Supporting craft breweries

SozBbz · 24-04-2020 3:52pm

Pen Rua wrote: »

The more I have been shopping around craft beer, the more attention I'm paying to branding. Maybe a discussion for its own thread but some breweries have great branding / can art (e.g. Galway Bay, Rye River, Lervig...) whereas others lack in this department (McGargles, Blacks of Kinsale...)

Yeah some of them look great and some not so much.

Ones I particularly like include Rascals and Whiplash. The Kinnegar cans are fun too.

Rascals were doing competitions for people who had bought slabs to win a slab branded with your name on it which is a great marketing idea.

raxy · 24-04-2020 3:59pm

It's whats in the can/bottle thats important to me. Sure a nice can bottle looks good but it doesn't improove the quality of beer.
You can't really compare McGargles to Galway Bay either imo, McGargles is a cheaper brand, usually 4 for 10 or €3 for Big bangin for 500mL bottles. Galway Bay is ~ €3 for a 330mL can.
I'm looking forwards to trying out Galway Bay Full sail tonight though, havent tried it before.

Ryath · 24-04-2020 4:04pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah, I've no issue with Craft Central themselves, its DPD who are acting the maggot. If people are left waiting a week or more for deliveries they should be in danger of losing the contract. I specifically won't buy from Amazon retailers who use certain courier companies.

I ordered Friday from craft central and it came Tuesday. The courier companies are under severe pressure with the volumes they are dealing with. I'm friends with someone who works for one of the bigger ones. They are dealing with daily volumes that are exceeding Black Friday and Cyber Monday and this is going on over a month now. I'm not going to be complaining if a package takes a few extra days as long as it does turn up.

I'm with you on certain company's though I'll avoid Fastway unless I've no other choice. You often can't see what courier is being used though.

Pen Rua · 24-04-2020 4:11pm

SozBbz wrote: »

Yeah some of them look great and some not so much.

Ones I particularly like include Rascals and Whiplash. The Kinnegar cans are fun too.

Rascals were doing competitions for people who had bought slabs to win a slab branded with your name on it which is a great marketing idea.

The Whiplash ones have great art on them, but when I take a photo of the beer I either get the name in or the can art but not both, given the way they are printed. And, that Rascals idea is brilliant!

raxy wrote: »

It's whats in the can/bottle thats important to me. Sure a nice can bottle looks good but it doesn't improove the quality of beer.
You can't really compare McGargles to Galway Bay either imo, McGargles is a cheaper brand, usually 4 for 10 or €3 for Big bangin for 500mL bottles. Galway Bay is ~ €3 for a 330mL can.
I'm looking forwards to trying out Galway Bay Full sail tonight though, havent tried it before.

Oh, I agree. It's just the branding that catches my attention first. If I'm deciding between McGargle's or Galway Bay, I'm probably going to try Galway Bay first because they look nicer and therefore appeal to me. Am sure there's a big discourse around behavioural economics & marketing in there!

the beer revolu · 24-04-2020 4:14pm

raxy wrote: »

You can't really compare McGargles to Galway Bay either imo, McGargles is a cheaper brand

I most certainly can. I've had some very poor bottles of GBB beers over the years.

Imo, Banging IPA is as good as any IPA GBB have produced.

Don't mistake price for quality.

I'm not knocking Galway Bay - they're a fine brewery, I just don't see the problem comparing them with Rye River, in terms of quality.

mike_cork · 24-04-2020 4:18pm

Aglomerado wrote: »

9 White deer now doing a case of kolsch for €20 with orders for 2 +cases. Ordered from them earlier in the week and got my beer within 48 hours. Great bunch of lads!

Put in an order from 9 white deer and beercloud.ie (st mels & western herd) on weds evening. both arrived today within half an hour of each other. Well chuffed.Great turnaround from both websites.

Clegg · 24-04-2020 4:20pm

raxy wrote: »

It's whats in the can/bottle thats important to me. Sure a nice can bottle looks good but it doesn't improove the quality of beer.
You can't really compare McGargles to Galway Bay either imo, McGargles is a cheaper brand, usually 4 for 10 or €3 for Big bangin for 500mL bottles. Galway Bay is ~ €3 for a 330mL can.
I'm looking forwards to trying out Galway Bay Full sail tonight though, havent tried it before.

Enjoy the Full Sail. It's delish.

