White Gypsy Craft Brewer project

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Saw this interesting article on our Beer brothers site.

Luckily I can put this here with out feeling too guilty due to the creation of ....

... Bushmills Matured Stout

Good to see some proper micro brewers trying to make a go of it.

I encourage all members to support locally brewed beer if they can avail of it. Support is the only way to create a small but tasty beer indusrty. Most european countries have locally produced beer and it would be nice to see it happen (again) here.

The Irish Craft Brewer site is a great site for all you beer lovers.

[brettie vedder]

o'haras makes a nice stout and red. i always assumed it was an irish microbrew. i think its out of wicklow or carlow...

[DavidH]

I encourage all members to support locally brewed beer if they can avail of it. Support is the only way to create a small but tasty beer indusrty.

You are absolutely right. It's one of the few indigenous industries that we have the critical mass in this country to support. Consider all the money spent on imported drink (and foreign booze made under licence). We could, and should, be supporting local brewers and distillers.

[jcskinner]

I try to drink in the city's brew-your-own pubs by choice.
It's handy being so close to Porterhouse North!
I always liked the way Messrs Maguire do porter too, though I'm less keen on their ales.
I don't drink as much beer as I once did. I don't really have the capacity anymore. But I'd always go for a fresh local brew wherever I was. The best pint is whatever's most recently brewed, fresh, and travelled least, no matter where you are.
And if it was made by artisans in small batches with traditional care, and tastes as idyllic as its circumstances of creation, so much the better!
Loads of great little breweries all over Ireland, incidentally. Lilliput did a good guide to the beers and ciders of Ireland by that Iorwerth welsh chap who writes on Irish whiskey occasionally in Malt Advocate.
Apart from the Porterhouse's Wrassler's XXXX stout, I'm a big fan of the output of the Hilden brewery in Lisburn. Great bottled ales altogether.

[JohnM]

Saw this interesting article on our Beer brothers site.

Luckily I can put this here with out feeling too guilty due to the creation of ....

... Bushmills Matured Stout

Good to see some proper micro brewers trying to make a go of it.

I encourage all members to support locally brewed beer if they can avail of it. Support is the only way to create a small but tasty beer indusrty. Most european countries have locally produced beer and it would be nice to see it happen (again) here.

The Irish Craft Brewer site is a great site for all you beer lovers.

That looks like BeerNut in the pictures of the launch.

[varizoltan]

i love trying different beers too
when i first went to Manchester, i was amazed when i saw every pub we went, they nearly had their own local beer, i loved Cristal the best there
in Atlanta at the airport waiting 5 hours for connection, i had 5 diferent Sweet Water, local beer
in Japan i had a goodfew Suntory malt beers, and others too
in the Philippines we drank there San Miguels in 4-5 different flavours

and i say, the best beer is always the local beer, wherever there is,

and i do not like drink Guinness draught abroad

even in Hungary, some town have their micro breweries to feed surrounding area with good fresh beer

so keep it up in ireland

[John]

Good thread.
I am a big fan of Curim, the wheat beear brewed by the Carlow Microbrewery - same producers of O' Hara's stout. I've always found it to be a very tasty drink. I also enjoy the Porterhouse and their Oyster Stout in particular!! I thought Guinness had latched onto the idea of creating an Ireland-specific version when they did that 6(?) version series way back, but no.
J.

[JohnM]

Think they only go two or three versions into their plan before stopping it. Not sure, though.

There's a beer festival in the Bull and Castle on Feb 2, run by Deveney's.

