It is indeed 100ml.. have gotten them before - "Dram In A Can"
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.
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
🙄
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 😀
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?
8 Degrees has been sold back to the founders.
What's the story there do you know.
Were Irish Distiller's just not able to make sufficient inroads into the market ?
It was never meant to be a way for them to get into the market. It was more of a case that they could dictate what the lads were producing, i.e. we need x amount of stout/Ipa for our Caskmates.
So how do are they going to arrange that now? Have they a deal/contract in place with the original owners?
I've never made sense of the whole 8 degrees saga. I could completely see why IDL wanted to buy them and why the guys sold but I can't see the reasons why IDL no longer wanted the brewery or why the guys wanted to buy back in!
I like to think that it worked out well for the guys but I can't make sense of it!
I hope they bought back in for a good bit less than they sold it 😁
Think both lads, or at least 1, had an accountancy background so would be a surprised if it didn't make financial sense to get it back.
Saying that, we all sometimes make decisions based off the heart instead of the head.
I would hope and expect so.
In addition to the previously mentioned DOT / Two Stacks combo box, Aldi will also have the following this week:
I've never had the Aldi own-brand craft beers (from Carlow Brewing Co / O'Hara's, I think?) but I do value their pretty strong rotation of specials / one offs like this.
They haven't had the O'Hara's/O'Shea's for years. Not in mine anyway. I miss them.
Yeah very hard to see how this doesn't just end up with Independent breweries losing tap space.
I have linked to the story below, some of these pubs would only ever really have just had Galway Hooker/Rye River/Wicklow Wolf, and I assume will just replace them. Others like the Palace have been much better and will be interesting to see if they do maintain the variety. Lager won't really replace any Independent offering but the 'Hazy' IPA definitely will. When they first announced it was in the works it was off the back of Heineken and Diageo raising prices, but the idea that they are going to sell these beers at a lower price than the other products is laughable. They have had years where they could have bought cheaper kegs from Independent breweries and didn't want the hassle. Margins will be higher and they will eventually decide they don't need the Independent taps as their own ones will do the job in offering a veil of variety to punters who aren't just interested in a pint of Heineken or a pint of Guinness.
Grim times.
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/1112/1480361-a-dozen-prominent-publicans-launch-changing-times-brewery/
Popped in to Darkey Kelly's at lunch. They had six taps set up for Changing Times beers (two sets of three), though not pouring yet. O Brother The Chancer is a longstanding tap there, and it was unavailable: I don't know if that's related. They were still pouring Rye River Lil Bangin'.
Any idea yet on pricing for the Changing Times range? I would have thought they'd be coming in below the existing macro brands
They've made it public now that a keg is around €100 cheaper for them. They could be a bit of a backlash if they don't pass the savings back to the customers.
No reason they would be. Pubs already buy microbrewed beer for less than the big brands, then sell it at a higher price. And they'll be wanting their €1.8m back, soon as.
The Palace (Guinness: €6.90) has Changing Times pale ale at €7.60 and the lager at €7.80.
Ouch. Have you tried them yet, any first impressions?
I thought the lager was good: brewed to be accessible but with some proper character and no cheap feel to it. The pale ale is up against your Little Fawns and your Ambushes, and is really not at the races there.
Ah yes. The Aldi website lists the producer as Pearse Lyons Brewery on both the Brown Bear label and the Roadworks label. Not entirely sure where I came up with the O'Hara's reference from.
Would the average punter really know that they are selling the kegs for €100 cheaper, though?
I would say the Dublin pubs in question get a lot of tourist trade and will drink the "pubs beer" regardless. Any backlash will be worth the GP you can pull from having your "premium" drinks at higher prices.
When in Dublin I sometimes drink Chawkes beers in the Oval and I never even thought to check if its cheaper or not.
True. It says it in the RTE article but probably most people wouldn't even notice.
O'Hara's used to be their main supplier up to four or five years ago. The O'Shea's range was good beer and great value.
So standard for a beer. FFS. If the keg is cheaper, sell it cheaper.
Ambush has been pulled from both The Palace and Devitt's in favour of CT.
