Lack of 'Real Ale' in Irish Pubs

Saruman

Don't forget The brew Dock, L Mulling Grocer, WJ Kavanagh (5 handpumps?), The Palace, Bull and Castle, City Centre Porterhouse bars etc

johnnyskeleton

Saruman wrote: »

Don't forget The brew Dock, L Mulling Grocer, WJ Kavanagh (5 handpumps?), The Palace, Bull and Castle, City Centre Porterhouse bars etc

Do WJ Kavanaghs still have that raw hop ale served in the old style beer mug? All they need is a dart board.

c_murph

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Do WJ Kavanaghs still have that raw hop ale served in the old style beer mug? All they need is a dart board.

They change the kegs very regularly - what they have today might be gone in a couple of days. Last weekend they had Windjammer ale by Metalman and another golden ale called (I think) Canendish Gold.
The staff in Kavanagh's thought the Cavendish was only ok, so they added some more hops to it for a day in the cellar and made it better

Matt Le Tissue

Simon201 wrote: »

Nearest I've found in Dublin recently is the bottles of Shepherd Neame available in some off licences and cafes - mmmm..... pretty pretty good!
We used to drive for miles with the CAMRA guide to find a good pint of Greene King Abbott ale when I lived in Cambridgeshire in the 80's! Funny how there are 'Irish Pubs' in every city in the world but Dublin doesn't have anything like an 'English' style pub serving real ale... groan!

Funny you should say that, I was talking to a couple of mates in Danns the other night and we wondered whether an "English Pub" would do good business in Ireland/Dublin. I for one would love there to be one.

rubadub wrote: »

And ask in the pub for a bottle of pint of whatever you wish they did sell, and act surprised when they say they don't have it, then ask for another and another, and eventually sigh and go "ah well, I suppose I will have to have a whatever slop they have"

Thats exactly what I do in the pubs I drink in here in Greystones, 1 of the pubs stocked Hooky Gold and Whitstable Bay for a while but then stopped, I continually ask for them (knowing they don't have them) and have asked them to get them back in stock but to no avail so far.


And yes I did notice the dates of the posts I quoted, but since I thought what they said was interesting to me I quoted them

BeerNut

Matt Le Tissue wrote: »

Funny you should say that, I was talking to a couple of mates in Danns the other night and we wondered whether an "English Pub" would do good business in Ireland/Dublin. I for one would love there to be one.

What would an English-style pub do that the cask beer specialists like WJ Kavanagh's and The Black Sheep aren't already doing?

Saruman

BeerNut wrote: »

What would an English-style pub do that the cask beer specialists like WJ Kavanagh's and The Black Sheep aren't already doing?

Have union jacks and maybe an old telephone box....

BeerNut

Heh. I confess I was thinking of "English-style" to mean "in the style of England". But most English-style pubs aren't, are they?

johnnyskeleton

BeerNut wrote: »

What would an English-style pub do that the cask beer specialists like WJ Kavanagh's and The Black Sheep aren't already doing?

I suppose it could be said that an English pub isn't about speciality expensive beers, unusual foreign stuff or the like, but equally doesn't sell just the Diageo products that every other bar has. Maybe has one or two hand pump cask ales that they brew themselves.

Perhaps it could be:
1) Irish pub that sells only Guiness, Heniken, Carlsberg, Bulmers, Bud etc;
2) Irish pub that, due to the one or two customers who want something a bit different has a tap of galway hooker in addition to the above, or perhaps a few bottles of O'Haras;
3) Gap in the market for an English style pub;
4) Trendy pub that sells craft beers and normal beers e.g. porterhouse, Cassidys Westmoreland St;
5) Full on gastro-pub/craft beer pub.

I for one wouldn't mind if every pub had their house/own-brewed ale/lager, even if it wasn't particularly good. For example, I'm not that mad about the west kerry brewery beers and if in L Mulligans or the Black Sheep I probably wouldn't order them. But, if I was in one of the pubs they supply locally in Kerry I'd happily drink it.

What would also be good is an English Style Weatherspoons pub. Say what you want about them, they often provide world beers at unbeatable prices. If you want a glass of unusual beer and are on a budget, somewhere with little choice but good value would be just the ticket.

Heroditas

Saruman wrote: »

BeerNut wrote: »

What would an English-style pub do that the cask beer specialists like WJ Kavanagh's and The Black Sheep aren't already doing?

Have union jacks and maybe an old telephone box....

Don't forget the fruit machine!

thegeezer

Went to Brew Dock - something familiar about it - and what is this fixation with board games ?? Last thing you want is some idiot screaming "Connect 4" across the boozer !! Anyway, wide range of beers at reasonable prices and looked like good food as well.

For those like me who miss English beers, Tesco's currently doing wide range including the excellent Courage Best AND Directors - both included in the five for a tenner range !!

Heroditas

thegeezer wrote: »

Went to Brew Dock - something familiar about it - and what is this fixation with board games ?? Last thing you want is some idiot screaming "Connect 4" across the boozer

I'd take that any time over having TV screens hung on every square inch of wall space showing Sky Sports

Tom Dunne

I recently spent 4 weeks in the UK, and by God, it was incredible (em, in terms of ales, that is ). It got to the stage where I walked into a pub and just asked for "something local". Great way to discover ales and bitters.

It's great to finally see more and more Irish pubs stock the non-mainstream drinks. I only tasted Trouble Brewing's Golden Ale last week, and it was love at first taste.

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Was it one we brought?

Tom Dunne

Des wrote: »

Was it one we brought?

Yup. It was savoured and devoured in equal measures.

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There's a possibility that we might be in your neck of the woods sometime next year for no reason whatsoever.

We'll bring some over if we are coming.

Oh yeah, it's called Ór.

Tube

Heroditas wrote: »

I'd take that any time over having TV screens hung on every square inch of wall space showing Sky Sports

While I agree, games like Jenga do not belong in pubs.

Tube

BeerNut wrote: »

What would an English-style pub do that the cask beer specialists like WJ Kavanagh's and The Black Sheep aren't already doing?

Better cask management I would imagine. From talking to staff, both these establishments are definitely still learning the art of cask. Well more so the former as the latter doesn't really do cask.

oblivious

Tom Dunne wrote: »

It's great to finally see more and more Irish pubs stock the non-mainstream drinks. I only tasted Trouble Brewing's Golden Ale last week, and it was love at first taste.

Wait till you try their porter, very nice and available on CO2 not nitro in a few place in Dublin

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oblivious wrote: »

Wait till you try their porter, very nice and available on CO2 not nitro in a few place in Dublin

He has tried it