Probus Wines - Dublin 2

Located in Dublin 2, just off Merrion Square, on Fenian St / Denizille Lane opposite the Gingerman Pub. This off license / deli / café is an intriguing proposition.

The building itself used to be a licensed premises, and this license remains with the building. This allows you to be able to purchase a beer, and drink on site. With a 20% drink in upcharge to drink in its more than fair. 

Paul in Probus regularly runs tasting evenings on Thursday and Saturday evenings, and last week in their Irish Beers with Irish Cheeses series it was red ales. Mrs Irishbeersnob is mad about cheese, i'm slowly but surely getting over my phobia with her guidance. So we booked our spots on Facebook. 

The charge is a very reasonable €6 each. So we settled in having arrived for 6pm. So the beer line up was Irish Reds, and our offerings were Dungarvan Brew Co - Copper Coast Red, O'Haras Red, and Galway Bay Red Ale. The cheeses were starting in order of strength. So we started with Goats Cheese, then a Gubbeen, and lastly a matured Cooleeney I think. Aidan Sweeney was guiding us expertly through the tasting and was 
more than happy to share his ample knowledge with his very willing audience. It was interesting the subtle differences to the tastes of the cheese when matched with different beers.

There was a surprise in store for us though, with the strongest cheese, Aidan had a bottle of Porterhouses Louder barley wine that is associated with Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, i'm happy to say this collaboration was a lot better than the last one, Down n Outz. Big Flavour with a big cheese, was just the ticket, I felt it complemented it very well. Now for the twist in the tale, and pure cheesehead aficionados may wish to look away now, we tried it with Coca Cola, and it totally neutralized the flavour of the cheese. A lot of food for thought.

After the tasting was finished we enjoyed the company of a lovely crowd, and one of the regulars brought a Tequila & Lime cake, it was divine! 

We stuck around for a while and had a couple of beers, I'd a Trooper and Galway Bay Buried at Sea ( I think I prefer the bottled version vs draft) and her good self had a Shepherd Neame's Canterbury Jack. All very enjoyable. Our final bill was just under €30, a very nice evening. Sadly we didn't partake of the food as we were stuffed from our earlier visit to Bison.

Paul and his team have a great setup, a very wide range of Craft Beer & Wines from all over the world. For very reasonable prices. A lovely looking deli that has a sandwich calling my name Gubbeen and Salami with roasted peppers! The food on the night smelled delicious, and looked lovely. To have the option to sit in with a beer and only add on 20% extra, makes it a real alternative to the pub, and perhaps its an insight into the European style licensing system that was shot down by the publicans lobby when proposed by the PD's many years ago now it seems. If your in the area definitely pop in, and enjoy the hospitality and surroundings, you will be very well looked after. See you again soon.

The week that was featuring Ugly Duckling Dublin and Bison Bar

Something i've always thought, the days that are totally unplanned, are usually by and large the best days. I hope i'm not the only person to think this.

It was a long week, but a work mate of mine and I decided to call into the lads @Uglyducklingdub Cafe in the Epicurean Food Hall on Abbey St for lunch on Thursday - now we'd both been fortunate enough to win a free lunch from the lads. Day before pay day it was only natural to use this up.

Darragh, Derek and John are the team behind it, a lot of you would know Darragh from his days up running against the grain. 

For those that don't know the Epicurean Food Hall, its one of those gems in the city where you can choose from many national cuisines, even Leo Burdocks, and eat in a communal environment. Its great. And the Ugly Duckling is the latest addition to this culinary mecca. They've only just celebrated their four week anniversary.

Now, the first thing that I see on the menu, is its good food done well. Having gotten to know one another we decided what we wanted, me being a stickler for wings went for the wings and chips, which would have cost me €7.95, and Andy went for the Homemade Beef Burger. While chatting away Derek said he was going to give us a taster of a few things. 

First up, Roasted Tomato Soup, it was served in a cappuccino cup with a sprinkling of cheese, and slice of granary bread. The flavours were really vibrant and the cheese topped it off nicely. A nice sampler to get the juices flowing. But they weren't stopped there. Next up was a half a hot meal roll each, this with turkey breast, honey glazed bacon, cranberry relish and salad, but the crowning piece for me was the addition of gravy to the roll. Good lord. Fantastic. At only €6.45 this item represents to me fantastic value. The meat changes on a daily basis also.

From Top Left: Hot Meat Roll, Wings, Wings and Burgers, and Soup - Credit to Andy @Bakingbatchelor for the photo.

