Cassidys – Irish Beer Snob

Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats sang about hating Mondays and with good reason, its universally known as the worst day of the week. You go to bed on Sunday evening with that Monday morning fear. Well this past monday we did something different than what we’d usually do on a Monday evening. We were going to do a Craft Beer Tour of Dublin.

Now I met Kevin through mutual friends in Probus wines recently and I said i’d come along and try round up a few heads for Kevin’s tour. Sadly the weather was rubbish and a few people dropped out on account of the weather.

The premise is quite simple, we all meet at 730 in the Beerhouse on Capel St, and the group then goes on one of the two routes which will take in 4 pubs in total including the starting pub.

Our route this evening will take us via Farringtons, Cassidy’s and JW Sweetman. All stalwarts of the Craft beer scene in Dublin. The thing is, we are only trying Irish Craft Beers.

Our first beer of the night was a new one from Franciscan Well. Now its well documented they are part of the Molson Coors Family, but this does not stop them producing quality beers. Tonight’s offering was a Clementine and Rosemary Saison.

A trio of Saison, photo by @bakingbatchelor

Kevin explained the beer was made by a friend of his and that he helped by peeling 27KG of clementines. Hopefully when it’s bottled you’ll get a few for your hard work. It was strange drinking this beer on a dank Monday evening but it was very tasty and well balanced. It would be a great summer beer. So will keep an eye out for this when it launches soon.

Next stop was Farringtons where we would get to sample a different beer. This time we had a Rascals Ginger Porter. It wasn’t the first time i’d had it and it was still as surprisingly light as the first time i’d had it. Well done Cathal & Emma, and am looking forward to seeing your new brewhouse in Rathcoole.

Rascals Ginger Porter photo by @dunnejm

From here we ran the hurdle through Temple Bar to Cassidy’s of Westmoreland St. In here we all had the rocksteady Metalman Pale Ale.

Metal Man Pale Ale photo by @bakingbatchelor

Then for the last stop of the night, JW Sweetmans on Burgh Quay. In here we all went with their Galaxy Hopped Amber Ale. A very tasty amber ale and would recommend anyone who’s in there to try it before it all goes.

Kevin runs the tour’s every Monday evening and meets at the Beerhouse on Capel St. The meet time is 730PM. He can be found on Facebook, and Twitter @crafttourdublin. Definitely one of the more interesting ways to spend a Monday evening.

On Sunday 23rd March, in Cassidy’s of Westmoreland St, myself and a select number of people were treated to the first #Brewsweplate event. The brains behind this foodie and beery special are Eric Heilig and Floriane Loup.

The setting in Cassidy’s upstairs area was entirely fitting with Eric’s philosophy. Fittingly captured in the mission statement.

“The white table clothes and silver service are things of the past. We cut it down to the very essential. Great Irish Produce, amazing Craft Beer and an unforgettable night that just asks for more”

The brewer of the night was White Gypsy, and we were fortunate to have their latest recruit Declan Nixon there to talk us through each the matched beers to each course. Floriane announced each course as they came along.

As an aperitif we were served a delicious Hendricks Gin & Tonic, with cucumber and freshly foraged seaweed. Served in those industrial sized tins were various breads, the standouts for me personally was the treacle and porter brown bread, and the rye flatbreads. Served with a sensation wild garlic butter, and also a tomato butter.

The Amuse-Bouche

Our amuse-bouche was shredded pork with a wild garlic aoili – interestingly the pork was raw and was almost cerviché like in the way it was prepared. With a nice crunchy piece of pork to go with this to add a textural element. The flavour was intense and deliciously tasty.

1st course – Scallop with Blonde

The first course that came out then was matched with White Gypsy Blonde. A typical German style Weiss beer with those familiar banana and clove smells were matched with Scallop, with roasted banana, coriander, lime and dried Goji berries. The scallop was perfectly cooked and matched beautifully with the components and the beer.

Hen’s Egg, Brioche, Chicken Heart – with Belgian Brown Ale

Next up, matched with White Gypsy’s Belgian Brown Ale, was Hen’s egg with Leek, Jerusalem Artichoke, pear, brioche and chicken heart. This dish had a lovely earthy feel, very agricultural, reminded me of time on my grandfathers small holding when I was a kid. Matched perfectly with the beer, taking on the beers characteristics and matched on the plate.

The Pork – mmm pork!

The piece de la resistance for me was the next dish, the perfectly cooked Pork, which I thought was cooked sous vide, however Eric confirmed after it was lightly seared and very slowly cooked at low temps to achieve what can only be described as the most silky smooth piece of pork i’ve ever eaten. This dish had amazing small squares of crackling, celeriac puree, pink grapefruit, almonds and grapes. The matching beer was my favourite White Gypsy beer, the american pale ale.

The dessert

Last but not least, was the most sumptuous dessert. A rich dark chocolate ganache with with duck yolk ice cream, with sea salt, sweet potato cream, and rye. The matching beer was White Gypsy’s Doppelbock, which had a great complimentary sweet flavour.

All in all this was a fantastic experience, the creativity involved in matching with each beer, and the hospitality was second to none. I love a meal that is nicely spaced out and this was just that. Plenty of time between courses to speak to our table mates and it was a great table if I do say so myself.

The synergy between the food and beer was exceptional. Eric and Floriane have set the benchmark now, and I for one can not wait to see what they come up with next.

Category: Cassidys

Dublin Craft Beer Tour

#Brewsweplate – A beer & food odyssey with Eric Heilig & Floriane Loup