[jcskinner]

Speaking out of school here a bit but...
the background to the 'Guinness Brewhouse' series was twofold. Diageo spotted the growth of the likes of the microbreweries and thought they needed to address the artisan beer market. Plus, the external taste panel at James' Gate had complained at not being permitted to quality control output aimed at the local market.
So the idea was that the panel would create taste profiles based upon the existing Irish stout, but amended to improve it as they saw it. Later, some marketing guff about recreating ancient recipes and so on was made up, but the Brewhouse beers began as the taste panel trying to inject some actual taste back into local Dublin Guinness, which some felt had been chilled and blanded by diacetyl almost to the point of tastelessness.
I left not long after the process started, so I wasn't too involved in creating the profiles for these beers apart from the very first one, that they called Brew 39 for some reason. It was basically a standard issue Guinness stout with late added hops to try to inject some taste and spice to the mix.
I liked the North Star best of the three. I think the public did too. Guinness sold millions of pints of it and it stayed on the market for quite some time. Clearly, it was much more successful than other limited Guinnesses, like Breo, or Guinness Lite, or the Diet Guinness they were trialling in Limerick and Scotland.
Dunno why it didn't get a permanent release. Very disappointing.
These days I still like stout but I rarely drink Guinness. The Cork stouts are usually better, and the microbrew ones best of all.

[jcskinner]

Got curious and went to check it out.
Seems the North Star was released in October 06, when Diageo were still planning to release new limited editions every 6 months according to this: http://www.barkeeper.ie/News_Item.asp?News_ID=345
But I know that it was still on sale in Dublin at nearly Christmas 2007, and one report says it sold 3 million pints in the last six months of 2007.
http://www.barkeeper.ie/News_Item.asp?News_ID=1246
I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that's a fairly successful limited release beer? Wonder why they didn't release any more of the series, or just keep brewing the North Star recipe.

[brettie vedder]

america has TONS of microbrew beers. i really miss that. lots of brewpubs around the local area too. cant beat fresh brews and they tend to be cheaper too. breckinridge, out of colorado had some really nice ales. vanilla porter, oatmeal stout to name a few. i lived in texas before moving to ireland, and they had LOTS of good micros..... there is one out of pennsylvania called Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. 10.5%....amazing stuff

[JohnM]

america has TONS of microbrew beers. i really miss that. lots of brewpubs around the local area too. cant beat fresh brews and they tend to be cheaper too. breckinridge, out of colorado had some really nice ales. vanilla porter, oatmeal stout to name a few. i lived in texas before moving to ireland, and they had LOTS of good micros..... there is one out of pennsylvania called Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. 10.5%....amazing stuff

There's some really great American beers from these microbreweries.

Ireland has the Porterhouse, Biddy Early's (which I like a lot), this new Gypsy one, Carlow Brewing Company (think Michael Jackson scored their Curim very high), the Franciscan Well, Messrs Maguires, Hooker Brewery, that place in Brooke Lodge... and probly a good few more. It's growing and growing.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Good thread.
I am a big fan of Curim, the wheat beear brewed by the Carlow Microbrewery - same producers of O' Hara's stout. I've always found it to be a very tasty drink. I also enjoy the Porterhouse and their Oyster Stout in particular!! I thought Guinness had latched onto the idea of creating an Ireland-specific version when they did that 6(?) version series way back, but no.
J.

I love wheat beers too ... just got one lately in Tesco ... Weihenstephaner ... and get this it is a state run brewery in Belgium with possibly the worlds top beer research faclity. Boy would I like to be a civil servant in there You can even go there to learn how to brew. Cool or what

Never seem to see Curim around that much

Guinness ... which some felt had been chilled and blanded by diacetyl almost to the point of tastelessness.

That's my problem with Guinness these days ... my local is serving some great Guinness but it is too cold and that seems to be the story in every pub these days


I did not expect this much of a reaction ... it is good to see so many who appreciate a good beer Can't say I'm a connoisseur or anything but I do like to try different beers

Check here for a full list of Irish micro brewers

[brettie vedder]

has anyone ever had guinness foreign extra stout? i found 24 bottles of it about a year ago in a super valu in galway. i havent seen it anywhere since. i read that it used to be exported to africa or something. its an imperial stout at 7.5%. its a really great beer and i still have a few left. why they dont sell this stuff in america is beyond me. they would make a killing!

i do love guinness draught, but i tend to like the extra stout more. i think you taste more without the nitro pour. much drier and more coffee-esque. its hard to find pubs who serve bottles of it though. at least pubs ive tried. and the guinness draught is served way too cold. i usually let mine sit for 20 minutes before drinking it. and i warm it up with my hand, haha.

