Lack of 'Real Ale' in Irish Pubs

oblivious

fatboypee wrote: »

.Agree wholeheartedly re CAMRA, however, one caveat to that, regardless of the anality of the organisation, when they recommend a pub, it gets a good bit of publicity... perhaps we need somethin here like that...(for ales)....

But the other half of that is that you need a Vintners Association that would be interested promoting/ training/ handling and with out adding a couple of euro to the pint. An to be honest I would not trust half of them to be able to keep the ale with out it turning to vinegar!

BeerNut

fatboypee wrote: »

perhaps we need somethin here like that...(for ales)....

There's a short guide to pubs with good beer in the back of Iorwerth Griffiths's excellent Beer & Cider in Ireland.

For a thorough, and well-maintained list of Irish pubs that serve Irish craft beer, there's this.

To be honest, I don't think it'll be possible to make cask beer mainstream in Ireland without first making craft keg and bottled beer more prevalent. Diageo and Heineken are the ones who have the power to make every cellar worthy and every publican a cellarman, but they'll only do it once they start losing market share to better-made beers.

It's fascinating how a brewer like A-B InBev in the UK, who make no real ales, will provide and install handpumps for a pub, even though none of their beers will run through them.

asdasd

These guys dont seem to deliver to Ireland but I am going to try and convince them for to do so for Chrismas.

fatboypee

For Christmas, try here

you need to phone them but they do deliver Expensive enough but hey, the choice is immense...

\fbp.

oblivious

fatboypee wrote: »

For Christmas, try here

you need to phone them but they do deliver Expensive enough but hey, the choice is immense...

\fbp.

Do you have an idea of the shipping rates?

LordSutch

Re my previous Post#59 ~ I went to the Porterhouse (Bray) this evening & asked for a Pint of TSB or Old Rusty while I watched the Footie

Sorry Sir, we dont sell either here "There is no demand for Ale" but you can get it in our Nassau St, or Temple Bar Pubs .......

End Of.

BeerNut

Well at least you've sown a seed of doubt with the organ grinders. Rusty is an MM beer, btw, not Porterhouse.

fatboypee

oblivious wrote: »

Do you have an idea of the shipping rates?

If I recall :

BeersofEurope wrote:

Zones D & E Postcodes - £16.00 for upto 2 parcels and £8.00 per parcel after that.

sounds expensive, but when you work out the exchange rates etc, for Christmas anyway, its worth it imho... specially if you got a few guys together for a bigger delivery, may be able to negotiate the delivery charges (not tried meself tho) ...


There's a thought.. we could get a shipment arranged :cool:

FBP..

oblivious

fatboypee I presume that a parcel is 12 bottles?

fatboypee

oblivious wrote: »

fatboypee I presume that a parcel is 12 bottles?

Not sure, I think it may depend on what you order ? Most cases I have got have been 12's I did get a couple of cases of Youngs Special London that had 10 in each, tho they are now 12.....

I know its costly, but where else can you get the likes of Hop Back Summer Lightning (Even do a mini keg)... ?? bliss, even if expensive bliss ...

FBP.

BeerNut

fatboypee wrote: »

where else can you get the likes of Hop Back Summer Lightning

Drink Store, Redmond's, Lilac Wines...

It's decent but not amazing, IMO.

fatboypee

BeerNut wrote: »

Drink Store, Redmond's, Lilac Wines...



It's decent but not amazing, IMO.

ach, and bricks and mortar stores, may as well be on the moon unless relatively local to me....

Then, perhaps its a case of being starved of alternatives.... Still...
On the subject of Summer Ales, have you tried Fullers ? I used-ta drink it all the time & loved it.. light too...

FBP.

BeerNut

fatboypee wrote: »

have you tried Fullers ? I used-ta drink it all the time & loved it.. light too...

