Supporting craft breweries

Blisterman

It's supposed to be a poaching customers from Guinness. And it falls very far short. I can't see anyone wanting to switch. Even if it is 20c cheaper.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210866#Comment_123210866

Presumably it should appeal to Guinness/Beamish/Murphy's drinkers, though?

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210950#Comment_123210950

It can't. The vast, vast majority of them choose based on the brand rather than any sensory property of the drink.

L1011

And they're charging far too much to get people swapping for price, particularly while Beamish exists

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211059#Comment_123211059

Irish pubs, in general, refuse to compete with each other on price, so a brewery owned by publicans definitely won't.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211068#Comment_123211068

And yet they made the claim that the did this due to the (consumer) price of the products. Which it obviously wasn't, it was the margins available to them instead.

BeerNut

A brewery being disingenuous in its marketing? 🤯

breezy1985

They won't make any staunch stout drinker change their brand but they will pick up enough of the people who want to feel like they are drinking a craft beer or the pubs "local" brew without actually being that into the flavour profile.

It's essentially just the same strategy as Camden, Cute Hoor or 5 Lamps.

Given the profile and location of some of the pubs it will probably work quite well.

Pen Rua

I've posted a couple of times re a new start up brewery in Cork, Blarney Brewing Company.

Per LinkedIn, Declan Nixon will be the brewer:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/falveypat_great-to-be-starting-the-blarney-brewing-activity-7299936269877297152-Pu0R

From what he's shared on LinkedIn, the owner Pat Falvey seems to be putting a lot of capital and work into this. Will be curious to watch this project as it starts actually getting beer out there.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211201#Comment_123211201

I love the "To those familiar with the Irish Craft Beer scene, Declan needs no introduction"

Well what about those of us not familiar. Where has he worked before ?

BeerNut

I think White Gypsy (now WhiteField) was his first professional gig, then he was head brewer at YellowBelly during their heyday. He left to found Otterbank (I'll be sad if that's on hiatus now) and also brewed at Errigal Brewing.

Pen Rua

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211242#Comment_123211242

Thanks for that. I assumed his wearing the Otterbank shirt meant he was behind Otterbank.

When was the last (successful) brewery launched in Ireland from scratch, without contract brewing / hoping around other breweries? Curious (to me) the approach here, particularly as the founder has zero beer / drinks industry experience - per his LinkedIn, he was into property here in Cork.

irish_goat

I would imagine Declan is onboard in a consultancy capacity. He has done the same with Errigal, originally doing all the brewing himself, but has now got a team together there that can look after things so he doesn't need to be there everyday.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211280#Comment_123211280

Crew in Limerick opened during COVID and is from scratch I believe. Not attached to any other hospitality business or major investment company.

The owner of the Blarney place has a career in mountain climbing whatever that means so I assume he is just the eccentric type and felt like owning a brewery.

irish_goat

It's an impressive looking setup anyway. I can't see where the location is, but it looks like it is going to be geared towards having tour groups visiting.

Pen Rua

Well, I totally missed this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwi-UyeSEZY

irish_goat

Speaking of nitro stouts, Eight Degrees have one coming out according to their socials. Definitely seems to be some great new life there since Cam and Scott returned.

Blisterman

From their Linkedin Page:

"Blarney Brewing Company will be kicking off with range of 3 sessionable and approachable beers with broad appeal. This will include Hydro Lager, Hydro Lite and Muskerry IPA"

Between the Blarney Branding, and the words "Sessionable" and "approachable", and with one of their launch beers being an unspecified "lager", I suspect this isn't one for the craft beer nerds.

Black Sheep

Revealing my ignorance here, but what is hydro lager? And hydo lite?

From a google, I thought initially hydro lager was American lite style lager… But the reference to hydro lite then puzzles me, if that's so..

breezy1985

Are Redemption and Fran Well the only breweries* with a presence in Cork City ?

The Redemption pubs are some of my favourites in Ireland but I'm always surprised there isn't and proper little microbrewery around the city.

*Don't try to be funny and say Heineken 😁

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212020#Comment_123212020

It's the brand name. "The Hydro" was a hydropathic establishment in Blarney. Something akin to a spa, I guess.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212080#Comment_123212080

Elbow Lane, Original 7, Franciscan Well, Cotton Ball and its satellite Thompsons all brew in Cork city as well. By Redemption, I assume you mean Rising Sons.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212144#Comment_123212144

Ya I always get Redemption and Rising Suns breweries mixed up because of the Rising Sons beer Redemption.

By microbrewery I more meant in a taproom sense. Elbow Lane is a restaurant and Original 7 is/isn't Fran Well. I must check out Thompson's although I have heard that brewery is up for sale.

BeerNut

We mostly don't do taprooms in Ireland, because licensing. Rising Sons, Cotton Ball, Original 7 and Thompsons* are brewpubs. As such, Cork is doing much better than any other city in the Republic on that score.

*I think. I haven't been either. It looks like it mostly sells Cotton Ball beers so I would question how much brewing goes on there.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212193#Comment_123212193

I wouldn't mind if the beer wasn't actually brewed there as long as I can get beer that I might not find anywhere else and it is the breweries pub.

I didn't know we don't really do tap rooms in Ireland. I just always assumed that the breweries around Ireland I haven't been to had tap rooms same as Treaty and Crew which are both like what I'm used to from the UK scene.

Black Sheep

Hydro lager sounds kind of catchy, in fairness.

Slightly disappointed its not a beer style. I was envisaging "nitro … BUT EXTRA", or something.

BeerNut

I would consider Treaty City's place on Nicholas Street, and Crew, as brewpubs rather than taprooms: they're pubs first, which happen to have an onsite brewery. Both are licensed as pubs.

"Taproom", in the UK/US sense, suggests somewhere more like Rascals: a full-scale production brewery, selling beer far and wide, that has set aside part of the premises for customers to drink in, although Rascals too is licensed as a pub.

The only taprooms in the strict legal sense are Kinnegar, Wicklow Wolf and Tom Crean (plus Ballykilcavan, but I don't think they open for walk-ins).

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212304#Comment_123212304

I think we have enough gimmicks in beer to be going on with.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212336#Comment_123212336

Well grand. Most of us are not up to date on the legal and dictionary definition of a tap room.

I know absolutely nobody who works in the UK industry who would call something like Crew a "brewpub" whether that is the legal definition or not. Anything where beer was brewed and served and had any sort of simple aesthetic was called a taproom by people in the industry in London.

Brewpub might get used for something like Elbow Lane.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212304#Comment_123212304

Skillfully brewed with water!

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123212408#Comment_123212408

Yeah, I think this is just a function of my age. "Taprooms" didn't really exist until fairly recently. In 2007 I visited every drink-in microbrewery in London in a single day (there were six), all brewpubs, not taprooms. For London, that changed with The Kernel and the rest of Bermondsey's beer scene that grew up around it. London went from being a beer backwater to a trendsetter overnight and it's been taprooms all the way in the UK since. I'm sure that fashion will change eventually too.