Then our food came. My wings were refreshingly not made with the Franks Hot Sauce style sauce, but a sweet chilli sauce based one, the wings were lovely and crispy, and smothered in a vibrant sauce, woken up by the addition of fresh coriander, with nice chunky chips and a dip. Andy's homemade burgers looked great too. Just like Mammy used to make, two nice patty's smothered in gravy with mushrooms and onion. The lads promised we'd leave full, I couldn't finish my portion of wings but Derek gladly wrapped em up for me to go and that was Mrs IBS' supper sorted. The guys are offering some really nice food for a really keen price. Definitely check them out.

I was texting a buddy of mine who mentioned that he was up in Dublin for the day on Saturday and would we be round for a scoop and catch up. Looked at the calendar and said sure why not. Having grabbed a delicious Two Spots Coffee we met up in the Grand Central Pub on O'Connell St, no point asking for craft beer here, they'd give you a Caledonian Smooth and you'd be lucky. Usually I revert to Guinness in these places and it didn't disappoint.

Soon bellies started to rumble, and decided to use the opportunity to grab some food at Bison Bar (Wellington Quay next to the clarence, next to the Millenium Walkway). Our group was all confirmed carnivores so what better place to go. A bit of a walk down the quays avoiding the pondlife that plagues our streets at times, we got there. Instantly as you walk in the waft of charcoal smoke mixed with cooking meat hits you. We grabbed some menus and had a look. 

They have a lunch special which runs from 12-5pm for 7.95 (5 quid if you take away) you get a Brisket or Pull Pork Sandwich with one side. I opted for Brisket, and Mrs IBS for the Pork. The lads then went for chicken, ribs, and brisket as mains with 2 sides for 13.95. There is a sampler option available for 14.95 also. You order at the bar and sit down.

Loads of crazy americana on the walls, kind of reminded me of Uncle Moes in the simpsons but in a good way, but most importantly the food was of fantastic quality. Washed down with a pint and a whiskey sour I can't believe I waited so long to visit. Make no mistake this is genuine Texas BBQ - mouthwatering Texas BBQ, oh and I would swim in the Mustard BBQ Sauce!

My only quibble was the poor selection of craft beers, they had some Williams Brothers from Scotland, but lads would it be too much to ask for one or two local choices. Something like Blacks Kinsale Pale Ale would go really well here. 

With that we moved on to have another few drinks. Later that evening we went to Probus, but that is deserving of a post of its own. Stay tuned for that. 

Thornbridge - Jaipur IPA

Ok, this one had been on my radar for quite a while, for one reason or another I hadn't tried it.

Anyway while at Probus on Saturday I decided to treat myself, the missus had a lovely growler courtesy of JW Sweetman, full of their delicious red ale to enjoy when we got home, not to be out done I decided to plump for the Jaipur. 

Jaipur is an IPA of 5.9% is readily available in Bottles, but have also seen available around in cask and keg form. The 500 ml bottle was €4.90 - quite pricey - so did it live up to the price. Really though, its not that much is it, its just short of a pint.

So I popped open the bottle and sniffed, a lovely fresh aroma, unmistakeable familiar scents. Juicy tropical flavours, I couldn't wait to get it poured.

Now I poured away into a snifter and watched it as it developed a nice head, and a dark straw colour as opposed to the more amber colour I'm used to seeing.

The flavour was delicious, really well balanced, without that sometimes overpowering bitter you can get. Even Mrs IBS was impressed.

I'd be very interested to try this on draft, must keep my eyes peeled.

Lovely fresh flavour without being too much - i'd recommend this, its well worth the extra. 

Blacks of Kinsale - Indiegogo Campaign - Update

We've seen crowdsourcing before haven't we. Well in these austere times they are becoming more common due to lack of available finance from traditional avenues.

It is common sense. Try to attain your funding from your ultimate end consumer, or people who have a vast interest in what you are trying to do.

With this in mind, i'm thinking of Blacks of Kinsale (www.kinsalecraftbrewery.com / @kinsalebrewery) founded by Sam & Maudeline Black. Currently producing Kinsale Pale Ale, which is being contract brewed by 8 Degrees in Cork.

So to get to the next step they have gone out to seek finance through indiegogo (http://igg.me/at/blacksbrewery) and at the time of writing they have €1525 obtained. 

Now for the uplifting bit, the thing about the Craft Beer scene in Ireland is that sense of community, people aiming for a common goal, whether its members of Beoir, or home brew enthusiasts of the National Home Brew Club, people want more choice, but more importantly are willing to put their money where their mouth is. 

