Rye River Brewing Co

Just a little Samba

billythefish99 wrote: »

You said "They are all producing more than 30000hl though"...

I very much doubt Rye River are producing 30000hl of beer.

The all was also a typo. As was the h, which was already pointed out. Rye river are at about 70khl capacity and that will expand when they move out of Kilcock.

It actually the h wasn't a typo. The rebate limit is 30,000 hl, they are past that by over double.

lk67

So...

Define 'Craft Beer' - (Good luck with that!)

Define 'Bad Beer' - (Good luck with that!)

Define 'Good Beer' - (Good luck with that!)

For that matter define 'IPA' - (Good luck with that!)


Also, their target market are the people who drink their beer, and it's not many of the people who comment here.

I admit this is pure guess work but of the 5-7% of beer drinking people in the country who drink almost exclusively 'Craft' beer only a tiny fraction post here. We are not their target.

There is probably another 20% of the drinking population who dabble in craft, these beers appeals to them, as does the price of many RRs range.

emco

There seems to be a lot of hatred towards their company, but at the end of the day they're a business and above board so I can't say I have a problem with them.

I've had the McGarrigles IPA and the Crafty brewing lager in Lidl which I think they make too.I thought the IPA was nice, at 4 for 6 Euro I think I paid it was well worth that, although I've only ever bought it twice and there is definitely much better out there. My dad bought the Crafty lager once and it was grand for a lager, better flavour than most large brands.

I can't see the McGarrigles branding lasting, I imagine it will eventually go the way of the frog from Woodies alco-pops. The cartoon characters might be seen as being attractive to minors.

n97 mini

irish_goat wrote: »

I'd throw Creans into that mix too, the recipe was designed by the same guy who helped formulate Tennents. Says it all about their intentions.

Only McGargles and Creans? I thought by "Any brewery that opens these days slaps the word "craft" on their label regardless of the quality." you reckoned there was more not up to scratch.

oblivious

lk67 wrote: »

For that matter define 'IPA' - (Good luck with that!).

Something to get the conservation rolling :D

Just a little Samba

oblivious wrote: »

Something to get the conservation rolling :D

Eh gad this is going to turn into one of those beergeek porter very Stout talks. Run for the hills lads.

Ravelleman

I haven't tried any of their specials but having tried some of their other, more conventional creations I can see no reason whatsoever for me buy any of their stuff when there are other options available.

irish_goat

n97 mini wrote: »

Only McGargles and Creans? I thought by "Any brewery that opens these days slaps the word "craft" on their label regardless of the quality." you reckoned there was more not up to scratch.

Yardmans and 5 Lamps would be in the mix too. Rye River are particularly guilty because they've got several poor quality brands out on the market. I'm well aware that everyone has different tastes but I don't see any real difference between a bog standard macro beer and a lot of the offerings from the aforementioned breweries.

lk67

irish_goat wrote: »

Yardmans and 5 Lamps would be in the mix too. Rye River are particularly guilty because they've got several poor quality brands out on the market. I'm well aware that everyone has different tastes but I don't see any real difference between a bog standard macro beer and a lot of the offerings from the aforementioned breweries.

I've never came acoss Yardmans but I'm not sure that's fair to 5 Lamps.... I drink their lager regularly as its the only lager with any body to it in my local and there's certainly nothing wrong with it. Does it suffer from being tied to a Big Brewer, perception wise?

Quality is way too subjective to be attributed to products lìke beer.

Also, surely in the case of RR it has to be looked at in relation to value too - another a very subjective thing.

IMO!

Ravelleman

irish_goat wrote: »

Yardmans and 5 Lamps would be in the mix too. Rye River are particularly guilty because they've got several poor quality brands out on the market. I'm well aware that everyone has different tastes but I don't see any real difference between a bog standard macro beer and a lot of the offerings from the aforementioned breweries.

5 Lamps' Blackpitts Porter is delicious but all of their other stuff is very, very weak so I'd tend to agree.

Saruman

Just a little Samba wrote: »

The all was also a typo. As was the h, which was already pointed out. Rye river are at about 70khl capacity and that will expand when they move out of Kilcock.

It actually the h wasn't a typo. The rebate limit is 30,000 hl, they are past that by over double.

There's a difference between having a capacity and actually using that capacity.

As far as I am aware, they bought a brewing system capable of reaching 70khl per year but it would be a long time before they could actually produce that much beer. They simply don't have enough fermenters as far as I can see.

