Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

Seaneh

Geuze wrote: »

Is it not a reference to the Cottage Bar on Lower Salthill?

http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/thecottage/

Moycullen was the first pub they opened.

RasTa

Seaneh wrote: »

.

I don't see them being too concerned about their beer prices any time soon though.

They will when more open up and go from the feedback from what will happen out in Blackrock.

Seaneh

Ravelleman wrote: »

Historically that was the name, though, was it not?

Nope.
The Company is called Pizza Elle, has been since they started out renting the kitchen in Massimo in Galway selling, eh, Pizzas.

After that they opened Mustard, a burger/pizza place on Middle Street that later moved to The Bridge Mills, the burgers were class, and then the pubs came.

Aboutime

Ravelleman wrote: »

You are allowed to drink other beers, you know.

Wow really !! Thanks for the heads up!
However some of us choose to have a particular drink,mines a Smirnoff ,husband has a preference for Guinness.
For me it would be like going to a vegetarian restaurant ,where they don't serve meat.I like meat.
Unless of course I have the Guinness and beef pie ,which they serve at TTTT?

Amirani

Aboutime wrote: »

Wow really !! Thanks for the heads up!
However some of us choose to have a particular drink,mines a Smirnoff ,husband has a preference for Guinness.
For me it would be like going to a vegetarian restaurant ,where they don't serve meat.I like meat.

I don't see how that's analogous. A more appropriate comparison may be if you only ate lamb, and then had a problem with a restaurant that only sold beef, venison, pork, ostrich and chicken.

upforit101

Fact is If cottage group/GBB/ Overcharging Irish Pub owners change their ways then I'll be stunned.

BaZmO*

Seaneh wrote: »

Nobody is going to spend a night in spoons drinking or go out of their way to go there to try new beers very often, which is the attraction of the likes of Porterhouse, GBB bars, Mulligans, The Headline, Farringtons. New beers regularly on top of a massive selection of Irish and International beers.

Apart from the Headline, all those pubs you listed are in town. I'd imagine Spoons are going are going for a local crowd which if hey get it will affect the Dark Horse trade.

Seaneh wrote: »

People go to 'spoons for something to eat, a drink or two and then go somewhere else, the Irish craft beer bars will still be the "somewhere else".

Again, they'd be going for the local trade.

upforit101

News just in; Reaction of the Manager of the Mexican football team to the "Spoons" finally breaking the Irish pub owners cartel & price gouging.

A Primal Nut

Can't believe how many people think bars have souls.

Most bars around the city are the same anyway.

Seaneh

They are having a ticketed opening weekend event this weekend, they are giving out tickets in Black Rock outside BOI today between 1pm and 2pm and 6pm and 7pm.

Ticket gets you into the event with free food and drinks for all.

Heroditas

A Primal Nut wrote: »

Can't believe how many people think bars have souls.

Most bars around the city are the same anyway.

It's one of those bizarre concepts that they feel the need to cling to.
In my experiece, "soul" seems to mean a couple of old farts who sit at the bar all day and get ratty if you take their seat, a pub with toilets that stink with no toilet roll or soap and you dry your hands on your trousers (if the tap even works), the pub smells of farts, is dingy and poorly lit bar the corners where Sky Sports is blaring away all day.
Finally, the bar only serves Guinness, Bud, Heineken, Carlsberg and Smithwicks.
None of that "foregin muck" please.

the beer revolu

Aboutime wrote: »

Wow really !! Thanks for the heads up!
However some of us choose to have a particular drink,mines a Smirnoff ,husband has a preference for Guinness.
For me it would be like going to a vegetarian restaurant ,where they don't serve meat.I like meat.
Unless of course I have the Guinness and beef pie ,which they serve at TTTT?

I'd love to see you do a blind taste test on several market leading vodkas.
I'd be extremely surprised if you could pick out Smirnoff over any others.
(Particularly if you drink it with a mixer)

In a blind test, believe it or not, people struggle to spot Guinness too.

A closer analogy would be that you have a preference for Angus beef but the restaurant only served Hereford, Limousin, Sharolais and Simmental beef.
The fact that you probably couldn't identify the beef on the plate is irrelevant. It's what is written on the menu that counts!!
__________________

Ravelleman

Seaneh wrote: »

Nope.
The Company is called Pizza Elle, has been since they started out renting the kitchen in Massimo in Galway selling, eh, Pizzas.

After that they opened Mustard, a burger/pizza place on Middle Street that later moved to The Bridge Mills, the burgers were class, and then the pubs came.

Thanks for that. The recurrence of the name here, on Yelp, the Beoir website and various food blogs seems to suggest a general perception that the organisation was once called the 'Cottage Group' though.

Seaneh

Ravelleman wrote: »

Thanks for that. The recurrence of the name here, on Yelp, the Beoir website and various food blogs seems to suggest a general perception that the organisation was once called the 'Cottage Group' though.