First up, the National Home Brew Club and its members on its forum have clubbed together with enough to name a fermentor. For a small donation each member has helped with one of the goals of Blacks. Beoir's members have also stepped in, and clubbed together to raise enough to brew a batch at the brewery. For avid beer enthusiasts the opportunity to spend a day in a brewery with people who know what they're doing and having a custom batch made, and enjoy the company of fellow beer lovers. Sam and Maudeline will undoubtedly look after everyone handsomely. Hopefully the 20 Beoir members are easily handled! 

What has been extremely heartening is the actual pace at which both of these clubs got it together. Beoir was done within days, and at this time taking names for a potential second wave. 

I look forward to my day in Kinsale, a fishing town myself and Mrs Irishbeersnob have been to many times, but this time being there to make a brew! I am also extremely proud to be able to help another brewery get up and running, and of my fellow donors. 

So for as little as a fiver you too can help, and have your name etched on the wall in the brewery. It also gives you an excuse (not that you should need one) to visit the best Seafood town in Ireland.

Sam & Maudeline with a pint - pretty sure thats in the Folk House in Kinsale - Top Pub in Kinsale in my opinion

Sierra Nevada - Hoptimum 2013

American IPAs, we all know there are some amazing ones out there. However, really hoppy beers are best enjoyed fresh.

Somehow Sierra Nevada's distributor here has managed to get their hands on some really fresh hoptimum. Only a few weeks old, rather than the sometimes months old - like who gets celebration in July when it was probably bottled before Christmas!

Glory be the gods.

For hopheads, as the bottle label shows! A Whole Cone Huricane no less.

Make no mistake, this is a roided up full frontal assault on your taste buds. Imperial is a perfect way to describe it.

IBU: 100
ABV: 10.4%
Hops: German Magnum, Chinook, Simcoe and a New Proprietary Variety

If you tried to go on a session with this stuff, it would kick your ass. Once i popped open the bottle I got a whiff of the aroma. So fresh. Those familiar citrus notes, amplified, and tempting you into downing this.

Now it pours a lovely amber colour with a nice frothy head, and tastes superbly balanced for such a high abv beverage. You're not wincing with each mouthful, it does have that unmistakeable hoppy bitterness, but you're not gagging as if you were drinking amaretto or something.

I can't imagine there is too much stock around so get it while you can, it should be available in all good independent off licenses. Expect to pay a premium price for this, avg prices off sale i've seen are in around the €5 mark, maybe a little less. I'd shudder to think what it goes for in a pub. I've heard whispers of €9. 

Chicken Wings - nom nom nom

In keeping with one post a week minimum, i've decided this week to share my recipe for making homemade chicken wings. Buffalo Style.

The humble Buffalo Wing - its origins from upstate NY - is a world renowned snack, and synonymous with Beer. Infact these things are fantastic with a few cold ones, watching the match with the guys, or a film. I love these things. I very much judge a place sometimes by its chicken wings.

Now, its not some KFC secret blend of herbs n spices, or the special sauce that goes on a Bigmac. The key here is Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Not the Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce, the original. The wing sauce has an artificial butter flavour in there. Like this;

This is the one, in Ireland we only get this, the wing one, and sometimes the extra hot one.
Our lucky American cousins get more flavours naturally.

Now i'm going to talk about wings, but this also works very well with thighs and drumsticks also. The chicken wing, often a by product from whole chickens that are butchered into convenient portions. You should be able to pick them up prepacked in your local supermarket for appx €3 per kilo. 

So what do we need?

1. Chicken Wings
2. Bottle of Franks Hot Sauce
3. Plain White Flour (1 1/2 Tbsp)
4. Seasoning for the Flour (Salt,Pepper,Paprika, Cayenne)
5. Nob of Butter
6. Optional for the Sauce (Sriracha Hot Sauce, Minced Garlic)

Ok, so to prepare the wings, cut off the little tips, and half the wings, seperating into the Drumette, and other wing. 

Season the flour, obviously only add cayenne if you like it hot. Mix it all around and now to keep things clean, put flour into a tupperware dish or ziploc bag. Introduce a few wings at a time, shake em around to coat in flour. Get an even coating, and tap off any excess flour.

Put the wings in the fridge for 30 mins or so to help prime the flour to the wings.

Now, you can if you want deep fry these if you like, pre heat the oil to the desired temperature, and fry in batches for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and crispy. When done, hold in the oven, this will help the grease drain, and crisp up a little further. I usually cook em in the oven. Personally, just as tasty to me anyway, I bake them in the oven. Pre heat the oven to 200C and place on bottom shelf of oven. Cook for 45-50 mins total, turning half way through. Another reason I like the oven method, is all in one. Unless you have a professional size fryer its going to be difficult to do a batch up.

