What beer are we drinking this week, too?

Insect Overlord

McGrath's Irish Black Stout (bottle 50cl)
Chimay Rouge (bottle 33 cl)
Franciscan Well pale ale
Of Foam And Fury (bottle 50 cl)

Grand night out across 4 Limerick pubs.

laros

St. Mels don't make an IPA

i think what was meant was Pale Ale rather than IPA.


http://www.stmelsbrewing.com/

Lovely Bloke

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

I'm wondering if it is the bottling where it is causing issues for a lot of breweries. St Mels pale ale whilst not the best in the world is made by a good brewer. Their brown ale I have enjoyed but did have two dud bottles out of the 10 or so I bought.

I guess it all boils down to the prices one pays for the majority of Irish craft. I want to support the local breweries and I appreciate the economies of scale but when you see the prices of some beers in off licences and pubs it makes me go nah, keep it.

At the end of the days ones pockets only run so deep with all the other bloody bills that need to be prioritised.

I had both Wicklow Wolf beers on tap in Bray

drumswan

Didn't notice any off flavours in the Wicklow Wolf red or brown. Had the red from a bottle and thought it reasonable for the style. The usual boring Irish ****e though.

All these brewers see themselves in competition with Heineken and Diageo, not with Sierra Nevada and Founders

ciaran76

Weird Beard Hit The Lights had it a few week ago and had it again yesterday it's a nice pale ale but at near €4 a 500ml bottle there are better irish pale ales.

Lovely Bloke

drumswan wrote: »

Didn't notice any off flavours in the Wicklow Wolf red or brown. Had the red from a bottle and thought it reasonable for the style. The usual boring Irish ****e though.

All these brewers see themselves in competition with Heineken and Diageo, not with Sierra Nevada and Founders

They aren't off flavours, the brown just has absolutely NO flavour, and the amber has some horrible bittering hop that Rye River also use in McGargles red

Grayditch

Anyone had that Kenmare IPA? Or maybe it's a pale ale. I've seen it cheap enough in a lot of places, but never bothered with it.

jsa112

Quite liked wicklow wolf's amber ale, their blonde isn't great(had both on bottle).

How are these beers passing quality tests? Who is tasting these beers and telling the brewers to release them to market?

Yeah have to really wonder about this. I'm very hesitant to try Irish beers these days.

Their brown ale I have enjoyed but did have two dud bottles out of the 10 or so I bought.

Pretty high percentage, don't think I'd ever buy from a brewery again with those odds


Haven't heard much great things bout Kenmare either

RayCon

This week I'm mostly drinking Franziskaner thanks to a Spar near my job clearing it at €1 per bottle ... not short dated either ! 08/15:eek:

Grayditch

Mace on South Circular Road is great for beer. Decent selection and cheaper than most places.

Celly Smunt

RayCon wrote: »

This week I'm mostly drinking Franziskaner thanks to a Spar near my job clearing it at €1 per bottle ... not short dated either ! 08/15:eek:

I'm hooked on Franziskaner,I can't find a Weiss over here to match it for the price,Schöfferhofer maybe. That American muck doesn't come close.

Grayditch

Summer Wine Brewing Co. - Maelstrom Double IPA. 9.0%

Very nice.

thesandeman

Grayditch wrote: »

Anyone had that Kenmare IPA? Or maybe it's a pale ale. I've seen it cheap enough in a lot of places, but never bothered with it.

It's alright for the price. Not a patch on the Independent Pale though which is usually only 50c extra.

murphyebass

Just bought a growler of white hag bog ale.

Hopefully it's as good as the Fleadh ale I had from them a few weeks ago

blueshed

Grayditch wrote: »

Anyone had that Kenmare IPA? Or maybe it's a pale ale. I've seen it cheap enough in a lot of places, but never bothered with it.

had both there IPA and red last wend and there just ok, wouldn't say there muck etc.

better off getting some other beers like Bru or O hara's and there same price or even cheaper in some places.

MentalMario

Had a few pints of Hop Head in the Porterhouse last night. Really enjoyed it.

It kind of tastes similar enough to Metalman and Mine Head from the Dungarvan Brewing Company. Not exactly the same but along those lines.

Any more suggestions along the same line?

Mine Head is my 'go to' beer now but it's hard enough to get.

xxyyzz

murphyebass wrote: »

Just bought a growler of white hag bog ale.

Hopefully it's as good as the Fleadh ale I had from them a few weeks ago

I tried their oktoberfest marzen over the weekend along with their pale ale and both were superb. They are probably my favourite irish brewery at the moment.

