Who are "The Crafty Brewing Co"?

physioman · 07-05-2016 09:38PM

fjon wrote: »

I think the Lidl stuff is really quite unimpressive, even taking into account the price. If you're near an Aldi they have some much better stuff - O'Haras/ O'Sheas and Williams Brothers are available for around the same price, and imo are a lot better for your money.

Have to agree. The crafty range is dreadful. Rye river beers are terrible quality. Avoid at all costs.

andekwarhola · 07-05-2016 09:55PM

physioman wrote: »

Have to agree. The crafty range is dreadful. Rye river beers are terrible quality. Avoid at all costs.

Big Banging IPA, Grafters Pale Ale and Grafters IPA are extremely decent beers for the price. Not much better at that price around.

VincePP · 07-05-2016 10:07PM

physioman wrote: »

Have to agree. The crafty range is dreadful. Rye river beers are terrible quality. Avoid at all costs.

And this is based on what qualifications?

Or is it just some 'opinion'.

I don't like lager - but that does not mean i can say all lager is dreadful. I love a very hoppy ale, but that doesn't mean that I can say only hoppy ale is "real beer".

Beer just like wine is objective. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it "dreadful"

Rye river is a small brewery when compared to the big boys. Its big when compared to the very small craft brewers. Carlow brewing is similar.

If all brewers only brewed one style that just some people liked, it would be very boring. Thankfully different people have different tastes and different brewers target different markets.

Sometimes i just like a tin of bass!

slayerking · 08-05-2016 12:43AM

physioman wrote: »

Have to agree. The crafty range is dreadful. Rye river beers are terrible quality. Avoid at all costs.

What have you tried that you didn't like out of curiosity? They can be hit and miss, but their hits are goooood.

oblivious · 08-05-2016 10:15AM

andekwarhola wrote: »

Must try the Crafty IPA. Have to confess I'd always ignored it. Probably the name or something.

Have to say re: O'Sheas Pale Ale. At that price point, I'd take the Grafters stuff over it any day.

Crafty IPA is seriously good and fantastic price point

O'Sheas Pale ale is solid, I suppose it can come down to which store is closer

physioman · 08-05-2016 02:17PM

VincePP wrote: »

And this is based on what qualifications?

Or is it just some 'opinion'.

I don't like lager - but that does not mean i can say all lager is dreadful. I love a very hoppy ale, but that doesn't mean that I can say only hoppy ale is "real beer".

Beer just like wine is objective. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it "dreadful"

Rye river is a small brewery when compared to the big boys. Its big when compared to the very small craft brewers. Carlow brewing is similar.

If all brewers only brewed one style that just some people liked, it would be very boring. Thankfully different people have different tastes and different brewers target different markets.

Sometimes i just like a tin of bass!

Didn't realise you needed qualifications to express an opinion here...do you have a degree or phd in beer tasting?

I've tried all the rye river brewing range (mcgargles, Solas etc) and they remind me of companies trying to enter the lucrative craft beer market by mass producing substandard product at a cheap price point like Guinness hop 13 or Heineken's orchard thieves. People are not stupid and will tire of these drinks quickly.

Interestingly you state they produce at roughly the same volume as O'Hara's. O'Hara's product is far superior and they haven't sacrifised the taste quality.

I enjoy trying lots of different craft products. Enjoy the kinsale, dungarvan and galway bay brewing products.

My advice to rye river company is to develop the quality of their product first instead of mass producing a far inferior product.

VincePP · 08-05-2016 04:24PM

physioman wrote: »

Didn't realise you needed qualifications to express an opinion here...do you have a degree or phd in beer tasting?

I've tried all the rye river brewing range (mcgargles, Solas etc) and they remind me of companies trying to enter the lucrative craft beer market by mass producing substandard product at a cheap price point like Guinness hop 13 or Heineken's orchard thieves. People are not stupid and will tire of these drinks quickly.

Interestingly you state they produce at roughly the same volume as O'Hara's. O'Hara's product is far superior and they haven't sacrifised the taste quality.

I enjoy trying lots of different craft products. Enjoy the kinsale, dungarvan and galway bay brewing products.

My advice to rye river company is to develop the quality of their product first instead of mass producing a far inferior product.

No problem with 'opinion' - but to make a statement saying something is "dreadful" is not opinion. Its pure idiotic.

I totally dislike many things - but that does not give me a right to say any of those things are dreadful.

But we love whining in Ireland and we're champion begrudgers and if we don't like something we make sweeping statements based on zero knowledge.

BeerNut · 08-05-2016 08:49PM

Naming specific beers and what you didn't like about them also helps the conversation work.

lordstilton · 08-05-2016 08:59PM

Rye river Francis big banging ipa is one of the best beers of that style made in Ireland. .and for 9 euro for for bottles it's ridiculously good value..if you think that beer is dreadful you know very little about beer..it might not be to your taste but it's an excellent beer

testaccount123 · 09-05-2016 01:53PM

physioman wrote: »

My advice to rye river company is to develop the quality of their product first instead of mass producing a far inferior product.