Now the sauce. In a sauce pan pour in a good glug of sauce, and slowly heat, add the nob of butter, you'll notice the sauce goes from red to orange in colour. Now if you want to cool it down more, add more butter. Add the minced clove of garlic, to add more overall flavour. If you like em hot, add a squirt of Sriracha. Let the sauce come to a simmer. Simmer for a minute or two and take off the heat and let cool down.

Once the wings are cooked, put into a bowl and toss with the sauce til the wings are nicely cover.

Go great with a blue cheese dip, or ranch style dip. I made a blue cheese dip using Boyne Valley Blue Cheese, Sour Cream, Garlic, Lemon Juice, and little bit of milk. 

I enjoyed mine with Flying Dog Doggy Style Pale Ale

Yum, enjoy!

JW Sweetman - Pub and Microbrewery - Dunkel Batch Launch

In a former life this place was known as Messrs Maguire, is the only pub in Dublin with its own brewery on site. It had been a while since I was last in there, it was definitely still "Messers" when I was last in. Anyway, as is wont in Ireland at the moment the place closed, and was reopened under the name of JW Sweetman.

JW Sweetman (www.jwsweetman.com / @JWSweetman) have a range of their own craft beers, 5 in total. 4 Permanent fixtures, they are The Weiss, The Porter, The Red Ale, The Pale Ale, and a Seasonal. The reason for my visit was the Batch Launch of the Dunkel. Any excuse for a pint and a few nibbles. 

Having arrived early with Mrs Irishbeersnob in tow, we had a pint each. I'd a Pale Ale, she a Red Ale. Now the surprising part, €4 each! This isn't some early evening trickery, this is the price. Their own beers, €4 a pint. Could this be the best value craft beer experience in Dublin? Now I must say I was mightily impressed with the Pale Ale. Mrs Irishbeersnob was also mightily impressed with the Red Ale. 

So the reason for our visit, the Dunkel, or Dunkelweisse, I must say this was also very very tasty. It poured like a porter, dark and brooding. Looking like a meal in a glass. However once you tasted it, it was light and very flavourful. The darker malts helping give a broad flavour, and well balanced. Weighing in at 5% had a nice alcohol content too. It was also really nice to meet the brewer, who was popping around chatting to people as they enjoyed his finest! 

There was a nice crowd there, a mix of beer enthusiasts, so it was really good to put faces to the twitter handles, and board psuedonyms. There was also a mix of tourists there, and we got talking to a lovely couple from Switzerland, in for a couple of drinks before their early morning flight home. Wonder were there any sore heads that morning.

I've a pulled pork sandwich to claim, and am looking forward to when the calendar clears up sufficiently to let me sneak in after work some evening. 

I must pay particular compliment to the staff and Barry who were more than attentive, but also very eager to talk about the JW Sweetman beers. This enthusiasm without being pushy was refreshing to see and you could tell the lads enjoyed their jobs.

One thing as well with JW Sweetman - the purists out there may not agree, but its a place where the craft beer hounds like myself can meet friends who may not be into "it" and like what they know, whether that be Guinness or whatever, and keep everyone happy. 

The food menu looks great too - must get back to try that, and also the bottles of Saltaire Triple Chocoholic which was calling to me. 

Little Talks - National Home Brewing Club

Ok, so i've been meaning to get up to the Little Talks at WJ Kavanaghs (www.wjkavanaghs.com /@WJKavanaghs) for a while now. The idea is basically they get a person in from a food/drink area to have a talk with people who are interested in that particular area.

This week it was the turn of the National Homebrew Club (www.nationalhomebrewclub.com / @HomeBrewClubIRL) who were doing a live demo of homebrewing. Both an All Grain Brew, and a Kit Brew.

Firstly, the location, WJ Kavanaghs, I can not believe up til now i'd not been here before. This place is amazing. A very wide range of craft beer on draft, but also 5 Casks on the go. What a range. As we'd eaten in Bobo's earlier we weren't going to be eating here, but the menu looked really good. Its no wonder this establishment is known for its food as well as its drink menu.

We settled in with a couple of Purity Ale Golds, a lovely cask session ale, at only 3.9% was very drinkable. 

So Padraic and Declan from the National Homebrew Club got the very decent crowd to order and kicked off.  As I said above the idea was they were going to go through an All Grain Brew, and Kit Brew. From the get go Declan made it clear this was going to be an interactive session, ask as many questions as you wanted, and come up and have a gander at the kit in action. Declan was ably assisted by Padraic and James. Who both explained the processes involved. It was a kind of a bit like the old L'Oreal slogan, "Here comes the science bit" thankfully, after each "bit" it was simplified into Laymans language. 