Technocentral · 24-04-2020 4:39pm

raxy wrote: »

It's whats in the can/bottle thats important to me. Sure a nice can bottle looks good but it doesn't improove the quality of beer.
You can't really compare McGargles to Galway Bay either imo, McGargles is a cheaper brand, usually 4 for 10 or €3 for Big bangin for 500mL bottles. Galway Bay is ~ €3 for a 330mL can.
I'm looking forwards to trying out Galway Bay Full sail tonight though, havent tried it before.

Full Sail is my go to at the moment, 4 cans for a tenner in Fresh or O' Briens among other places, gorgeous stuff. I do miss the Black Sheep though.

Technocentral · 24-04-2020 4:45pm

Basq wrote: »

Bah.. keep missing out on the Black's Mini Kegs!

Noticed they have 3 available (Edit: when you click on them they say sold out too) at this very moment, are they much different than cans though, seems a bit gimmickey?

mike_cork · 24-04-2020 5:13pm

Kinnegar and metalman have been added to beercloud.ie

drunkmonkey · 24-04-2020 5:27pm

List of off licences stocking White Gypsy here I didn't see it posted and none of the online places seem to have it in stock.
https://whitegypsy.ie/stockists/

L1011 · 24-04-2020 5:58pm

mike_cork wrote: »

Kinnegar and metalman have been added to beercloud.ie

And they have Rustbucket, praise [whatever]!

The Counter in LK are sound and all, but they didn't have Rustbucket in stock.

Hope also seem to be new-ish there; they're not on the menu but are on the scroller on the front page.

Technocentral · 24-04-2020 6:08pm

L1011 wrote: »

And they have Rustbucket, praise [whatever]!

The Counter in LK are sound and all, but they didn't have Rustbucket in stock.

Hope also seem to be new-ish there; they're not on the menu but are on the scroller on the front page.

Wish Hope would sell direct to the public like White Hag etc.

Sebastian Dangerfield · 24-04-2020 6:12pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

I most certainly can. I've had some very poor bottles of GBB beers over the years.

Imo, Banging IPA is as good as any IPA GBB have produced.

Don't mistake price for quality.

I'm not knocking Galway Bay - they're a fine brewery, I just don't see the problem comparing them with Rye River, in terms of quality.

I first had Big Bangin IPA at the Alltech craft beer festival a few years back. Tasty stuff but jesus it packs a punch

Basq · 24-04-2020 6:33pm

McGargles DIPA, along with Thumper, is probably one of the best DIPA's on the Irish market in my opinion..

.. but all of the other McGargle's are muck.

Again, my opinion..

L1011 · 24-04-2020 6:35pm

Basq wrote: »

McGargles DIPA, along with Thumper, is probably one of the best DIPA's on the Irish market in my opinion..

.. but all of the other McGargle's are muck.

Again, my opinion..

The session IPA (Darraghs) is generally consistent (I've had one awful batch) and of a high quality.

BeerNut · 24-04-2020 6:42pm

Dec's Brown, while far too rare, is the best McGargle's beer and possibly the best Irish brown ale. I've put Sean's Export Stout in a blind tasting with Leann Folláin and found it different but just as good. Worth trying for anyone brave enough to put their McGargle's prejudices to a real test.

Technocentral · 24-04-2020 7:09pm

The McGargles export stout is fantastic, I don't care for any of their other stuff though.

blueshed · 24-04-2020 7:22pm

There Grafters IPA in Dunnes Stores is very good. The session IPA in alot of pubs is a decent beer

n97 mini · 24-04-2020 7:52pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Dec's Brown, while far too rare, is the best McGargle's beer and possibly the best Irish brown ale. I've put Sean's Export Stout in a blind tasting with Leann Folláin and found it different but just as good. Worth trying for anyone brave enough to put their McGargle's prejudices to a real test.

I think the McGargles one. Has a bit more depth of flavour. Although FES still beats them all.

The Lidl American brown is better than the Toothless one imho.

BonnieSituation · 24-04-2020 8:25pm

Technocentral wrote: »

Full Sail is my go to at the moment, 4 cans for a tenner in Fresh or O' Briens among other places, gorgeous stuff. I do miss the Black Sheep though.

You've just reminded me that I have another can of that from my last Martin's order!

YUSS!

---

Though it might have to wait til tomorrow as I'm sipping my way through some Oude Kriek Boon at the moment.