Grayditch

Founders' Dark Presence really is a special beer. Already one of my favourites after just one. Perfection.

murphyebass

xxyyzz wrote: »

I tried their oktoberfest marzen over the weekend along with their pale ale and both were superb. They are probably my favourite irish brewery at the moment.

Yeah the Fleadh ale was gorgeous. I had their ipa as well from bottle the other night which was lovely and this big ale is very like a begian ale. Superb stuff imo

Grayditch

Grayditch wrote: »

Founders' Dark Presence

Dark Penance!

Redsoxfan

Was delighted to find Franciscan Well Rebel Red and Chieftain IPA on draft in Bradys in Maynooth. Good to have any sort of craft available in the local pubs at last!

Hit up Aldi to take advantage of the Bru for EUR 2.49 a bottle but only managed to get 6 Rí but this was at 6pm yesterday mind you.

Ruben Remus

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

I guess it all boils down to the prices one pays for the majority of Irish craft. I want to support the local breweries and I appreciate the economies of scale but when you see the prices of some beers in off licences and pubs it makes me go nah, keep it.

At the end of the days ones pockets only run so deep with all the other bloody bills that need to be prioritised.

I've felt this way for a while. I try to support Irish craft breweries but usually can't afford to take a gamble on a €4 bottle of an unknown beer that might not be any good.

Markcheese

Ruben Remus wrote: »

I've felt this way for a while. I try to support Irish craft breweries but usually can't afford to take a gamble on a €4 bottle of an unknown beer that might not be any good.

How much of the uncertainty is down to small batch brewing ? There can be an awful lot of variability in little things than change the character/ Flavours in a beer-
Also how many offlicences are direct stocking local beers ? (Buying them direct from brewery as opposed to a distributor ? ). Could this help bring price down stocking a few local beers at a better price( my local offlicence has a good range of craft beer and seem very reasonable for Munster brewery stuff (youghals not far off )

Ruben Remus

Markcheese wrote: »

How much of the uncertainty is down to small batch brewing ? There can be an awful lot of variability in little things than change the character/ Flavours in a beer-
Also how many offlicences are direct stocking local beers ? (Buying them direct from brewery as opposed to a distributor ? ). Could this help bring price down stocking a few local beers at a better price( my local offlicence has a good range of craft beer and seem very reasonable for Munster brewery stuff (youghals not far off )

Good questions. I don't know the answers.

When I saw one bottle of Of Foam And Fury going for €7.15 in a Galway off licence, about a mile from the brewery, it seemed to mark the start of a shift in Irish craft beer pricing in general. Most bottles from the newer breweries seem pitched at around €3.95, which, for me, is too much of a gamble for an unknown product. If I hear great things about the beer I will pick up a bottle, but not before then.

Lovely Bloke

Yeah, I was so majorly disappointed with the Wicklow Wolf stuff at the weekend, which was exacerbated by the fact that I genuinely brewed at least three better beers myself in recent weeks.

I mean, if I can produce drinkable, taste filled beers in my back garden, why can these guys not do it on better kit, with better ingredients?

irish_goat

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I mean, if I can produce drinkable, taste filled beers in my back garden, why can these guys not do it on better kit, with better ingredients?

To be fair, your ingredients are probably just as good (if not better).

BaZmO*

irish_goat wrote: »

To be fair, your ingredients are probably just as good (if not better).

I was just about to say that!

Lovely Bloke

I'm doing extract brews though!

murphyebass

Ruben Remus wrote: »

Good questions. I don't know the answers.

When I saw one bottle of Of Foam And Fury going for €7.15 in a Galway off licence, about a mile from the brewery, it seemed to mark the start of a shift in Irish craft beer pricing in general. Most bottles from the newer breweries seem pitched at around €3.95, which, for me, is too much of a gamble for an unknown product. If I hear great things about the beer I will pick up a bottle, but not before then.

Thats gas that ofaf is €7.15 in a Galway offi when its just over €6 in most of the ones I frequent.

That said I'd more than happily pay €7.15 for a bottle. Dont tell Galway Bay that though.

Theres a bit of bandwagoning going on in the "craft" scene though. The likes of the muck from Lidl recently. Is it called crafty beer made by the same people as the mcgargles rubbish?

I think you have to be picky. I've picked a few bottles off the recommendations on here and havent been let down yet.

The most recent being Founders Breakfast Stout.

If every recommendation can be as good as this one I'd appreciate it.

Lovely Bloke

Founders isn't Irish though.