So since my last update i’ve gathered some swag from Drinkstore, got some 8 Degrees Amber Ella one of the stars of the recent Irish Craft Beer & Cider Fest. Also picked up a few others including a bottle of whiskey barrel aged Leann Follain by O’Haras that i’m going to keep by for Christmas.
Anyway the main point of this post is to share what went down in Limerick this past weekend.
So after work on Friday drove down to Limerick and thanks to the motorway network made it in a very reasonable time once we got past the accident in Naas.
Our lodgings for the weekend were The Pier Hotel on Sarsfield Bridge. Easy to find and very centrally located. A very keen price and as it turned out was very good value for money. The rooms were clean, and the Breakfast was great. The real stand out thing was the fact breakfast was on til 12! That is a first for me, but it was a very tasty breakfast and the staff were really helpful.
The first night giving we got down around 830 we were famished and went to Bella Italia, an Italian Restaurant – we just went with main courses. It was on Thomas St a short hop from the hotel. Sadly the food wasn’t as great as we hoped, but filled a hole none the less. Though the pint of Peroni for €4.95 was a great thirst quencher. Once we were done there we retired back to the hotel bar for a couple of drinks. Sadly no craft beer there so had to slum it.
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| What an amazing view |
The next day we were blessed with the weather for our trip out to the magnificent Cliffs of Moher. Only an hour or so from Limerick. Amazing scenery and one of our best tourist attractions. There was a healthy crowd there. On our way back from the Cliffs we stopped in Lahinch in a local pub called Danny Macs. We had a clam chowder with a pint, well not me as I was driving had to make do with water! 😦 this would be remedied later on.
Once we got back to Limerick we dumped the car and went off to watch the 2nd half of the United match (now i wish i hadn’t bothered) we picked Smiths as a place to watch it due to their large amount of screens. Happily they’d Pilsner Urquell available on draught, and it was only lovely. I also loved the tankard style pint glasses
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| Lovely Retro Style Tankard |
So after here – i’d had enough – we decided to move on to another pub.Luckily we didn’t have far to go. The Crafty Fox was a mere stones throw down the street. I’d heard good things, and was very keen to try it out. Also there was plenty of screens to watch the All Ireland Hurling Final Replay, which was sensational.
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| The Bar in the Crafty Fox – Well Stocked. |
The beer menu for a limerick bar was very good, a lot of irish craft present on the taps, O’Haras and Franciscan Well having a couple of taps each, was also nice to see 8 Degrees Howling Gale, and Metalman. Importantly all very well priced. Again there was a nice choice of bottles but it was the taps that we supped from. I’d a Metalman and Dark Arts,both fantastic as always. Mrs Irishbeersnob was supping the Rebel Red. We’d a couple there and watched the amazing climax of the hurling and went off to dinner.
Chocolat in Limerick was recommended to us by our friend. What really sealed the deal was their 4 course meal for €25. On a saturday night. Mad value for money. This is what the 9% Vat rate gets us. Unbelievable value for money. The restaurant was very swanky, down stairs in the main dining room you were treated to a really modern restaurant. The music in the backround was more akin to a night club however. That was the only quibble. The food was fantastic. I went with the BBQ Rib to start, and the Sirloin Steak main, for dessert a Ferrero Rocher cheesecake. All three courses were really impressive. There was also NO supplemant for having steak. Mrs Beersnob had Clonakilty Blackpudding cake, with the BBQ Ribs as a main. I’d a Worthingtons White Knight and herself a blue moon. Obviously their beer was supplied by Molson Coors. Not the absolute worst. But was a bit disappointing not to see Irish craft there.
Then for the finale of the night we made our way to the Blind Pig.I saw on twitter earlier in the day they’d been tapped up by White Gypsy for their Ruby – an ale i’d never had before. But how hadn’t I, it was sensational. Had a nice few pints of this. To mix it up i’d a Fischers later but there was something up with the keg as it tasted off, the guys were happy to swap it out and i’d an Asahi instead. The staff were really friendly. There was a metal/rock Dj on as the metal bar downstairs wasn’t open. All in all, was very very impressed.
The Beoirfinder App suggested a few other pubs had Irish Craft – sadly we ran out of time – but will be back in the future to check out the rest of the scene in Limerick.
Irish Beer Snob 