For anyone wondering, they have three craft beers on tap, not sure how many more in bottles or cans.
That Whiplash x Verdant Melted Head is one of their best beers in a while, I feel.
Is 0 haras in trouble?
There seems to be very little variety in shops these days.
In a few places I've spotted only 4 of their range.
O'Hara's is in rude health, as far as I know. I haven't noticed any shortage of their beers, in both the multiples and the independent trade. They don't release new beers anything like as much as they used to, though.
O'Hara's has appeared in Tesco in the north for the first time. Just the Pale Ale and Tropical IPA so far but hoping Leann Follain or the the stout appears.
They brought out a lower ABV tropical IPA recently (while keeping the stronger one)
TBH having a pretty stable range is probably a good sign. They know what works.
That's good, they're my go too where possible.
The 51st state is beautiful
https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/companies/arid-41615446.html
Killarney Brewing company enters examinership aiming to save 100 jobs
That's a very fancy looking site for a small rural brewery.
What chance does the examinership actually have to save the brewery I wonder.
100 jobs seemed huge for an independent brewery - a distillery and large visitor centre also included. This is a distillery failure not a brewery failure really despite the name.
Seems like a lot of jobs for a distillery too. I wonder are the paper including some staff from another of their businesses
Killarney also had hopes of being a routine stop for the US tour buses. They'd invested heavily hoping they'd be getting a couple of hundred through the door every day who'd then drop money on food, drinks, tours and merch etc.
If there's no hope of spending big and getting the money back from busloads of tourists in Killarney, what chance does anywhere else have? I'm glad Rascals seems to have picked up a decent local crowd, and I hope Wicklow Wolf and Kinnegar have them too.
Treaty and Sullivan's have a good tourist trade. But they are in the middle of tourist areas and it's only a part of the income. Very different to Fossa where you have to purposely travel to the venue.
Ordered some beers direct from White Hag (had a voucher, long story), and they arrived next day.
Not much of a selection in their online shop at the moment, but just wanted to mention that their black lager, Little Boar, is really good. Not dissimilar to Kinnegar's Black Rabbit. It has a fair bit of body, more like a light stout than the German schwarzbier I've had, if that makes sense.
From social posts, Ronan Russell (presumably now previously of Blacks of Kinsale) is also in on this project. Videos from the founder suggest first taps should be on from mid-May in Cork. They have an internal canning set up, so I would presume off license sales won't be too long after?
Is there anywhere I could read a survey of the sector, e.g. a list of the largest producers (after the macros), trends in productions, exports, retail, etc.?
I would like to read about how many breweries there are, ownership, etc.
I get the feeling that Rye River in Kildare are the largest non-macro brewery? although I could be wrong
Nearest things would be Bord Bia's report on the craft beer sector, available via the IBI here: https://independentbrewers.ie/economic-impact-reports/
And IBEC's broader view here: https://www.ibec.ie/drinksireland/news-insights-and-events/news/2024/07/04/non-alcohol-beer-continues-to-grow
How are Roc Helles and Magic Mist from White Hag, these days?
On the hunt for the best pils from an Irish brewery. Any thoughts?
Not too particular if it's more Italian, Czech, or German inspired.
The best I've tried are Figo from Galway Bay for Italian, Magnum Pilsner from Dew Drop for German, and Hello Yes from Third Barrel for Czech. Anything I'm missing out on?
Somehow posted twice. Sigh. Edited
8 Degrees Bohemian was a favourite of mine when I could still drink pilsners and not rip my stomach lining out (familial trait it appears).
Whiplash Blue Ghost?
I've only had the 8 degrees Bohemian years ago when it was first floating around. I'm curious to see how it's tasting after they took the brewery back. From their socials, I see there are some bottles and taps close to their homeland but haven't seen it elsewhere. The Full Irish and Citra Single Hop in the new bottles have been tasting great. Though I haven't see any fresh ones in a while.
Are we talking widely available nationwide in off licenses ?
If so it's a small field.
Why not just drink the real thing instead of some Irish fake?
It was a revelation to me when I spent a summer working in Munich in 1989… Spaten and Paulaner and Löwenbräu and… this is real beer! not the pissy yellow stuff served up at home. I honestly thought I'd never see beer of that quality in offies in Ireland… Spaten (perhaps the very best of them) still isn't the easiest to get here but the lovely lovely Budweiser / Budvar is becoming more and more available, and in cans now with a lower price premium than when it was only available in bottles.
Spaten and Löwenbräu are brewed by the world's largest beer conglomerate, and Paulaner by the second largest. Hello Yes is brewed in west Dublin by Kev. Kev and his family contribute more to the Irish economy than most AB InBev and Heineken shareholders.
Dare I say it, some brewers are big because they're crap but some other brewers got big because they're good.
Heineken are very, very, very much the former unfortunately. Particularly stuff out of Cork.
ABInbev give little indication of being the latter.
Do you think that these beers have remained entirely unchanged since 1989?
(these beers were also a revelation to me in 1988)
