Sheridan’s Festival of Irish Food, Beer, Cider and Cheese! 

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Simon

It was a busy weekend of festivals with events taking place in Killarney and Belfast. I didn’t go to either of those but I found plenty to quench my thirst at Sheridan’s Irish Food Festival.  

Olan from Dan Kelly’s was offering more options than cider. He also had some very tasty Apple juice and cider vinegar. He suggested frying some red onion in the cider vinegar and using it to top your favourite burgers. 

Sally-Anne from Boyne had their new Cooney’s Cider but I was awkward and had a wee drop of their rather nice IPA instead. 

And all the way down the back of the event I found the O’Cleirigh mobile pouring some fine ales from it’s side. I opted for a Shurlukit Session IPA and it was absolutely perfect for the sunny afternoon that was in it. 

When we got home I stuck on the barbecue and grilled a few of the burgers we had picked up and topped them off with some of the delicious mature cheddar and enjoyed it with another of O’Cleirigh’s beers; Whisht Golden Ale. A perfect end to the day. Sláinte! 

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#MCBF17 Sells Out To Da Man! 

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Simon

So there have been a couple of exciting additions to the line up for this year’s Midlands Craft Beer Festival. Trouble Brewing are going to be represented by Clara man and Head Brewer Dave Guilfoyle. Olan from Dan Kelly’s Cider is going to join us for the first time and we’re delighted to have him. And I’m bringing my favourite of the new McGargle’s beers! Which one is it? You’ll have to wait and see! 

And to address the scurrilous rumours about selling out; Specsavers Athlone have generously offered to help defray some of the costs involved in putting on the festival. Manager Keith McCallion came up with the very clever tag line: ‘Raise your glasses with Specsavers at Midlands Craft Beer Festival!’ 

Looking forward to seeing you all in Don’s Bar beer garden on the 8th of July. Sláinte! 

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Battle of the DIPAs.  

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Simon

In the blue corner we have old hands BrewDog and their latest Born To Die Double IPA. Weighing in at 8.5%, this ‘Terminally Hoppy IPA’ demands to be drank before the 13th of May. So I drank it with some time to spare. The last iteration I had of this was supplied to me by Wayne ‘Irish Beer Snob’ Dunne and it came in a largish bottle. This time around, the more sensibly sized can was picked up in Kenny’s, Lucan. 

In the red corner we have young contender Whiplash with his 2017 version of Surrender To The Void. It’s another ballsy 8.5% Double IPA. It doesn’t make any demands to be drank as it’s rather more nihilistic and, dare I say it, closer in spirit to the real ethos of punk rock. I picked this one up off the Irish Craft Canning line in Rye River Brewing. You don’t get much fresher than that. 

This was as hard as battle as that heavyweight scrap that was in Wembley the other week. The BrewDog is a damn fine beer. But for me the gutsy young underdog won it on points. 

Obviously it’s difficult for me to have a completely balanced perspective here as I’m not an equity punk and I do work with Alex Whiplash Lawes in Rye River but try it yourself and let me know what you think. 

…and now seems like as good a time as any to let you know that Whiplash will be making the journey to Moate for this year’s Midlands Craft Beer Festival. They will be joined by St. Mel’s, Rascal’s and more. Shenanigans will ensue. See you there. Sláinte! 

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JJ Harlow’s Bank Holiday Beer Bash! 

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Simon

The Roscommon Lamb Festival is on this weekend. For those of us who love a white, fluffy head on our beers, there was also a beer festival in JJ Harlow’s. So the kids were able to have fun making lambs with modelling clay while I enjoyed a few beers. A win win all round! I said I’d start off with something light and sessionable but James from Lough Gill had other ideas. He put his latest Onward in front of me, it’s a 9% Sloe Barley Wine. He reckons it’s the first time Sloes have been used in a beer. They made for a mellow drinking experience. Very different, you need to try it out for yourself. 

