Athlone Beer Club was invited out to Banagher’s Bo Bristle Brewery to brew our own special beer. We weren’t going to miss out on a golden opportunity like that so we met at the crack of half ten in Athlone and a fleet of ( two ) mini buses ferried us to Offaly.
While we were waiting for the water to heat up we had a beer, isn’t that what Bank Holiday weekends are for?
We had decided on a dark session bitter and Dave worked out a recipe for us.
Rob from The Malt House helped Rob from the Beer Club to measure out the malt.
I volunteered to pour the malt out while Blaithin added the water.
I was a bit over enthusiastic with my pouring so Brewer Dave had to give the wort a good stir.
The beer will be a similar colour to this.
James and Rob were charged with cleaning out the mash. Some of it may have ended up on the floor.
Tom was given the job of adding the Galaxy hops.
I think the ladies were having fun, Michelle Doyle from The Malt House was sporting her favourite Bo Bristle t shirt.
The Bo Bristle Stout was tasting gorgeous. We all had a bit of craic pouring our own.
Eamonn transferring the almost finished brew.
It looks good to me! Dave measured the gravity and was satisfied that it will end up at the 4% ABV we want for our Dark Session Bitter. We may call it Athlone Bitter Club.
After an arduous day of graft we made our way up to Brosna Lodge for a delicious bowl of Bo Bristle Stout and Beef Casserole. The chef was very proud of his Bo Bristle IPA and garlic butter on brown bread. It was very tasty.
Vegetarians were catered for with Bo Bristle IPA onion rings!
Deirdre reckoned we couldn’t visit Banagher without calling in to JJ Hough’s.
We called for a round of Bo Bristle Pilsners and someone found a guitar for Sean Lightholder. Sean kept us entertained with classics like ‘The Tippler’, ‘When I Grow Up I Wanna Drink’ and a reggae style rendition of ‘Seven Drunken Nights’. The craic was mighty. Thanks to Dave for giving up his Saturday for Athlone Beer Club, thanks to Andy for letting us amateurs have a go on Bo Bristle’s brilliant Brew Magic kit. Thanks to Brosna Lodge for the food and thanks to JJ Hough’s for not throwing us out. Sláinte!