You either havent tried the Crafty range recently or dont know what you are talking about. There are some excellent beers among them. Im not a particular fan of Rye Rivers model either.

schemingbohemia · 09-05-2016 02:07PM

Have to say the Francis Big Banging IPA is great, and not just because of the price point. Wasn't quite so gone on the Crafty IPA as others on here.

ben.schlomo · 09-05-2016 05:57PM

physioman wrote: »

Didn't realise you needed qualifications to express an opinion here...do you have a degree or phd in beer tasting?

I've tried all the rye river brewing range (mcgargles, Solas etc) and they remind me of companies trying to enter the lucrative craft beer market by mass producing substandard product at a cheap price point like Guinness hop 13 or Heineken's orchard thieves. People are not stupid and will tire of these drinks quickly.

Interestingly you state they produce at roughly the same volume as O'Hara's. O'Hara's product is far superior and they haven't sacrifised the taste quality.

I enjoy trying lots of different craft products. Enjoy the kinsale, dungarvan and galway bay brewing products.

My advice to rye river company is to develop the quality of their product first instead of mass producing a far inferior product.

Francis big bangin Ipa is, in my opinion, far superior to any IPA made by O'haras and far better than Gbb's Full Sail. I'm guessing you've never tried it or you don't drink IPA's.

L1011 · 09-05-2016 07:58PM

physioman wrote: »

My advice to rye river company is to develop the quality of their product first instead of mass producing a far inferior product.

Which they have done. The original McGargles range was extremely poor but a number of them have been dropped at this stage and better replacements brought in.

I suspect you tried the older products, not the newer ones and have made your decision based on those alone.

Galway Bay had some severe consistency problems at start (and even some recently on specials) and you're hailing them as great.

Lovely Bloke · 09-05-2016 08:40PM

Francis is good when it's fresh, in fact, it's more than good.

But it very quickly goes oniony.

I had a 330ml and a 500ml bottle side by side the other evening, and found the 500ml (fresher) bottle to have a lovely clean, juicy hop character, but the older 330ml bottle was savoury and like a bag of onions.

Tigger · 10-05-2016 02:21PM

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Francis is good when it's fresh, in fact, it's more than good.

But it very quickly goes oniony.

I had a 330ml and a 500ml bottle side by side the other evening, and found the 500ml (fresher) bottle to have a lovely clean, juicy hop character, but the older 330ml bottle was savoury and like a bag of onions.

it was light struck
hops go weird when they get light struck

oblivious · 10-05-2016 02:28PM

Tigger wrote: »

it was light struck
hops go weird when they get light struck

Not that likely in brow bottle, little uv penetration through that glass

Lovely Bloke · 10-05-2016 06:37PM

Tigger wrote: »

it was light struck
hops go weird when they get light struck

In a brown bottle, in cardboard packaging.

I must have been fierce unlucky.

Tigger · 10-05-2016 08:38PM

oblivious wrote: »

Not that likely in brow bottle, little uv penetration through that glass

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

In a brown bottle, in cardboard packaging.

I must have been fierce unlucky.

brown bottles don't stop it just slow it, its why i love cans which do stop it.
some aromatic hops are far more prone to turning. its possible they go off quickly but i'd still say light struck, however as i'm a keen brewer and an analytical chemist without testing i'm not going to pretend i'm 100% sure

back when i used to drink stella in the 90's before they changed the recipe over and over i couldn't stand the bottles while i loved the cans and draught offerings and the internet wasn't around so i did the research with books and the tests with different light sources
craziest think was when i realised that florescent light will even cause the reaction
tyhat or the fact some people couldn't taste the difference

slayerking · 10-05-2016 09:09PM

Light struck beer generally doesnt taste like onions. Light struck beer tastes skunky/burnt rubber.

Certain types of hops can go a bit oniony to some tastebuds.
Lagunitas IPA for example is incredibly oniony to some. I've never got it myself, but the OH gets it.

dub_skav · 13-05-2016 09:29AM

I tasted McGargles when they first came out. They were available in Tesco which is useful when you're far from a decent off licence.
I was not at all impressed, nasty stuff altogether.

Then when I read about Rye River I was less impressed again, they seem to have a desire to be the biggest craft brewer in Ireland, rather than producing the best beer.

After the recent change in attitude on here where everybody is singing their praises - particularly about Francis' big banging - I decided to get a bottle of Francis' yesterday.

I am now disappointed again - I can no longer dismiss all of their beers as nasty. The Francis' is quite nice and certainly far removed from their early offerings.

It may now become a Tesco option again, I still won't purchase as a first choice, but now the reasons will be more towards the philosophical objections than the taste ones.

