8 Degrees has been sold back to the founders.
ugh, reminds me of the time I ordered an after dinner brandy in a Dublin city centre hotel and it came, without asking, poured over ice… ffs. Tell me you know nothing about drinks without saying you know nothing about drinks.
Does 8 Degrees still pass the "craft beer" test btw?
Bit more than a dram.. an Irish treble, or an English quadruple! and you can't reseal a can. I wouldn't be complaining if I got it as a present though 😀
I'm actually a huge Blue Moon fan, just thought it was ironic that he was spouting off about stuff he clearly had no idea about. Never seen ice cubes being added, I'm a big fan of the orange slice though, even if it tends to destroy the head by the time you're nearly done. I've been given ice in a glass when I've ordered weissbiers before…..erdinger/paulaner and the likes. More out of ignorance than anything, I'd say. Hasn't happened in a good long time, now that I think about it.
"Here's your bottle….that'll be €6.50 please"
"thanks…….can I get a glass, please?"
"……..eh, yeah, sure thing……here ya go"
hands over a half pint glass full of ice cubes
"have you no pint glasses?"
"Oh….yeah, of course"
Fills pint glass full of ice
🙄
Talk of Two Stacks reminded my I've a bottle of 10 year old single malt, cask strength, coming from them in the new year. Originally distilled and barrelled by Dingle, and then finished in a sherry cask by Two Stacks.
Last night I had a bit of Dingle Batch 6, which I absolutely love. Before that I had a glass of Bushmills 12 year old from the new Causeway Collection, with Celtic Whiskey Shop. Fully matured in first fill sherry casks, and bottled at 53.4% Really nice whiskey, but I found it opened up better with a few drops of water.
It is indeed 100ml.. have gotten them before - "Dram In A Can"
Two Stacks are known for doing whiskey in a can, know as Dram in a Can. I had one that was finished in a raspberry brandy cask that was 63%. Strong stuff.
I think they've been selling them for a while, but mostly via their partnership with Irish Malts. Fairly sure it was an experiment during the pandemic lockdowns that worked out well for them.
That's what I was thinking. Not seen anything like that before.
This looks really interesting. Thanks for the heads up.
Loads of pubs, mostly in Dublin but not all of them, have done a 'teaser' marketing push for the Changing Times brewery in Glasnevin
I seriously worry that products from here are going to replace existing Irish independent lines and not macro lines; despite the intent of this being to threaten the macros.
Brewer is Mark Nixon, ex Trouble, Hope, O'Haras, Dead Centre so has pedigree, so I'm not worried the product will be bad, just that it won't actually increase availability of independent Irish product.
Looks like a 100ml can.
Nice idea but what sort of vessel is the whiskey in?
Aldi have Dot Brew / Two Stacks gift tube for €11.99 from Nov 14th
I had a 4 pack of Blue Moon during the summer for old time's sake! It's a nice one for the hot days (but still wouldn't put ice in it like some bars insist on).
For ages I thought Blue Moon was a brewery that Coors "invested in" same as they did Fran Well.
Coors even introduced me to the "founder" the same way they had done with Shane Long.
I was once admonished by a particularly crusty individual with a man bun for daring to drink macro beer in front of him at a party. "Couldn't bring myself to drink that muck again……..", he sneered, proudly twirling a can of Blue moon, "….not with the plethora of decent craft beers on the market these days, there's no excuse".
His smug sense of self-satisfaction disappeared up his own hole when he was informed by others there that Blue Moon is, in fact, made by Coors. He was even more pissed off when I told him that I wasn't actually drinking Grolsch, it was homebrew and I only used the bottles for the swingtops. He declined when I offered him a bottle to try.
Whiplash have a trio of stouts just in time for these darker evenings. The set comprises: a maple & cinnamon imperial stout, a regular imperial stout & a coffee imperial stout.
I know Whiplash are best known for their IPAs, but I have really enjoyed the dark beers when they turn up. I hope Heart of Chambers has its annual (?) run out again!
https://x.com/bradleys_offlic/status/1853797175764951204
As long as it's honest about being Guinness I don't care.
C&C and Heineken Ireland were under investigation for misleading craft branding but I don't know if anything came of it.
To an extent - the Citra is made in the main brewery rather than the Open Gate kit I'm pretty sure. Whats 500m between friends :pac:
But Open Gate are totally honest about where it comes from unlike 5 Lamps or Island's Edge which was the point being made.
Ask the publican if there was any sweeteners involved there - its not hard to get individual pubs to tell you about what Heineken or C&C bunged them to replace lines with. Sometimes things are just slow sellers; and bottled beers in mainstream pubs almost always are slow sellers.
Diageo appear to know that their market position would be considered dominant and really don't do the same kind of fuckery the others do!
No? My local used to have a Hope tap and an O'Hara's fridge. Now it's Open Gate Citra on tap, and wine bottles in the fridge.
I've heard John Creedon saying it alright.
Love that Pana badge.
"A lager made for the people of Cork. Brewed in Clonmel" 🤣
Off topic but did anyone ever actually call that street "Pana" or is it just one of these things people say people said. Like how no one who wasn't robbing your car stereo ever said "sham" in Limerick until the Rubberbandits pretended we all did.
5 Lamps is C&C.
Might need something similar here...
Ta-daa!
There's also ICBI, though they only list their own members AFAIK, so no Whiplash, for example.
Just curious, who's behind 5 lamps ??
Heineken have Cute Hoor and had their faux regional stuff "Pana Lager" and so on. Also their international former craft acquisitions
C&C have done Roundstone and some other stuff; as well as the Five Lamps elephant in the former cinema room
There are places that sell Hop House as 'craft beer', although I very much doubt Diageo have been guiding them on that. Diageo appear to know that their market position would be considered dominant and really don't do the same kind of fuckery the others do!
Who are the hidden macros in Ireland ?
I know we have a few fake breweries like 5 Lamps or Island's Edge and then Fran Well who were a genuine craft gone macro but I wouldn't be able to say for definite on a lot of the Irish stuff.
Wicklow Wolf have free shipping through till Monday, with code WWFREESHIP243.
Whiplash seem to be sending free shipping or 20% discount offers to my email way more than they used to. I haven't taken them up on the offer, as UPS can be hit or miss as to whether it is 1 day shipping, or 2 days plus.
