Category: Premier Beers

2014, Beer Ireland, EBBC14, Four Provinces, Franciscan Well, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Premier Beers, The Church, Ugly Duckling Dublin

And now the conclusion – EBBC Day 2 – Thoughts

by irishbeersnob2 Comments on And now the conclusion – EBBC Day 2 – Thoughts

So this is following on from my previous posts re the European Beer Bloggers Conference, this one will cover the final day.

Day 2 was an early start, 10am was the first event. Dean McGuinness of Premier Beers was giving the talk and the state of the Irish Craft Beer sector. Knowing this was going to be a long day pre conference grub and fuel was provided by Ugly Duckling – Cheers Darragh for the awesome full irish! Just what was needed.

Dean talked us through his 10 Commandments and they made a lot of sense, but the Honesty one was the one that resonated. Just tell people whats in their beer. 



It was a bit odd that when the subject being discussed was the Irish Beer Scene that we were sampling a couple of UK Beers, and a German Bock. I know this caused conversation to the side. Personally though it reflects the small amount of Dean’s portfolio that is actually Irish. Most of it is foreign. The beers themselves were tasty, even if we did peer pressure Simon into joining us at that time.

Next up was the meat and potatoes, Supercharging you’re Blog. This was the main reason I came. As a new blogger I wanted to learn some tips to improve my blog, and ultimately increase readership. Cindy from Zephyr tours gave the talk and it was fascinating to learn about the different things. A lot of these I will be implementing over the coming months.

So it was break time, and once again Pilsner Urquell provided the generous hospitality of lunch, we had the awesome Church staff cook up a great barbecue with more unfiltered Pilsner. I got to tap the keg myself, and so did Rossa. The quality checking was very important!

Quality check of the pour with Vaclav Berka

The generosity didn’t stop there, they had packs of can’s for us to take with us too. I was lucky enough that the marketing people let me take home an extra pack for a twitter raffle with a branded Pilsner Urquell glass. My only regret, I didn’t get a glass for myself! 

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAfter lunch we then had the guys from WordPress talking about their blog platform. I must say I was really impressed with the tips they also gave and they were extremely helpful, a migration to wordpress could be on the cards later in the year. We also had a fascinating chat with Tomasz from Poland who has frankly insane numbers of views for youtube. His main hint – don’t edit your videos, just get them up! Once these were done and dusted we had a beer reception from Beer Ireland showcasing yet again the great craft brews in this country. The Hurler by Four Provinces was the perfect beer for the clammy conditions in the Church. 

Approaching the end of the events was a dinner sponsored by Franciscan Well, allowing our host venue to highlight again the quality of their food, with Irish produced matched to the Fran Well beers. My favourite beer of the night was the Jameson Barrel aged Stout, simply amazing. But the highlight was Shane Long’s talk, Shane is the Head Brewer and it was great to hear his passionate speech where he covered the move from independent brewer to being in the Molson Coors family. Shane is a massive influence in the Irish market and provides advice, help, and his time to brewers all over the country. I for one hope they heed his plea to break from the norm of pale ale, red, and stout. But the night wasn’t over yet. We had a final event of entertainment and beers from O’Haras. We got to try all of their core beers, but we also got to suggest a beer for them to make. I suggested a Gooseberry sour, but wouldn’t be hopeful it will be picked.

All in all this was a fantastic weekend, and I am grateful to the sponsors for stepping in to make sure this went ahead. A big thank you to Zephyr for organising this, and I can’t wait to see where it is in 2015.

#Brewsweplate, 2014, Aidan Sweeney, Brown Paper Bag Project, Eric Heilig, Food, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Junos, Premier Beers

#Brewsweplate – Beer & Food 5 Course Meal – Featuring Brown Paper Bag Project

by irishbeersnobLeave a Comment on #Brewsweplate – Beer & Food 5 Course Meal – Featuring Brown Paper Bag Project

You may have seen a lot of retweeting by me in recent weeks shouting out about the recent #Brewsweplate event. This was the second such event ran by Eric Heilig and Floriane Loup where each course is cooked to match the beers. My post about the last event is here

The beers this time were supplied by the Brown Paper Bag Project, a nomadic brewer that has spawned from one of the finest gastro pubs in the country, L Mulligan Grocer in Stoneybatter. Their brewer Brian was there to describe each beer with each course.

The ante was upped this time, both in terms of price and matched beers. 5 vs 4 on the last outing. The venue was meant to be the wonderful Powerscourt Centre, but there was a last minute change to Juno’s cafe on Parkgate St Dublin 8. The price, €65. A dining room with an open kitchen, and the place full to the rafters we were in for a treat.