CiaranMT · 25-04-2020 12:00am

drunkmonkey wrote: »

List of off licences stocking White Gypsy here I didn't see it posted and none of the online places seem to have it in stock.
https://whitegypsy.ie/stockists/

Martin's have their beers online.

Fall_Guy · 25-04-2020 12:02pm

n97 mini wrote: »

I think the McGargles one. Has a bit more depth of flavour. Although FES still beats them all.

The Lidl American brown is better than the Toothless one imho.

I like that American brown, but it's more like a brown IPA really (is that a thing) where as Dec's is all toffee and chocolate, pure decadence. My local super valu had it fairly regularly for the guts of a year there, but it seems to have disappeared into the abyss again now.

mike_cork · 26-04-2020 8:39pm

First time trying the St mels selection at the weekend. Very nice stuff

26-04-2020 8:44pm

Their packaging has always put me off. A good few times I’ve picked it up in Super Valu and put it back to pick up WW or Rascals, etc.

mike_cork · 26-04-2020 10:30pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Their packaging has always put me off. A good few times I’ve picked it up in Super Valu and put it back to pick up WW or Rascals, etc.

Yeah not a fan of the packaging myself,but with the lockdown decided to try some new beers (and support irish breweries!).Living in cork can't say i've ever seen seen them for sale down here.

mike_cork · 26-04-2020 10:36pm

A random question for people here- Any recommendation for a good irish wheat beer? I love weihenstephaner but obivously with irish breweries being under pressure trying to support my own

Zaph · 26-04-2020 11:56pm

Hope have a wheat beer, Grunt. Not my thing, but was at a tasting in the brewery a couple of months ago and it went down well with the others there. I saw on Martin's website the other day that White Gypsy have a dunkelweiss, but I haven't tried it.

the beer revolu · 27-04-2020 12:27pm

Zaph wrote: »

Hope have a wheat beer, Grunt. Not my thing, but was at a tasting in the brewery a couple of months ago and it went down well with the others there. I saw on Martin's website the other day that White Gypsy have a dunkelweiss, but I haven't tried it.

Isn't White Gypsy Blonde a wheat beer?
Not sure if they bottle it, though.

irish_goat · 27-04-2020 12:35pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Isn't White Gypsy Blonde a wheat beer?
Not sure if they bottle it, though.

It is a wheat, also isn't bottled.

There's very little Irish wheat beers out there and even less makes it to bottles.

Wicklow Brewery have one though. https://beercloud.ie/product/wicklow-brewery-weiss/

CiaranMT · 27-04-2020 6:45pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Isn't White Gypsy Blonde a wheat beer?
Not sure if they bottle it, though.

They do bottle The Banker which is a Weiss

mike_cork · 27-04-2020 7:31pm

irish_goat wrote: »

It is a wheat, also isn't bottled.

There's very little Irish wheat beers out there and even less makes it to bottles.

Wicklow Brewery have one though. https://beercloud.ie/product/wicklow-brewery-weiss/

Yes having a tough time trying to find many options. Had a western herd wheat beer at the weekend,will try the wicklow brewery on my next beer shopping spree :cool:

L1011 · 27-04-2020 7:35pm

Next Rascals delivery arrived today. The Fastway guy doesn't even wait at the end of the drive anymore, drop ring and go :pac:

It'd be handy if some of them would use DPD or something so I don't just reveal all to the same driver.

Hodors Appletart · 27-04-2020 8:20pm

L1011 wrote: »

Next Rascals delivery arrived today. The Fastway guy doesn't even wait at the end of the drive anymore, drop ring and go :pac:

It'd be handy if some of them would use DPD or something so I don't just reveal all to the same driver.

craftcentral use dpd i'm sure my local guy thinks i'm some form of raving alco

PWEI · 28-04-2020 2:26am

mike_cork wrote: »

A random question for people here- Any recommendation for a good irish wheat beer? I love weihenstephaner but obivously with irish breweries being under pressure trying to support my own

Western Herd Beewing Company have an excellent Belgian Style Witbier;

http://westernherd.com/our-beer/

mike_cork · 28-04-2020 11:19am

PWEI wrote: »

Western Herd Beewing Company have an excellent Belgian Style Witbier;

http://westernherd.com/our-beer/

Yeah had it at the weekend for the first time. Was v nice. Like a smoother Pauliner if that in anyway makes sense.
Their mosaic ipa is lovely also.
Didn't think much of their red ale unfortunately

L1011 · 28-04-2020 8:05pm

My Rustbucket box wasn't there with the others from Beercloud although the tape that had attached it is still there

Very quick response on getting it chased or replaced. Still have my Hop On box and Black Donkey selection box though so I'll survive but I want my Rustbucket dammit.