Discovery? Gack -- you may as well be drinking yellow lager for all the taste there is off it. Decent summer ales are few and far between. St Austell Proper Job is a good one of this sort.

fatboypee

BeerNut wrote: »

Discovery? Gack -- you may as well be drinking yellow lager for all the taste there is off it. Decent summer ales are few and far between. St Austell Proper Job is a good one of this sort.

No, this: BEEYURR...

I used-ta drink it alot on Draught (far nicer)... but you can get it in bottles.

FBP.

BeerNut

fatboypee wrote: »

No, this: BEEYURR...

Interesting. Never seen that. The instruction to serve chilled and mention of Honey Dew in the same breath would be enough to scare me off.

Davidth88

My brother used to run a Fullers pub in Guildford.

The summer ale is lovely, they do indeed run it through a chiller , but about 1-2 degrees warmer than a lager.

I spent a great happy afternoon in his celler one time , actually drinking Pride right out of the barrel , nectar ......

I also drunk the summer ale out of the barrel, you know what it was slightly nice when it was chilled.

What I would give for a pub that served Pride here ( Dublin) it's one of the few things I miss about London.

People are right about pubs here , they wouldn't be able to maintain the ales I think, and believe me when they go wrong they are horrible.

I don't actually like the TSB from Porterhouse , it reminds me of Youngs for some reason and I never liked Youngs ( wrong side of the river maybe ?? ) .

BeerNut

Davidth88 wrote: »

What I would give for a pub that served Pride here ( Dublin) it's one of the few things I miss about London.

You can get it bottled, in the Bull & Castle for instance. But yes, I know it's not real ale and not the same.

Davidth88 wrote: »

they wouldn't be able to maintain the ales I think

It would take a big brewer to stump up the cash to change the culture, but they could do it if they thought enough people wanted it. Using a cask breather is one way to help prolong the life of a tapped cask.

Davidth88 wrote: »

I never liked Youngs ( wrong side of the river maybe ?? ) .

Wrong side of quite a few rivers, these days

Ghost Rider

I've never posted here before but I noticed a couple of posts knocking Smithwicks. So, as a regular drinker of the stuff, I am compelled to rush to its defence...

Smithwicks is an absolutely fantastic ale. First off, let us acknowledge that, yes, it is seriously unfashionable - being more associated with golf club bars than contemporary drinking emporia, and more with older, perhaps rotund men than with young, svelte turks. But who cares? I have converted several people to it and now it is their "staple" drink, just as it is mine.

And yes, Smithwicks has a mild taste, but so what? A beer does not need to taste strong to be delicious. A good pint of Smithwicks (and it does vary in quality) is not watery but mild, not thin but subtle. One of its very strengths, in my view, is that it lacks the sharpness of "real ales" such as Revolution, which can be quite acidic and sit badly in the stomach after a few pints. (Most traditional ales are not like this, granted.)

Smithwicks is not only a mild ale. It has a distinctive, food-y, roasted taste, which makes it very complimentary to meals of almost any kind. I find it more refreshing when cold but it tastes great at room temperature too, or just below that. In short, it is versatile.

Finally, Smithwicks is a great "session" drink precisely because it is quite mild. I also find - and I've been drinking it for many years - that I hardly ever get a hangover after drinking Smithwicks. Who knows why that is (I don't claim to be an expert in the physiology of hangovers), but it's one of the reasons I keep going back to it - the other being the taste.

So hear ye: try to put aside any prejudices you might have and give Smithwicks another go!

(And before anyone asks, no, I have absolutely no connection with Diageo.)

noby

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I've never posted here before but I noticed a couple of posts knocking Smithwicks. So, as a regular drinker of the stuff, I am compelled to rush to its defence...

This thread is specifically about real ale, so a couple of inane comments aside, Smithwicks was only knocked here for not being real ale.
There are plenty of other threads/posts about Smithwicks here, and while it has it's knockers there are plenty of positive posts about it.
I, for one, enjoy a pint or two of it.

noby

Davidth88 wrote: »

I don't actually like the TSB from Porterhouse .