Their plan was always to start out small and then go bigger within a few years, say to the size of a small regional brewer in the UK like Brewdog. They are still a long way off the size of Brewdog and Brewdog are quite small compared to many breweries in the UK and USA still considered craft. Still tiny compared to somewhere like Guinness but massive compared to an average Irish microbrewery.

I suppose I can just ask the owner.

MichealKenny

Saruman wrote: »

Their plan was always to start out small and then go bigger within a few years, say to the size of a small regional brewer in the UK like Brewdog.

If they want to be like Brewdog, making **** beers is not the way to do it.

Saruman

To be fair, they don't make bad beer. Perhaps the McGargles range isn't particularly exciting but they provide the consumer with a choice and that's pretty important.
Same with massive macro beers, very few could be considered so bad as to be undrinkable. They are just incredibly boring. Believe me, I have had undrinkable beer and none of the McGargles range comes under that category.

Their own branded Rye River stuff is a completely different story though. Packed full of flavour. Shame it's so limited.

MichealKenny

Saruman wrote: »

To be fair, they don't make bad beer. Perhaps the McGargles range isn't particularly exciting but they provide the consumer with a choice and that's pretty important.
Same with massive macro beers, very few could be considered so bad as to be undrinkable. They are just incredibly boring. Believe me, I have had undrinkable beer and none of the McGargles range comes under that category.

Their own branded Rye River stuff is a completely different story though. Packed full of flavour. Shame it's so limited.

Of course it's subjective but I would classify McGargles Knock Knock Ned's and Colgan's IPA as pretty undrinkable(granted they are pretty much the same beer), But I agree with your second point that most macro lagers are plenty good, I would just prefer a nice American style IPA like Brewdog Punk IPA instead of a Bud.

Son0vagun

Only got to try the Grafters range today, mainly thanks to this thread, so I guess negative publicity works!

The Pale Ale is lovely. It's much better then most Pale Ales on the market, I'd easily drink it again.

The IPA is more of a traditional IPA. I guess we have been spoilt lately by hop forward IPAs and this isn't one. It's still nice, and very drinkable at 6.5%ABV.

I did drink McGargles when they first came out, and wasn't impressed. However since they moved their production to Kilcock their beers have vastly improved. Cousin Rosie's Pale Ale is delicious. But the real stand out is Uncle Jim's Stout. On tap, A nitro stout and a match for any stout out there.

lk67

I have yet to understand 'undrinkable' or 'sink pour' beers. I've only come across maybe 5 in 5 years and they were obviously infected, apart from that...

I have drank beer I wasn't over excited about but never thought about pouring them down a sink.

Maybe I'm just not wasteful!

I still disagree that there's anything wrong with RRs beers, they just wouldn't be my first choice.

Saruman

Confirmed with owner. Rye River is under 30khl but their kit allows them to expand. Basically what I said earlier.

I don't think they are even as big as Carlow or Porterhouse and neither of them are anywhere near 30khl yet.

billythefish99

lk67 wrote: »

I have yet to understand 'undrinkable' or 'sink pour' beers. I've only come across maybe 5 in 5 years and they were obviously infected, apart from that...

I have drank beer I wasn't over excited about but never thought about pouring them down a sink.

I think this is just an extension of the 'Heineken is disgusting, I only drink Carlsberg' nonsense from Irish drinkers. For a nation which drinks so much beer we really know very little about it, preferring to base opinion on marketing and silly pub myths.

I wouldnt buy McGargles but there is nothing 'wrong' with the beer.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Thanks to this thread, the founder of Rye River Brewing has contacted us. He wanted to clear up some misinformation in the thread and we have agreed to post this response on his behalf:

Rye River Brewery is an independently Irish owned brewery and beer business based in Co. Kildare. Our business produces less than the revenue cap of 30,000 HL’s and as such qualifies as a small brewery.

At no point does the Revenue refer to craft brewery in their legislation. In fact the term craft is defined differently in every country and in the U.S. its in the millions of HL’s. And that’s why we never mention the word craft on McGargles beers.

Our beer is not to everyones taste and I wouldn't want it to be.