The recurrence seems to be among a small group of bloggers and beoir members though. I think it's just an invention of the beoir community and it's extensions. I'd never, in 5 years living in Galway, heard the company referred to as that outside of Baords/Beoir/Blogs.

The yelp community in Ireland is very much intertwined with the "foodie" and drinks blog/twitter community in Ireland.

poitinstill

i presume the Cork bar will be a little cheaper than the Dublin one but with identical offerings ?

Seaneh

poitinstill wrote: »

i presume the Cork bar will be a little cheaper than the Dublin one but with identical offerings ?

I'd say so. Their prices vary by region in the UK anyway, London being more expensive than other areas.

Many things, like Sixpoint/craft beers will be identical in price though.

upforit101

Seaneh wrote: »

I'd say so. Their prices vary by region in the UK anyway, London being more expensive than other areas.

Many things, like Sixpoint/craft beers will be identical in price though.

Just wondering Seaneh, if the spoons in Bangor charges a cheaper price for take out of the six point cans?
Thanks in advance.

Seaneh

upforit101 wrote: »

Just wondering Seaneh, if the spoons in Bangor charges a cheaper price for take out of the six point cans?
Thanks in advance.

Nah, no discount for take out.

They are £1.99 each for the summer though so at that price they are about the same as you'd pay for a comparable beer in Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury's anyway.

€3.50 for Bengali tiger is about the same as a comparable beer in an offie in Ireland as well. It's about the same standard as Ska's Modus Hoperandi which sells for €3.65+ in offies that stock it in Ireland.

I've been told that not all 'spoons will do take out by the way, it's at the managers discretion so might not even be a goer in Ireland.

Seaneh

By the way lads.
The regular price for sixpoints and the other craft bottles in the UK is £2.99 each (or 2 sixpoints for a fiver), which is actually more expensive than they are charging in Ireland (£3 is about €3.76 atm).
Which is strange but a welcome surprise!

upforit101

Seaneh wrote: »

By the way lads.
The regular price for sixpoints and the other craft bottles in the UK is £2.99 each (or 2 sixpoints for a fiver), which is actually more expensive than they are charging in Ireland (£3 is about €3.76 atm).
Which is strange but a welcome surprise!

I certainly hope the Six point cans take off in Ireland.
The Bengali Tiger is one of the nicest beers I've ever tasted.

JohnK

poitinstill wrote: »

i presume the Cork bar will be a little cheaper than the Dublin one but with identical offerings ?

Corks getting more expensive for pints these days so I'd be surprised if Wetherspoons were any cheaper down here than they plan to be in Dublin. Theres a thread ( http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056958105 ) in the Cork forum about prices at the moment and €5.30 for a Heineken & €5.60 for a Budweiser are right in the city centre lately which would be the same location as Wetherspoons are going to be opening.

Ranchu

Seaneh wrote: »

Gouging?

Are you forced to go there and spend more than you want to?

Not any more.

Seaneh wrote: »

And I doubt any of the Irish craft beer bars are too worried by Spoons.

They should be.

Their recent price hikes are laughable and myself and many of my friends will never darken their doors again after many years of regular custom.

drumswan

Ranchu wrote: »

Not any more.



They should be.

Their recent price hikes are laughable and myself and many of my friends will never darken their doors again after many years of regular custom.

Your loss, spoons offer a totally different experience to the likes of ATG or The Headline, both of which will have beers which Spoons never will.

Seaneh

drumswan wrote: »

Your loss, spoons offer a totally different experience to the likes of ATG or The Headline, both of which will have beers which Spoons never will.

Exactly, I like 'spoons for what it is and I'm happy to see them enter the market but you're never going to find 20+ craft beers on tap with up to 100 more in the fridges in bottles with a constantly changing line up. Which is what pubs like ATG etc offer, as well as a fantastic range of whiskies.

Ranchu

drumswan wrote: »

Your loss, spoons offer a totally different experience to the likes of ATG or The Headline, both of which will have beers which Spoons never will.

It's no loss. Again, I was a loyal customer for a long time. I'd rather a slightly limited selection at half the price. I don't particularly rate the atmosphere in the gbb bars and definitely not in the Headline which is definitely not to my taste. All of these bars were places for us to get a decent pint before a late bar. Nothing will have changed apart from having twice as much money in my pocket when I go home.

drumswan

Spoons are a ready made replacement for the crap generic Irish pub, not the specialist craft beer bar.

drumswan

Ranchu wrote: »

It's no loss. Again, I was a loyal customer for a long time. I'd rather a slightly limited selection at half the price. I don't particularly rate the atmosphere in the gbb bars and definitely not in the Headline which is definitely not to my taste. All of these bars were places for us to get a decent pint before a late bar. Nothing will have changed apart from having twice as much money in my pocket when I go home.

It's not a 'slightly limited selection', ATG carries hundreds of beers and dozens of whiskeys.

upforit101

Ranchu wrote: »

Their recent price hikes are laughable and myself and many of my friends will never darken their doors again after many years of regular custom.

