan Brewing Company range of brews; Black Sheep and Belfast Blonde.
Topping our Hot Press Taste Test – Kevin Thornton gave it a perfect ‘10’ – was Tom Crean’s, the 4.6% ABV creation of the Dingle Brewing Company who are committed to rejuvenating the unique atmosphere of socialising in an Irish pub by producing a premium Irish lager that will appeal to both the public and the publican alike. They hope to provide a focal point for friends to get together, enjoying that unique atmosphere, each other’s company and a pint or glass of their flagship Tom Crean’s, which is brewed naturally using only the finest ingredients and their very own spring water. So far the support has been amazing. Here’s to Tom!
Kevin Thornton is also a big fan of the Carlow Brewing Company (www.carlowbrewing.com), which the O’Hara family set up in 1996 in Bagenalstown, an area renowned for its hop and malt growing. Since then they’ve established an extensive core range of O’Hara’s stouts, ales and wheat beers and further entice beer drinkers with seasonal and limited-edition brews.
“Carlow Brewing Company is one of the pioneers of the independent brewing industry revival in Ireland, which in recent years has seen a significant resurgence with 19 craft breweries in operation today, reviving a tradition once common in every town and village, but lost since the end of the 1800s,” explains General Manager Kay O’Hara. “These breweries are producing a wide variety of beer styles using natural ingredients and true craftsmanship, employing local people and supporting the Irish economy with profits staying in Ireland.
“Our beers are hand-crafted using all natural ingredients, packed with flavours and infused with our passion to produce high quality beers with distinctive flavours and aromas, which stimulate consumers’ tastes and offer choice away from mainstream mass-produced bland beers. Our brewing team are hands on in every stage of production from start to finish, resulting in high-quality beers with distinctive flavours and aromas.”
The company has successfully managed to marry traditional brewing recipes and ingredients with modern production standards in their state-of-the-art brewing facility.
“We produce a wide range of award-winning beers,” Kay resumes, “including the creamy O’Hara’s Irish Stout laden with rich espresso and chocolate flavours; the full-bodied O’Hara’s Irish Red Ale with sweet caramalt and a distinctive roast bite; the fruity and refreshing Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer; the luxurious Leann Folláin extra Irish Stout; and the contemporary style zesty O’Hara’s Irish Pale Ale which has been highly acclaimed by discerning beer aficionados since its launch in 2009. More recently a limited edition-beer based on smoked malts, O’Hara’s Smoked Ale No.1, has been getting a great reaction.”
Along with its domestic availability, O’Hara’s stouts and ales can also be found in over 20 export markets.
The Dungarvan Brewing Company (www,dungarvanbrewingcompany.com) had good reason to celebrate last October when they picked up the coveted ‘Best New Producer’ gong at the Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards. The night’s master of ceremonies, Peter Ward, paid fulsome tribute to both them and the other “passionate, driven individuals” who make up Ireland’s rapidly expanding micro-brewing industry.
Launched in April 2010, the Dungarvan Brewing Company produce three superb bottle-conditioned beers – Black Rock Irish Stout, Copper Coast Red Ale and Helvick Gold Blonde Ale – with the emphasis on quality, craft and tradition.
The full-range made it into Bryan Ferry’s dressing-room recently when the Roxy Music man played a special Tall Ships Race gig in Waterford.
In addition to bars, the Dungarvan Brewing Company’s wares are increasingly to be found in artisan-minded off-licences like The Drink Store (87 Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7. Tel. 01 671 9760. www.drinkstore.ie), which has become a Mecca for the capital’s discerning beer lovers.
The shop promises “Good Libations” – spot the Beach Boys fans! – and delivers big time with a list of beers that’s positively telephone directory-esque.
As well as being hugely supportive of Irish micros – Mitchelstown's Eight Degrees Brewing is one of its latest additions – The Drink Store has hundreds of world beers with Nostradamus (Belgium), River Horse Tripel Horse (USA), Williams Bros. Black (Scotland), De Molen Pilz (Holland), Belzebuth (France) and Nogne O (Norway) some of the lesser-known names Hot Press can heartily recommend.
You can also shop online with next working delivery nationwide on orders placed before noon. Better still, there’s 10% off if you use the online checkout code, which can be found on page 84. One of Ireland’s microwbrewing evangelicals is Cuilan Loughnane who set up his own Templemore-based White Gypsy Brewery in August 2009 after eleven years working elsewhere in the industry.
Cuilan and his team produce five draught beers – Emerald, Rosie, Blond, Raven and Amber – which were all big hits at September’s Irish Craft Beer Festival in the RDS. Unusually for Ireland, they’re made with hops that White Gypsy grows itself.
“Our philosophy is about getting back in touch with the things that made Ireland famous for its beer but have long since been forgotten,” Loughnane ventures. “Part of that is growing our own hops. There was this disconnect between what you were producing – a local craft beer – and the having to import the key ingredient from England. This year we’re going to plant two acres, which will take care of all our needs. Hopefully it’s the start of the Irish hop industry, which had all but died out, being revived.”
Something else Cuilan is bringing back is oak-aged stout.
“Guinness used to blend a certain amount of oak-aged beer with fresh beer, which by all accounts made for a wonderful depth of flavour,” he explains. “They stopped doing that over a hundred years ago though, so wanting to revive it we went down to Burgundy and bought some new American and French oak barrels. The bloke thought I was nuts! We had a blend there at the RDS, which was two-year-old oak-aged stout with two-day-old fresh stout and it absolutely worked a treat.”
Draught beers well and truly mastered, White Gypsy is planning to have a bottled range out for Christmas.
Cuilan’s passion for microbrewing is shared by Russell Garet, the Head of Brewing at the award-winning Franciscan Well (North Mall, Cork City. Tel. 021 421 0130, www.franciscanwellbrewery.com), which has been fighting the good fight since 1998.
A draught-only brewery, the New Yorker combines modern technology with age-old tradition to produce such classic beers and ales as Blarney Blonde, Rebel Red, Friar Weisse, Writer’s Block Lager, Writer’s Red Ale and Purgatory Pale Ale. Garet’s latest creation is the limited-edition Shandon Century Extra Stout, which follows a hundred-year old recipe. It has a robust taste, with more toasted malt character and hop bitterness than big brewery stouts. We’re also rather partial to Shandon Cider, a wonderfully fruity concoction that’s destined to become a best-seller.
The aforementioned can all be sampled in their Leeside brewpub, which is a must-visit if you’re in the People’s Republic over the October Bank Holiday for the Guinness Jazz Festival. A selction of Franciscan Well brews are also available in such fine hostelries as O’Neill’s Bar & Restaurant and The Ginger Man, which can be respectively found on Dublin’s Suffolk Street and Fenian Street. They’re both wonderful pubs, full of character and willing to go the extra mile for their beer loving regulars.
Along with the microbrewing revolution, there’s also been a huge upsurge of interest in home brewing and winemaking. Donal Condren of HomeBrew.ie says that this has occurred since the recession began and because of the high quality of beer and wine that can now be made at home at very low cost.
“During the boom years, people spent all their time shopping,” he reflects. “Now many are returning to hobbies like gardening and keeping chickens, which are enjoyable, inexpensive and healthy. Making your own beer and wine fits into this category too.”
HomeBrew.ie has all the kits, equipment and ingredients you need to make your own beer and wine, whether a novice or an old hand. Donal formed the company with his partner Marion soon after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and is very happy to talk to customers and give them advice on how to get started – just call him at (086) 389 2932.