Is JJs still going? Never see that beer in pubs around Limerick
Mostly seems to be in offies. Number 21 in Punches has it and Off the Bone restaurant.
Definitely still going anyway.
Yellowbelly being brewed at Dundalk Bay now. Don't think the specials will be getting brewed though. Seems to just be the core range.
YB's website won't connect for me and their Twitter hasn't been posted on in months.
Late 2019 I was grabbing a few Citra off the shelf in my local Molloys and a staff member told me that was the last batch of YB stock they'd be getting in - they were concentrating on the pub trade from then on. Seemed a very odd decision and of course it wasn't long before Covid forced a reversal. Ironically they're now in places like Dunnes which they never were in the Before Times. Don't recall seeing anything from them not core range in a long time though.
I'm drinking almost no beer these days but just happened to have a Hope Dublin Porter (their winter seasonal) yesterday. Really impressed with it - one of the best porters I've had in a long while.
Hope are one of those breweries who wouldn't be a go-to for me, and yet any of their beers I've tried I've really liked.
Their Handsome Jack IPA is one of the better regularly produced IPAs here imo, constantly good, clear and a decent bitterness.
It's almost impossible to get a proper piney, resiny bitter IPA anywhere in Ireland any more, outside of imported Sierra Nevada stuff like Torpedo or the Celebration that comes out for xmas. Irish breweries are seemingly afraid of bittering, early addition hops.
Yeah would have to agree, I regularly pick up some Jaipur in lidl for a break from the haze
Most of those "juicy" NEIPAs taste the same, I doubt many people have the wherewithal to distinguish between all the different hop strains, especially if they aren't listed on the can, and you get some amount of fart-sniffing reviews and brewery propaganda about grams per litre and double and triple dry hopping and what have you.
And great, I don't dislike NEIPA, but for the love of Ninkasi, stop labelling them IPA when that is an already established term. Worse are these clowns putting the words "west coast" on beers that are hazy, have damn all bitterness, or have no malt profile at all.
As a rule I now rarely buy anything listed as an IPA if the ingredients list contains oats. Cue me standing in Tesco checking the labels of about 20 different cans and then leaving empty handed.
If you like Torpedo and West Coast style IPAs, definitley worth checking out Cigar City Jai Alai if you haven't... It's billed as an 'American IPA' rather than being West Coast style, but it's clear, resiny and hoppy, which is enough for me anyway.
Back to Hope - I have liked their Hop-On session pale ale too, and they did a red IPA a while back that was great. One of the reasons I buy them is they're from just down the road and I like to support local and to imagine the fresher beer tastes better.
The Galway Bay west coast IPA is a lifesaver in this regard, but there should be loads more like it. I haven't had Galway Hooker's 60 Knots in a while, but that's a fairly easily-got clear IPA in regular production.
I could have written this, word for word (apart from, "I don't dislike NEIPA" bit).
Another vote for Handsom Jack, here.
I picked up some Dankful, Torpedo and (with some trepidation) some Cold Torpedo last evening, along with some Scraggy and Handsome Jack.
Scraggy and HJ are probably around the same IBUs. But may as well be pale ales compared to the SN stuff.
I'll do a side by side with the two Torpedos later this evening probably.
I often pick it up in Supervalu when passing through Kilmallock. I really like their beers, especially the Abbey stout.
I wouldn't claim to be an expert, but wouldn't WW Mammoth another contender?
for what? to sit alongside Scraggy and Handsome Jack as token efforts at bitterness from an Irish brewery?
Torpedo is a 7.2% IPA, not really right to compare it to Scraggy and HJ. A fairer comparison would at least be to have it alongside Thumper or even Crossroads. Not sure what the Hope equivalent would be.
Actually yeah I'd forgotten about Crossroads. I'll pick up a couple in McHugh's this evening.
Thumper is a Hazy IPA right? Does it have high IBUs?
I don't believe Hope have anything in that sort of style
No haze in Thumper, that'd be Big Bunny.
Why Crossroads but not handsome Jack for comparison?
My mistake, I was thinking Handsome Jack was their circa 5% IPA. I've not had it in years so can't really remember what it's like either.
there was no Thumper in McHugh's but I did get some Crossroads. Also got some Mammoth as suggested.
Will get on them over the weekend
Picked up some Stony Grey from Brehon Brewhouse over weekend. Another one to add to the list of piney resinous no haze IPAs that we really need to start seeing more of!!
Haven't had that in years, must revisit it
Whiplash seem very quiet these days, especially compared to their hectic release schedule of days gone by.
Galway Bay still haven't released their 2022 barrel aged big boys, despite their being at beer festivals they seem to be at according to Instagram.
A few seem to have slowed the non-core releases - more going to kegs?
I was just thinking this as well. I know Jan is a quiet time in general for new releases from Irish brewers but it definitely seems more quiet so far in Feb compared to this time last year. I guess time will tell as we move into March/April but it does seem like the several new beers every week from various brewers might be a thing of the past due to costs/inflation/economic downturn etc.
Well I am buying less cans/ bottles now, as we're going out more. And the locals that have local breweries are core range only.
Same. And I've noticed all my friends have more or less stopped stocking-up and drinking 1/2 cans a night, in favour of going out one big night at the weekend.