The Menu
The Amuse Bouche

First up was the amuse bouche, mackerel with butter milk and caviar. A tasty little morsel. 

The Duck Course

Here we have a Duck Faggot with Kale, Pomegranate Seeds, Potato and onion seed, matched to the Big Red beer. Faggots are a traditional English dish cooked usually with low cost cuts, here we had moist succulent duck that was excellently seasoned.  

The Goat Cheese Course

Next up we had the lovely St Tola Goat’s Cheese course, with pear and sourdough. Matched to the excitingly refreshing Gose.  I’m a bit of a cheese phobe, slowly coming around to it, and this was my first time eating this cheese. It was lovely and creamy with a bit of sharpness that was complimented excellently by the beer.

The Beef Course

Now the piece de la resistance, FX Buckley dry aged beef, flat iron steak if i recall correctly, and slow braised beef cheek with dillisk, barley, root textures, and a smoked oyster foam. Our matching beer was the Pleasant Porter. The steak portion was perfectly cooked, vibrant pink, and the cheek, literally just melted in your mouth. The oyster foam added a savoury note that was amplified by the pleasant porter. A knock dish, and one I would order if it were available anywhere.

Not One, but two deserts!

The final courses were deserts, both matched to different beers. On the left we have a Passionfruit puree with white chocolate, topped with coriander and sea salt. Matched to the Trinity a belgian beer the coriander matched perfectly and salt gave a lovely lip curling tartness to the desert. On the right we have Tonca, Cocoa, Alexander’s seeds, blackberry and lemon. Firstly, i’ve no idea what tonca is, or who alexander is, but this was a mighty tasty desert. Fresh berries and crunch from the pink wafer worked beautifully. However this was the only course where I personally felt the matching beer was a miss. 

All in all, we had a great night, yet again. Sat at a table with great people, looked after all night and thoroughly enjoyable meal. Eric & Floriane, what a night, I can’t wait to see what you come up with next, and you know i’ll be there. 

Brown Paper Bag beers are now available nationwide in all good off licences, and bars. They are distributed by Premier Beers and if you can find the Gose, get that. Also the Big Red is lovely. I must buy some more to do testing of my own.





2014, Bru Brewery, Caulfield Country Boards, Grand Cru, Meath, Phil Tavey, Porterhouse, Premier Beers, The Central

Craft Beer Revolution in the Royal County – Part 3

by irishbeersnobLeave a Comment on Craft Beer Revolution in the Royal County – Part 3

So this train just keeps on trundling on, the craft beer train that is. I’m glad to say since I last posted about my native Navan in Oct/Nov last year there has been steady progress in bars stocking craft beer, international and Irish.

The award winning Central Bar in Navan has broadened its range once again, and to celebrate their increased range they hosted a Craft Beer tasting on Thursday 10th April. Now carrying 4 Irish on Draught in the main bar, and complemented by a wide range of both Irish & International bottles. 

A table full of samples! (Photo taken from the central’s facebook page)

For a Thursday evening the place was buzzing, loads of craft beer virgins in attendance. Hopefully now they’ll be asking for craft beers in future. The event had 50 people there, a great amount.  I was the loon running around in the burgundy polo shirt.


In attendance on the night were the following;

1: Patrick Hurley from Brú Brewery
2: John Devlin from Premier Beers
3: Phil Tavey from Grand Cru repping the Porterhouse beers.

On draught now, the Central are pouring, Porterhouse’s Plain Stout, Herrsbrucker Pilsner, and Hop Head with the ever popular Brú Rua taking the fourth tap. So you got a sample of each. John was also giving out samples from the wide range from Premier.

Each of the lads talked about their beers in detail, with Patrick bringing you through the brewing process with sample grains and hops. Then Phil as a qualified Beer Sommelier (one of only 4 in Ireland) explaining what kind of flavours and aromas we should expect. It was very informative and enjoyable experience. Was great to finally meet Phil after interacting a good bit on twitter. He also is a Punk Rock DJ so keep an eye out for him in The Thomas House in Dublin.

To top it off then a pint of your choice from the selection and nibbles. For €10 this was unbelievable value. I got talking to Mick the bar manager and Mick the owner, that could get confusing. Its great to see their enthusiasm for it and hopefully it continues to grow for them and they take on more and more of the many interesting beers out there. Specially as Grand Cru carry some great beers.