What did I pick up from it, well essentially Kit Brewing is like making a cup of tea essentially, according to Declan anyway, i'm sure i'd find some way to stuff it up. And all grain is where you can take your skills, and develop your own recipes. Or even attempt to imitate well known beers. 

What I found very encouraging was the community feel of the event, I suppose that is natural when you've a common interest, but there was a genuine feeling to me anyway that if you wanted to get into home brewing, that this was a forum where you'd be welcome to ask questions, and learn from people who have more experience. Everyone was very welcoming I must say, and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in. 

I am also looking forward to coming back in five weeks to sample the goods! 

Littletalks though is a great idea, here is a link here that shows what they've had recently, and what they've got coming up.  

I'm particularly looking forward to next weeks one, a beer sommelier will be there, Phil Tavey, hopefully i'll be able to make it. 

While there I also had a pint of Oxman, from the Brown Paper Bag Project. Cask conditioned, and this was the last cask of this limited edition run. It was a lovely brown ale. It was very very tasty, i'm going to have to pick up some bottles of this before its gone.

As for Kavanaghs, which is ran by the good people behind L Mulligan Grocer in Stoneybatter, i was very impressed, i'm very much looking forward to going back and having a few beers with some very tasty looking food. Thank you for your hospitality. 

Porterhouse - Hop Head

Finally getting around to putting my review for this up - my regular readers will have seen that payday haul from O'Brien's Wines in Navan. I've tried to pick up a good range of beers and stick up reviews a bit more regularly. 

Anyway, onto this. It was €1.99 for a 330ml bottle. Not bad value. Popped to cap and poured into my glass, as you can see there is a nice head, and amber colour. The hop aroma is lovely. Really potent, and fresh. However I was a little disappointed this didn't transfer into the beer itself. 

At 5% its not overly strong, but the aroma profile maybe tricked you into thinking this was going to be strong flavour. Sadly not to be. In the end I found it distinctly average. Especially compared to other standard American Pale Ales - eg Sierra Nevada Pale, Flying Dog Doggy Style, even versus its Irish Competition, it didn't cut the mustard for me.

That's not to say I don't enjoy porterhouse beers, just was a little underwhelmed with this one.

Bobo's Burgers - Dame St

Ok, i'm going to apologise in advance for no pictures. I was ravenous when I visited Bobo's (www.bobos.ie / @bobosburgers) last Wednesday and taking photos of the food was the last thing on my mind. (edit 04/08 - However Mrs Irish Beersnob took a pic of her burger and its below)

Mrs Irishbeersnob won one of Bobo's numerous twitter competitions, they give away on Facebook/Twitter 3 x Meal for 2 (Burger, Side and Beer or House Wine each) and also they give away lunches as well. They are certainly very active on Social Media, and the place was packed when we got there. Around 630 on a Wednesday evening. Good sign.

There are a number of Gourmet burger places around the city centre now, Bobo's has two outlets, Dame St, and Wexford St. 

Firstly, there is large bench areas, not unlike Wagamama, but there were also tables for couples and smaller groups. We were shown to a table and perused the menu.

So Beef is king as is to be expected, especially with all the pictures of cows on the wall, a huge array of choice. Though there are tempting options from the Pork and Lamb burgers, and also the Chicken. The beef is 100% Irish, and each patty 7oz. 

I went for "The Sex on the Farm" Prime juicy beef burger with iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion, Old Dubliner cheddar cheese, smothered with chilli beef mince, hot salsa, creme fraiche and jalapeño and roasted red pepper mayonnaise. 

Mrs Irishbeersnob went for "The Cashel" Prime juicy beef burger with beef tomato, Cashel Blue cheese, cured smoked bacon, red onion, rocket, black pepper and tomato relish

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its a Bobo's "The Cashel Burger!"

For sides, I went with the "Half n Half" half chunky chips with onion rings, and sweet chilli dip, and garlic mayo. "Skinny Fries" for Mrs Irishbeersnob.

Beers were standard fair, half of heineken and carlsberg.

The food came out and my god, they were more akin to skyscrapers than burgers. Held together with a skewer these behemoths looked delicious. There was no skimping with ingredients either. A nice thick layer of chilli mince, and Cashel Blue. Btw the Chilli was delicious. I can imagine the Chilli Cheese Fries as a result are fantastic.

So pondering the logistics of eating this thing we set about it. Visually very impressive. Taste wise it was nailed. The blend of the spicy with the burger was phenomenal. Really really enjoyed it. The sides were also really good. But the burgers were the stars of the show undoubtedly. 

I would definitely go back. A good pre drink stomach liner, and noticed they stay open very late so could also satisfy those drunken munchies.

Bobos well done i must say. Keep up the good work.