[John]

Try Superquinn for some Curim Adrian, they 'usually' stock it.

I suppose we shouldn't be too hard on Guinness at the same time, at least they tried to vary their tipple - albeit temporarily!! Have the other major producers ever brewed variants on their flagship stouts? Btw, the next person who mentions 'diet-stout' type drinks should be banned; they are illogical and I personally put them in the same category as low-profile 4x4 tyres - ridiculous
J.

[jcskinner]

Guinness Foreign Extra stout (in some of its many variants) is probably their single best beer.
It is indeed brewed in many African countries, notably Nigeria, where more Guinness is sold than here. The Nigerian recipe is particularly unusual since it includes maize, leading to a great oily, fruity finish that's not to everyone's tastes.
Generally, FES is brewed to around 7 proof and is available only in bottled form. But from country to country and market to market, it varies greatly dependent on local recipes and ingredients and even water.
Consensus on the taste panel (who had to quality control over 50 variants of Guinness) was that Singapore FES was the best Guinness in the world followed by Belgian FES.
I'm hoping to try some Singapore Guinness for the first time in a long time soon, when I'm back in Asia. But for those hankering for a taste of some exotic Guinness FES, the Nigerian version is available from the African restaurant on Parnell Street in Dublin.
You can often find the FES brewed for Ireland (counter-intuitive to have a 'foreign' stout sold in Ireland, but whatever) for sale in various supermarkets. There's always a little clutch of a half dozen or so in my local Tesco.
There is an FES for the American market, and I recall it being pretty good. But it's made in Canada, so generally doesn't get much further than the far North East of the US.

[brettie vedder]

i am originally from northeast america, and ive never seen FES. they do sell plenty of extra stout though. they might have it up in new england, but ive never talked to anyone who has found it. i know some people back home who are willing to pay $20 per bottle. i wish i could ship some home and make a business out of it!

[IainB]

Hi Everyone, haven't posted in a while and now I'm posting about beer.

I'm a big fan of the 3 Carlow beers, the O'Hara Ale and Stout and the Curim wheat beer. I'm not really that familiar with most of the other, bar maybe the porterhouse which I would have occasionally drank when I lived in Bray (12 years ago!!)

I think part of the problem with some of the micro brews is that apart from the pubs related to the breweries these beers can be very hard to get in a pub. This doesn't help in raising brand awareness. Likewise the number of off licences that carry the beers can be limited.

On the subject of Guinness I'm a big fan of the bottled extra stout, both at home and in the pub. I think it particularly goes well with a PPS!

This has always been a very popular drink in waterford with many of the older country pubs only stocking bottled guinness. On the other hand, I have found the bottles very hard to get in pubs in some other parts of the country.

And I think I should say a few words in defence of draught guinness in the pubs. I've heard a few people over time talk about blandness, temperature. Despite this there are still plenty pubs out there serving a great pint, which at it's best is hard to beat. It's the same product so I feel the problem is with the pubs rather than the beer. The bottom line is that it needs a different temperature and more care than other draught beers.

While I really like a good stout from a smaller brewery I think a pint of Guinness should be put in context. There are many mass produced beers out there, usually served from taps right alongside the guinness one. They usually taste of little or nothing. I think it's remarkable that a mass produced product from a huge multinational has managed to retain a unique and individual taste. I think it's equally remarkable that a strong and distinctive drink is consumed by so many people, who may not normally be that adventurous.

Which is not to detract in any way from all the other fine stouts out there!

[cathach]

I agree with the sentiments above, however I would issue a word of caution as some of the so-called craft beers are brewed "under licence". Examples would be the Arainn Mhoir brand which is just a brand, and some of the Carlow brewing company is done under licence in Belgium I believe.