Beers or brands that try to appeal to everyone go nowhere. Beer is subjective, just like wine, and I think it is unfortunate that some of the discussion on boards tries to isolate people for liking beers that other do not. We love beer in all its glory. We do not judge other beers, even though they may not be to our tastes. We recognise that beer is in the unique position to have the variety of tastes to suit almost any palate, unlike other drinks, and that’s why we love it. We often disagree between us on what beers we love and we also change our minds quite regularly as our tastes develop, but we never judge someone who likes Budweiser over Sierra Nevada. Let them drink what makes them happy.

So, you may or may not like McGargles or Grafters or Solas, but we sell 250,000 cases per year and most our our beer is bought in a repeat purchase by loyal customers. So a lots of people clearly enjoy our beers.

Our beers are all produced in small batches by the brewing team here in Kildare and we have opened our doors to anyone who has asked. We don’t use any chemicals and our beers only contain Water, Yeast, Hops and Barley.

We do not produce Bavaria or San Miguel in our brewery and I would ask that when you do post online that you are clear on the facts.

The web has brought us some amazing things, but unfortunately it has also brought us the assumption that opinion is fact rather than a perception. This attitude is hurting lots of indigenous Irish businesses run by guys and girls who put everything on the line to go out and risk it all because they believe in something. When you post information that’s untrue you are damaging a local business that has created jobs & driven cash into the local economy.

MichealKenny

250,000 cases per year...Our beers are all produced in small batches

That's 2700 beers a day... that's not a small batch, that is mass production. (btw I don't care if a beer is mass produced, I wish all of my favourite beers were mass produced and readily available, but 2700 beers is only small relative to the giants, it is most certainly not a batch.)


But yeah I agree with him that beer is subjective, and I apologise for my part in the Bavaria rumour.

...and most our our beer is bought in a repeat purchase by loyal customers

He complains about people spreading lies as facts and then he goes and says this, there is no conceivable way you could know this statistic when your main distribution platform is Tesco.



I'll be honest, I don't care that you're Irish, I don't care that you're a small business, I don't care if you succeed or not, the only way to make me care is to make a good product, and in my opinion you don't.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Michael if you (or any other user) wish to speak with Niall directly about this you can do so on Niall@ryeriverbrewingco.com - he has given me his permission to post his contact email address here.

MichealKenny

Thanks Niamh but I've no reason to contact him.

oblivious

MichealKenny wrote: »

That's 2700 beers a day...

Back of a beer mat calculation ( I could be wrong!!). Allowing there are 4 beers in a pack and they are 330ml bottle that's is 904 liters a day. That's 5.5 barrels or just under 10 hl production. Right bang in the micro brew house range

irish_goat

oblivious wrote: »

Back of a beer mat calculation ( I could be wrong!!). Allowing there are 4 beers in a pack and they are 330ml bottle that's is 904 liters a day. That's 5.5 barrels or just under 10 hl production. Right bang in the micro brew house range

I would take a case to mean 24 x 330mls; so just over 5424 litres a day.

MichealKenny

I took a case as 4 beers as that's how they sell them in stores, but my point was that it's continuous production, not batch production.

oblivious

MichealKenny wrote: »

I took a case as 4 beers as that's how they sell them in stores, but my point was that it's continuous production, not batch production.

The brewhouse is 50hl I believe and and fermentation vessels (FV) are now 100hl, that just big batch. For the record Galway hooker are 40hl brew-house and 80hl FV

MichealKenny

oblivious wrote: »

The brewhouse is 50hl I believe and and fermentation vessels (FV) are now 100hl, that just big batch. For the record Galway hooker are 40hl brew-house and 80hl FV

ah right well big batch then, not small batch like Niall said.

Also how on earth did they overtake a brewery open for 10 years in the span of 2 years?

L1011

MichealKenny wrote: »

I took a case as 4 beers as that's how they sell them in stores, but my point was that it's continuous production, not batch production.

Cases are how they're distributed to stores, not point of sale. I'd be sure its 24x330 also

n97 mini

oblivious wrote: »

The brewhouse is 50hl I believe

I think that's the kind of thing Niall was talking about. The brewhouse is 25HL according to the people who made it.
http://www.spectac.ie/spectac-internationals-brewhouse-fabrication-underway-rye-river-brewery/

oblivious wrote: »

Galway hooker are 40hl brew-house and 80hl FV

I don't know if that's true but if it is it means their batch size is a lot bigger than RR's.

oblivious

MichealKenny wrote: »

ah right well big batch then, not small batch like Niall said.

Also how on earth did they overtake a brewery open for 10 years in the span of 2 years?

How do most private business expand, I suppose