I do. But I don't know how much is down to the fact that it's one of the few out there. When I am in Dublin I always try to pop in for a pint, to show my support at least.
My theory is if the TSB doesn't sell, they might knock the whole ask thing on it's head. Whereas if it does sell well (as it appears to do) they might consider expanding their cask range.

oblivious

noby wrote: »

My theory is if the TSB doesn't sell, they might knock the whole ask thing on it's head. Whereas if it does sell well (as it appears to do) they might consider expanding their cask range.

At Farmleigh, in the summer they said they where going to release the plain, but no sign of it yet

BeerNut

Ghost Rider wrote: »

it lacks the sharpness of "real ales" such as Revolution,

Revolution was never a real ale, and has not been available for nearly four years, after the brewery went out of business. Have you tried O'Hara's Red or Rebel Red next to Smithwick's?

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I hardly ever get a hangover after drinking Smithwicks. Who knows why that is (I don't claim to be an expert in the physiology of hangovers)

At 3.8% ABV, Smithwick's contains less of the main hangover-inducing chemical than most any other draught beer in the country.

Davidth88

Interestingly my Brother said that he lost quite a bit of profit per barrel in the sediment. He had them arranged on these automatic tilt things... basically he had one that was tapped up and two settling, usually for 24-48 hrs. I got a pint out of the one that was there for 24hrs waiting for a tap and it was just perfect.

I should be careful, of course pubs here would be technically capable of running this , but they would need training of tapping, care etc etc. They seemed a little ' tempremental '.

I notice a few points here about CAMRA.... to be honest the only times I came in contact with members they were a bit ' odd ' , not really enjoying the beer for it's real purpose but almost trainspotterish.

Again my brother couldn't stand them, he kept a good pint , and was fussy about it , but they used to come in and pick holes and complain etc.

BeerNut

Davidth88 wrote: »

he lost quite a bit of profit

And this is where the matter starts and ends for the members of the LVA and VFI, I'd imagine.

Davidth88 wrote: »

they would need training of tapping, care etc etc.

Not to mention a serious cash incentive: kegs of Guinness and Heineken rotting in the cellar plus a mile-long queue of punters demanding cask ale.

Even then they'd still probably blame the smoking ban and drink-driving laws...

Davidth88

And this is where the matter starts and ends for the members of the LVA and VFI, I'd imagine.

Hense why I posted it

Interestingly my brother still reckoned he made more from the ales, he reckoned that the only profit he made on the lagers was from the head. He used to get annoyed if barstaff filled the lager right up carefully for that reason ( although he couldn't say anything for obvious reasons ).

Of course the only money he really made was from the food and the soft drinks ( from the gun 99% margin)

He was a ' tied ' house so he was only a tenant of Fullers, the more beer he sold the lower the price they sold it to him ( work that out ! if demand goes down you have to raise your price .... of course it makes you work on marketing / other things )

BeerNut

Well this is the other side of it: instead of tied houses we have a tied market, where the Big Two breweries can do any kind of deal they like with the pubs, knowing that no publican is likely to be brave (or foolish) enough to stand up to them. They can gouge and reward as they see fit. The only people with the real power to break the tie are the drinkers, who can always choose something else.

The Porterhouse

Just thought you might like to know The Porterhouse in Naussau St, Temple Bar, Glasnevin, in Dublin, Bray in Co. Wicklow and Covent Garden in London are serving their own brewed ale - Porterhouse TSB.

BeerNut

Thank you, Mr/Ms Porterhouse, but are you absolutely sure about Bray? We have it on good authority that it wasn't there yesterday, nor is there a demand for it, according to your staff.

The Porterhouse

Apologies! That was a slip of the finger, infact TSB is available in Nassau St, Glasnevin and Temple Bar! Thank you!

oblivious

The Porterhouse wrote: »

Apologies! That was a slip of the finger, infact TSB is available in Nassau St, Glasnevin and Temple Bar! Thank you!

An is there still plans to do a cask plain porter?