Black Donkey have just bottles their latest beer; TKO. It’s an IPA, their first! Once again it features some brilliant artwork. Pick it up and see if you can see who’s getting knocked out! It’s 5% and has some nice fruity hoppiness, very drinkable and worth waiting for. 

Galway Hooker were back in their original home town pouring the topically named Alt Fact. It’s a tasty Dunkel. I’m liking Dunkels at the moment for some reason. 

Trouble Brewing had their Hard Candy on. Now there’s one for a beer float. Hashtag all de nomz. 

Barcelona Beer Company had Miss Hops on draught. Apparently it tastes way better if you don a pair of their pink knickers. I’m a boxers man though so I didn’t chance it. The ‘High IPA’ still went down easily! 

Ha’penny Gin were doing all manner of fancy cocktails and the challenge to make beertails was accepted. The Ha’penny Gin tasted amazing with a mix of Trouble’s Fresh Prince of Kildare, Ginger and Chilli. 

After that assault on the senses I was ready for a change of pace. Sarah from Mac Ivor’s suggested their Vintage Reserve Cider. It was like a dry apple sorbet. You could easily picture yourself drinking it from champagne flutes in the garden. If you had champagne flutes, which I don’t. 

BrewDog’s Brewing Manager is a Roscommon man. So he was able to combine the festival with a chance to visit his family. It was cool to see a big brewery represented at a small beer festival in the Midlands. I tried some Cocoa Psycho which was like a rich dark chocolate party in my mouth. 

And I finished up where I started out, having went round the block, with a ‘Round The Clock. This is Lough Gill’s full on coffee Breakfast Stout. It’s only 5.2% but it doesn’t hold back on flavour. The festival was almost over then so I headed for the hills but I have to say it was a very pleasant afternoon talking to a sound bunch of beer (and cider and gin) folks. Well done JJ Harlow’s once again. Sláinte! 

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The Kingdom of Beers

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Simon

Myself and my family went camping in Killarney at the weekend. We did touristy things but this IS a beer blog so I won’t detail them here! 

With all the money we saved by camping we said we’d treat ourselves and went to the Hotel Europe for dinner. I had one of the local brews from Killarney Brewing Company with my Kerry lamb but the flavours jarred a bit. The lamb was only gorgeous and the beer was grand, just not a good match for each other! 

After dinner I retired to the library with a drop of the newly released Dingle Single Malt. I’m not a whiskey expert but I’d normally sip it neat, this one needed a drop of water to mellow it out a bit. (Pretentious twat!) 

That evening I had arranged to meet Soren, a Killarney based beer nut who runs the Irish beer and breweriana Facebook page. He recommended The Celtic Whiskey Bar. 

They’ve a good number of taps on their two bars. I asked for White Gypsy Banker first as I hadn’t tried it, but, alas the tap was dry. So I opted for Killarney’s Helles instead. It went down very nicely indeed. 

I stuck with Lager and had a delicious pint of YellowBelly’s The Passion after that. Cool spot, serious selection of whiskey too, good shout Soren!  

Back at Base Camp I had Northern Monk’s Patrons Project 1.02 Coffee Porter. Earlier in the day, I’d had BrewDog’s Semi Skimmed Occultist with my chocolate Easter bunny but this one from blew that out of the water. It was rich, creamy and indulgent. If you happen upon a can I highly recommend picking it up! 

The next day we were in Dingle and I enjoyed a West Kerry Carraig Dubh with some beef and I checked how far the brewery/pub was. 11km. Sure it would’ve been rude not to pay a visit. 

My first choice was Blue Rose, an English style Pale Ale. Very refreshing and easy to drink. 

After that I tried a half of Black Elder. A Dark Ale brewed with Elderflower. On cask too, which is indeed a rare treat. I was chatting to Adrienne (hope I’ve that right!) She brews the beer and is a great host. You Really Should spin out as far as Ballyferiter. I’m glad I did before we had to hit the road home, with my patient, loving wife once again behind the wheel. Sláinte! 

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