Category: The Malt House

2016, Bru Brewery, Chicken wings, Craft Beer, EmojiRanking, Gin Cocktails, Meath, Steak, StockHouse Restaurant, The Malt House, Trim

Always Sunny in Trim

by irishbeersnob1 Comment on Always Sunny in Trim

Quite recently we celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary, and decided to visit the town we got married in, Trim! My original idea was to dine in the Knightsbrook Hotel, the venue of said wedding, until I engaged in some twitter activity with a nearby restaurant called StockHouse Restaurant. So on a rare sunny Sunday off we hopped on the short bus journey. We started our day off with a couple of drinks in Trim Castle Hotel. We both enjoyed a stunning pint of Rua, a red ale from local brewery Bru. This is the only craft beer option on draft, but you’ll also find bottles of their IPA Ri. 

The StockHouse Restaurant is right around the corner from the hotel so we really didn’t have too far to walk. Upon arrival I was thrilled we had a reservation as it was quite busy. After a very welcoming and friendly greeting from Tom, one of the owners, we were shown to to our table and handed menus and cocktail recommendations. I noticed on the drinks menu they pride themselves on their range of Gin. On the beer side we were delighted so see they support local with stocking a range of bottled beer from Bru Brewery along with Boyne Valley Cider. 


To get us started I chose “Cloudy Sky” made from Haymans sloe gin with Fentimans Ginger Beer while Wayne chose “Ten of Hearts” Tanqueray N0.10, Aperol & Rhubarb bitters. We enjoyed these very much as we looked over the menus. There was so much choice we both decided to go with the Early Bird Menu.

My “Cloudy Sky” & Waynes “Ten of Hearts”

For starters no surprises in what Wayne picks, chicken wings. In his infamous words “I judge places on their chicken wings”. I don’t remember the last time he had something different. For me I chose the black pudding salad. We were both more than happy with our choices. Wayne actually uttered the words “best wings in Meath”. They were a decent sized portion with a generous dollop of blue cheese and garlic dip on the side. My black pudding was tossed with saute potato, bacon bits, lettuce leaves with a perfectly poached egg perched on top. Personally for me I would’ve preferred it without the potato. It was a beautiful dish and I couldn’t help myself stealing some of the blue cheese garlic dip to mix in.

Waynes Hot & Spicy Chicken WIngs


My Black Pudding Salad


For main course Wayne chose the striploin 8oz steak cooked medium and served with chunky chips and garlic butter on the side. While I decided on the confit duck leg served with herb stuffing, savoy cabbage, red onion and a spiced plum sauce. I chose garlic potato to accompany mine (good thing we’re married and both like garlic). Wayne devoured the steak and really enjoyed it. My duck was so tasty it fell off the bone. Both were thoroughly enjoyable dishes. Of course we had to have a beer, Wayne chose Bru Ri as I had Bru Rua. The beers were well suited to the dishes (perhaps something to use as a recommendation on the menu).


Waynes Striploin Steak

My Confit Duck


Needless to say we were both stuffed. When offered the dessert menu we politely declined. We took our time to finish our beers before ordering two espressos. During the course of our meal I found the staff very friendly and attentive without being intruding. It’s a very comfortable restaurant with a really lovely vibe. The walls of the restaurant are adorned with photos of the historic town and county. Before we were about to ask for the bill, Mick and Tom both presented us with a beautifully decorated surprise dessert, a mixed berry Eton Mess. So much for being stuffed, we devoured it. 


This was an extremely lovely visit to Stockhouse Restaurant and very good value for money with two courses on the early bird for €21.95 and the cocktail specials starting from €8.95. For €83.20 excluding tip it was well worth it. Thank you to Tom & Mick and all the staff for a wonderful experience we really enjoyed it and are already planning a return visit.

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Our day didn’t stop there, it would’ve been rude to be in Trim and not stop in to see Rodney in The Malthouse for a few beers. “We’ll stay till the 16.50 bus” ha yeah right, why stop there when you’re having fun. A few beers, laughs and a taxi home later that night saw the end to a fantastic day.

Beoir, Bru Brewery, Meath, Off License, Sowing Room, The Malt House, The Winehouse, Trim

Revolution in the Royal County Part 2

by irishbeersnobLeave a Comment on Revolution in the Royal County Part 2

Trim, home to King John’s castle, the river Boyne, and Bru Brewery. Also home to The Malt House Pub, which has newly opened the “Sowing Room” in their fantastic attached Off License, The Winehouse.

On Friday the 18th of October, this was officially launched to the public, and Rodney Leonard was kind enough to invite yours truly to the launch night. 


The event was showcasing the beers from Bru Brewery (www.brubrewery.ie / @brubrewery), but also we had entertainment, and a beer tasting session presented by Dean McGuinness (@beermessiah) of Premier Beers, you may know him from his regular slot on Movies n Booze with Sean Moncrieff on Newstalk. There was also a great abridged show by Susan Boyle (@miss_susanboyle / http://www.awinegoosechase.com), who has a fantastic one woman show called “A Wine Goose Chase”

The tasting by Dean brought us through the beers newly installed at the Malt House. From Kona we had long board lager, which i’ve talked about before, supped many a pint on my recent trip to Florida, Thwaites Wainwright, Red Hook Long Hammer IPA, and Columba. Dean talked to us a little about each brewery and the styles and marketing strategy. We weren’t finished yet, there was a treat in store for us. There were cold glasses with Vanilla Haagen Daaz Ice Cream which then had Timmermans Strawberry Lambic poured over the top, an adult milk shake and it was delish. To cap it all off we’d a sup of the champagne style beer, Deus. Personally i didn’t like the Deus, i’ve always preferred 3 monts. 

All in all it was a great evening and the local Trim crowd were definitely piling in on the Bru beers, the lager was flying out. So much so that there was a resupply run done during the evening.

The next day Paddy from Bru had invited me along to a brewery tour he was doing with Rodney and some of the pub customers, who were going to the Kilbeggan Distillery for a tour. It was great to see the set up of Bru, and to hear where they are hoping to go.



Major Kudos to the lads who undoubtedly had a few the night before and still were there despite some sore heads. 

Also the range of beers in The Winehouse is really spectacular. Definitely the best i’ve seen in Meath so far. Mrs Irishbeersnob summed it up best, when walking into the Sowing Room. It felt like a kid walking into a sweet shop. Well Done. Best of Luck with it, and from talking to Rodney yesterday, its quite clear that customers will support this venture, and are coming from all over, i’ll be more than happy to pop over from Navan.