If I was to be a little critical It may have worked better in one of the other bars upstairs, but when speaking to Mick (Bar Manager) it became clear they only had 16 confirmed paid in advance, and a load on the list that hadn’t paid, and some who just turned up for the craic. The staff handled the extra workload admirably and were great.

Also I do feel the prices on some of the bottled beer is a little on the high side. Given there is already a premium over the main stream products (70c in the case of Porterhouse Plain vs Guiness) its a bit of a stretch to pay €6.10 for O’Hara’s Pale Ale. Hopefully that will be kept under review. Don’t get me wrong its a great beer, but it can be got in Dublin City Centre in D2 for €5.50 for a pint or less. 

The €5 Beer Paddle – 4 samples of Irish Craft!
As an aside I was there in advance of Thursday and had a paddle, made locally in Carnaross these things are great. Caulfield Boards (http://www.caulfieldcountryboards.ie/) excellent craftmanship on the boards and work really well. I really want to get myself one from their shop for a cheese board, or even a serving platter for a roast. 

The Central is listed now on Beoirfinder, and proudly displaying a Beoir “Irish Craft Beer on Sale Here” sticker. 

Hopefully I get to start writing more about the scene closer to home and spread the good word. In Navan itself now, we have two very good bars serving a good range of Craft, The Central and Smyth’s on the Square. Beggy’s a very popular spot on Bridge St has just taken in a Brú Rí tap, along with Rebel Red from Franciscan Well – baby steps, but progress none the less.


Beoir, Bru Brewery, Meath, Moorhouses, Navan, Premier Beers, The Central, Thwaites

Revolution in the Royal County part 1

by irishbeersnobLeave a Comment on Revolution in the Royal County part 1

Meath, the Royal County as it is affectionately known the world over. Home of such historical sites such as The Hill of Tara, Newgrange, and The Battle of the Boyne site. But something is stirring. The craft beer revolution that is booming along in Dublin is slowly reaching out to its neighbouring county. 

Like anything progress can seem initially slow, but once we have the spark i’d expect to see it lift off like a rocket. In Navan the main town in Meath the pub at the forefront at the moment is The Central. A multifloored, multiroomed bar located on Trimgate Street. They offer a wide food offering and have regular events such as a monthly comedy night and other events. However it was the craft beer tasting that piqued my interest. The team at the Central are loyal to local producers and use them as much as possible.

Having met Paddy and Daire of Bru Brewery recently at the ICBCF in the RDS Dublin and subsequently got to know the lads a bit better and thoroughly enjoying their beers, particularly the Rua. I was going down to see how they’d got on since their successful launch in the RDS, where up with Amber Ella the Rua was one of the most talked about Beers of the Festival. Also in attendance was John from Premier Beers, who was going through the tasting on a range of the bottled craft on offer in the Central.

€10 was the cost per head, but this included samples of the three Bru Brewery beers, and samples of the range from premier which included Thwaites, Donegal Blonde, and Moorhouses beers. More on those later. 

But debuting on the night was the Bru Lager, which poured in my opinion a lovely amber colour very similar to Brooklyn lager, however from talking to Paddy the next batch will more than likely be lighter on the colour scale as customers were double checking they’d ordered a lager. The flavour was very nice, and very quaffable, ABV of 4.2%. We were sat with a few total novices, and I must say the feedback I could hear on the three beers was all very positive. I know Paddy & Daire have had a couple of teething issues, but this is to be expected. The quality of the product stands up to scrutiny well. If the lads continue on this vain i’m sure it won’t be long before more local publicans will be looking to get on board.

John talked us through the offerings from Premier. Premier are renowned for importing all sorts from world wide, but they have started to do Donegal Blonde and I believer its flying out. Personally its a middle of the road for me, but I’d say it does well as its not too powerful one direction or the other. The stuff from Thwaites, from Yorkshire UK was good. The very successful Wainwright was very quaffable, but the IPA was a bit of a let down. Biggest surprise of the night for me was the Black Cat from Moorhouses, a sub 4% dark ruby ale, it comes in at 3.4% but was full of flavour, coffee notes. 

There was a good crowd in sampling on the night and the little sausage sliders with charcuterie and cheese were lovely – hopefully the lads continue to push Bru as its only made down the road, literally, only 8 miles away. I’ll introduce myself to the lads there formally when they are less busy. Also in my Beoir capacity i’ve to give them their “Irish Craft Beer on Sale Here” sticker.

This is part 1 of my review of the week gone by. I’ll be putting up more later about what else i got up to