Lovely Bloke · 13-05-2016 10:19AM

If you have philosophical objections to the Rye River stable of beers, then you could do worse than take a look at Alex Lawes' solo offerings, under the guise of Whiplash Brewing, he brews them on the RR kit though, but all three so far are smashing beers.

dub_skav · 13-05-2016 12:42PM

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

If you have philosophical objections to the Rye River stable of beers, then you could do worse than take a look at Alex Lawes' solo offerings, under the guise of Whiplash Brewing, he brews them on the RR kit though, but all three so far are smashing beers.

Thanks will check them out.

Philosophical objections is probably too strong (and pretentious

). I think I was just put off by their initial style over substance offerings, that were all about market share rather than anything approaching decent beer.
That they made (still make?) it so difficult to actually discover where the beers were made and by who didn't sit well either.

Still, if they are making the effort to up the quality and everybody knows who they are now, then they should be commended I suppose.

BeerNut · 13-05-2016 02:54PM

dub_skav wrote: »

That they made (still make?) it so difficult to actually discover where the beers were made and by who didn't sit well either.

I still dislike the McGargle's brand, but they have done some very laudable backpedalling: including a place-of-brewing on all their beers, which is their own brewery, and getting rid of Gravy Maevy, the brand and the execrable beer. But more importantly, they make a number of really good beers which are extremely competitively priced.

When a brewery/brewing company does bad things it's right to point it out, but by the same token when they get their act together they do deserve credit, and I think Rye River deserves a lot of credit for a number of the beers they're turning out now.

Lovely Bloke · 14-05-2016 02:21AM

BeerNut wrote: »

When a brewery/brewing company does bad things it's right to point it out, but by the same token when they get their act together they do deserve credit, and I think Rye River deserves a lot of credit for a number of the beers they're turning out now.

this, always this.

Irish brewers could do to read this too.

Nobody is out to get anyone, but if your beer is not up to scratch people are going to say that on forums like this, beoir, nhc and twitter and FB - they are not "begrudging".

Make better beer and people will recognise it.

I've slated McGarlgle's in the past, but in the last 6-8 months they've turned a corner. With Francis.

Son0vagun · 14-05-2016 09:51PM

I can think of a few Irish craft breweries that deserve a lot of criticism, ones that continue to produce substandard beer, yet they don't receive anywhere near the level of hatred RR recieved and continue to receive on here.

the beer revolu · 15-05-2016 10:28AM

Son0vagun wrote: »

I can think of a few Irish craft breweries that deserve a lot of criticism, ones that continue to produce substandard beer, yet they don't receive anywhere near the level of hatred RR recieved and continue to receive on here.

Rye river are big and appear to have been well funded from the beginning.
This goes against the idea of an artisan, struggling start up.
People like the latter.

Also they have strong supermarket presence which doesn't go well with many people's idea of "craft",

physioman · 15-05-2016 11:19AM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Rye river are big and appear to have been well funded from the beginning.
This goes against the idea of an artisan, struggling start up.
People like the latter.

Also they have strong supermarket presence which doesn't go well with many people's idea of "craft",

Been interesting reading all the posts from the past week. My statement regarding improving quality has been justified. People on here only naming Francis big banging IPA as the only product they really like of all their range of drinks. So there's work to be done on there other products. I've had a bottle of this and would prefer blacks of kinsale IPA. Don't think people have a problem with the supermarket presence but O'Haras which has a similar presence would have a range with a better quality and taste.
Well done rye river on producing an ipa that people enjoy. Focus on improving your red ales, stouts etc.

oblivious · 15-05-2016 11:23AM

Cousin rosie pale ale was also re formulated. Very solid on draft

matrim · 15-05-2016 12:03PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Rye river are big and appear to have been well funded from the beginning.
This goes against the idea of an artisan, struggling start up.
People like the latter.

Also they have strong supermarket presence which doesn't go well with many people's idea of "craft",

My impression of them when they first opened was that they were more focused on the marketing / business side and didn't care about the beer. This made me think that they were just jumping on the craft beer market to make a quick buck.

They have reigned back in on that and do now seem to have put a lot more effort into the quality of their beer, which I think shows in peoples reaction to them now compared to even a year ago.

I've no problem with someone looking to make money and will happily buy any nice beer. But if it comes to a choice between 2 similar products I would be more likely to support someone who I knew was in it because they had a passion for it instead of just doing it for the money.

Not G.R · 15-05-2016 04:20PM

The strange thing about the quality is that they have an extremely talented head brewer. To me, all their beers taste like focus group, middle management, by the numbers recipies. RR really shine when they let the brewers do their thing. I still dream about that Lemon Berliner from the Altech festival. I hope Francis' and The Crafty Brewing IPA and pale are a watershed moments for RR.

Who are "The Crafty Brewing Co"?

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