Ireland Beer trip

lil_lisa

Hi all, so I have just returned to the US from a fantastic 3 week trip home seeing family and exploring beers and would love to show you guys what we got up to.

Our first night home, we picked up a good selection of Irish beers (and some comfort beers):



8 degrees sounded very intriguing. It poured quite well and was tasty:



From that, we decided to venture down to Cork to check out the facilities and meet the brewer who was kind enough to let us taste some Pilsner and Pale Ale straight from the fermenter:



We then ventured over to Franciscan Well for a few drinks:



Ordered a Sierra Nevada just for the heck of it. I was seriously disappointed. It honestly tasted a bit gross. Like, extremely malty, barely any hop flavour and just a little off. Travelling 4000 miles doesn't bode well for some beers.

lil_lisa

Then on to Bierhaus:



Where we ordered a Brew Dog 18% I think? Wow, that was a very interesting beer. Then saw a Belfast beer, said I'd try that, not bad. But oh man, I missed Tayto so much, it should be at every bar and ordered with every beer.



We then hopped on a plane over to Bruges (via Brussels) and had a ridiculous amount of beer. (Way too many for Boards servers to hold). We went to the Half Moon brewery. Had a tour and some delicious beers:





Even came across the 150 Chimay beer. Mmmmmm:


Ok, one more from Bruges, lovely little bar down a little side street with free cheese and a nice upstairs view of the city roof tops:

lil_lisa

Last but not least, our capital. Had to bring himself to the Guinness factory. He said the pint at the top bar was the best Guinness he's ever had. And the view isn't bad either



And then we ventured over to Porterhouse for some wholesome dinners and beers. Was a bit sad to hear they don't brew there, although its understandable (they brew in Blanchardstown, right?)



And that's it. It was a great trip. I would loved to have stopped by Carlow Brewing and Trouble Brewing since they were very close to home but just never made it. The brewing world in Ireland is really shaking things up. I'm excited. Thanks to all for tips and suggestions. If you ever want to come to our side of the world (San Diego) I'd be glad to help out with the 50+ breweries we're currently keeping in business

ciaran76

Great to see you had a good time. Ye looked like you got a lot in those few weeks.

Ravelleman

Sounds like a great trip. I must go to most of the places you mentioned. Even living in Ireland, I have yet to check out a lot of the vatiety that's on offer.