I'm sure any members of the Irish Craft Brewers would know for sure. Great to see stout in the barrel again, it must be the first time since '73/'74 or so when Guinness went to the steel barrels.

Remember the 'Murphy from the wood, that's good!' slogan ?? You see the panels in a few pubs.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I think even encouraging the drinking of various different quality foreign beers helps as it heightens peoples awareness to different beer. It also might help people move from mass marketed beers and search out a more interesting drinking experience. And once that happens we may see more micro brewerys.

[brettie vedder]

I think even encouraging the drinking of various different quality foreign beers helps as it heightens peoples awareness to different beer. It also might help people move from mass marketed beers and search out a more interesting drinking experience. And once that happens we may see more micro brewerys.

totally agree. me and my brother (back in the states) used to go out and buy single bottles of beers from all over the world. we probably sampled over 500 different bottles from all over. we were beer snobs i guess. but its amazing the quality of stuff you can get out of a tiny microbrew. plus its a learning lesson since each beer comes with its own story and where its from. one of my favorites was one called left hand milk stout. a little brewery out in central pennsylvania where all the amish and quakers live. its just nice to support a brew like that when you know they cant come close to competing with the big brands. but in the end, the quality and attention to detail blows the big boys out of the water.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

here here ...

Supping another new beer for me ... Maisel's Weiss Bier. German beer this time ... nice and enjoyable ... don't know if I can distinguise this from others but a nice bit of flavour but the head goes very quickly however it still keeps a bot a sparkle.

Also had a Erdinger Dunkle which to me is like a light stout.

[JohnM]

Maisel's is nice. I like the Schneider Weiss a lot. I think they're on of the only ones in Germany (again could be wrong) that brew weissbier the old way.

I'm also very interested in Lambics, but I've only got to taste one sweetened one and one fruit one. The fruit one was very good.

I like the Dunkel versions too.

I always mix up the breweries, but I think it's Schneider and Brooklyn (or is it Boston) beer collaberated on a hopped weiss beer - very nice.

Last week I had a peated beer. Tasted very much like the stuff you'd have at a distillery straigh from a washback. Interesting, but not something I'd take more than a few gulps of.

For anyone in Dublin, Deveney's in Dundrum and Redmonds in Ranelagh have great selections. Also, there's a place in Stonybatter that's supposed to be good.

[jcskinner]

The Drink Store in Stoneybatter used to be fantastic for beers. It had a brilliant selection for a really tiny shop. It was run by two brothers and I think even won off-licence of the year at least once.
I asked them about stocking Zhigul (a Russian beer) once and they ordered a pallet from Eastern Europe just for me. They'd happily source any beer on the planet for you if they could find it, and then see how the stock went in the shop.
I still see one of the brothers around in the area but that offy is gone at least a year sadly.

[Michael Foggarty]

The Drinkstore in Stoneybatter is still on the, its run by Ken and his brother(i forget his name)

Arainn Mhoir range of beers are brewed under license, but as far as im aware Carlow brew all there own, hence the fact theyve move to a much larger brewery in the last couple of months, 70% of there output is for abroad and for a small brewer 800 kegs of stout were shipped out last week. Most of there stuff is avaialbel by the bottle but the red has been recently added to draught in the Bull & Castle and Curim is available on a rotating tap from time to time, there latest brew is called Goodstore, i think its an IPA and is available on tap in the Bull & Castle.

The best Irish Ale has to be Galway Hooker, you just wont get better.

For the stout drinkers you should give Mollys chocolate stout ago, thats done by Hilden, if im write in saying there are several more craft brewers about to appear on the scene in Ireland shortly.

For those of you who do like the Carlow beers, the Bull & Castle have a promotion on at present buy 10 Carlow beers get a free pint, you can mix the 10 between pints/bottles and ofsale bottles.