PWEI · 29-04-2020 6:49pm

mike_cork wrote: »

Yeah had it at the weekend for the first time. Was v nice. Like a smoother Pauliner if that in anyway makes sense.
Their mosaic ipa is lovely also.
Didn't think much of their red ale unfortunately

Didn't think much of the red ale myself, their porter was actually nicer than the red ale & I wouldn't be a porter drinker.
Their Coast Road IPA is excellent.

Technocentral · 29-04-2020 8:06pm

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/call-to-allow-craft-brewers-to-sell-smaller-quantities-online-1.4241026?mode=amp

Call to allow craft breweries to sell smaller amounts online.

Pen Rua · 01-05-2020 9:09am

Planning a Bradley's run in the course of today (figured I should shop local for once, plus €5/7 delivery fee saved which can go toward a nice can or bottle...!) Planning on Kinnegar, some Belgian/Trappist bottles & anything else they have nice going. Any recommendations from anyone who has been to Bradleys in the last couple of days?

mike_cork · 01-05-2020 11:21am

PWEI wrote: »

Didn't think much of the red ale myself, their porter was actually nicer than the red ale & I wouldn't be a porter drinker.
Their Coast Road IPA is excellent.

Yeah the Coast Road Ipa is v nice and different to what I'd normally taste when I'd drink an Ipa. That and the wheat beer their 2 best beers I think.
If you haven't already tried it, try the St Mels ipa. Very nice. Had my first experience of St mels last weekend and thought it was great stuff

Ryath · 01-05-2020 12:05pm

Just put in an order on Beer cloud they have a limited Edition Dead Centre DIPA Stay the Feck at Home! Grabbed a bottle of their Imperial stout and cans of amber ale to.

andekwarhola · 01-05-2020 1:12pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Dec's Brown, while far too rare, is the best McGargle's beer and possibly the best Irish brown ale.

Have only ever come across it in the boxes unfortunately.

Pen Rua · 01-05-2020 1:49pm

Made a quick dash to Braldey's. Not a whole bunch took my fancy today if I am honest, but picked up Trouble Brewing's Speakerbox DIPA (the bright pink can) & Kinnegar's Scraggy Bay with two other bottles.

RonanC · 01-05-2020 11:18pm

Some of the excellent beers they had on the shelf today include:
Setting Sun
Swoon
Narwhal
new White Hag DIPA
Glen of Imaal
Tasty Juice
Full selection of Elbow Lane beers in bottles.
Southern Living

and that's just the arrivals in the last week or so.

mike_cork · 02-05-2020 12:36am

RonanC wrote: »

Some of the excellent beers they had on the shelf today include:
Setting Sun
Swoon
Narwhal
new White Hag DIPA
Glen of Imaal
Tasty Juice
Full selection of Elbow Lane beers in bottles.
Southern Living

and that's just the arrivals in the last week or so.

What's the elbow lane stuff like, would you/anyone else recommend?

Pen Rua · 02-05-2020 9:15am

mike_cork wrote: »

What's the elbow lane stuff like, would you/anyone else recommend?

I had their Arrow Weisse in the restaurant a couple of months ago and was really taken by it, really enjoyed it. But, I didn't see it on the shelves. FWIW, Bradley's have them on 3 bottles for €11.

Thanks to the other posting noting some of the bits I missed. I was under time pressure which probably did not aid my decision making!

BeerNut · 02-05-2020 12:38pm

mike_cork wrote: »

What's the elbow lane stuff like

Maybe I've just been unlucky but I've found them generally poor. The pint of Wisdom I got in Market Lane was really badly infected, though that was a few years ago now.

Dellboy54 · 06-05-2020 1:07pm

I find the Beerclub seem to add on a few extra euro onto their stock compared to other online sources. The 5ltr kegs for example, that are going on sale are cheaper in Martins off licence compared to Beerclub.

Doctor Jimbob · 08-05-2020 1:35pm

Not sure if mentioned but be careful if buying from Black's as they use fastway.

I ordered one of the mini kegs last week. Would have been as well throwing the money out the window.

Supporting craft breweries

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