Damn right, I'll be doing the same and I hope many others will vote with their feet too.

Ranchu

drumswan wrote: »

Spoons are a ready made replacement for the crap generic Irish pub, not the specialist craft beer bar.

I agree to an extent but a huge amount of people that go to the current craft beer bars go there for a decent selection of beers. That means having a few that you can't get in the generic bars is enough of a draw. Having 100 expensive bottles in the fridge might be attractive to the beer fanatics but it means nothing to 90% of the people who drink in them. This is the customer base they'll lose when people realise you can get the same product for 3.50 instead of €5 or €6 or whatever.

upforit101

Ranchu wrote: »

It's no loss. Again, I was a loyal customer for a long time. I'd rather a slightly limited selection at half the price. I don't particularly rate the atmosphere in the gbb bars and definitely not in the Headline which is definitely not to my taste. All of these bars were places for us to get a decent pint before a late bar. Nothing will have changed apart from having twice as much money in my pocket when I go home.

+1.

upforit101

Ranchu wrote: »

I agree to an extent but a huge amount of people that go to the current craft beer bars go there for a decent selection of beers. That means having a few that you can't get in the generic bars is enough of a draw. Having 100 expensive bottles in the fridge might be attractive to the beer fanatics but it means nothing to 90% of the people who drink in them. This is the customer base they'll lose when people realise you can get the same product for 3.50 instead of €5 or €6 or whatever.

Exactly and it's the spoons carrying the six point stuff (at such a keen price) that is the clincher for me.

drumswan

Ranchu wrote: »

I agree to an extent but a huge amount of people that go to the current craft beer bars go there for a decent selection of beers. That means having a few that you can't get in the generic bars is enough of a draw. Having 100 expensive bottles in the fridge might be attractive to the beer fanatics but it means nothing to 90% of the people who drink in them. This is the customer base they'll lose when people realise you can get the same product for 3.50 instead of €5 or €6 or whatever.

It's not the same product, it's totally different. There is no draught import US IPA on the spoons menu for example. No draught German or Belgian beers, no Belgians at all in fact, , no imperial stouts, no lambics, no seasonals, no import whatsoever and 99% of all Irish craft beer is also missing.

I'd you think 90% of people who drink in ATG or The Headline have no interest in the beer they are drinking you are way off the mark. They would have already deserted these pubs when the generics started stocking o'haras and Galway hooker

Ranchu

drumswan wrote: »

It's not the same product, it's totally different. There is no draught import US IPA on the spoons menu for example. No draught German or Belgian beers, no Belgians at all in fact, , no imperial stouts, no lambics, no seasonals, no import whatsoever and 99% of all Irish craft beer is also missing.

I'd you think 90% of people who drink in ATG or The Headline have no interest in the beer they are drinking you are way off the mark. They would have already deserted these pubs when the generics started stocking o'haras and Galway hooker

I never said it was the same product. I did say there is enough of a comparible product to tempt people away. I was in the headline a few months ago and they didn't have a single American style ipa in stock on the night apart from some ****e from McGargles. Galway Hooker and O'Haras IPAs aren't good beers. People are mentioning Sixpoint a lot here which is supposed to be great.

We'll have to wait and see but I do think the gbb bars will suffer unless they get their pricing in order.

MonkstownHoop

I'll still visit the dark horse, but it just won't be the only pub in Blackrock I'll visit now, it's good to have variety, between these 2 the purty and gilbert and wrights in Dun Laoghaire I can have a good choice without having to travel into town

Seaneh

Ranchu wrote: »

Galway Hooker and O'Haras IPAs aren't good beers.

In your opinion.

I happen to think both are very good beers.

dub_skav

To be honest ATG have always missed a trick with me and a large swathe of their potential custom.
I really like their selection of beers and would gladly pop in more often, but they fail to cater to my other half. Their wine selection is minimal and seems like tokenism at its finest.
Actually last week I asked about Prosecco and they have one type, which is a Frizante rather than spumante and is available only by the bottle for an inflated price of 32 quid.

Our choice of pub is always a trade off between decent wine selection and decent beer selection, if JDW can offer us both a compromise then it will get more of our business.

BeerNut

dub_skav wrote: »

To be honest ATG have always missed a trick with me and a large swathe of their potential custom.

Any time I'm in there it's jammed. I don't think they're suffering from a dearth of swathes.

Out of curiosity, where do you go when you leave AtG looking for a pub with better wine?

Heroditas

dub_skav wrote: »

To be honest ATG have always missed a trick with me and a large swathe of their potential custom.
I really like their selection of beers and would gladly pop in more often, but they fail to cater to my other half. Their wine selection is minimal and seems like tokenism at its finest.
Actually last week I asked about Prosecco and they have one type, which is a Frizante rather than spumante and is available only by the bottle for an inflated price of 32 quid.

Our choice of pub is always a trade off between decent wine selection and decent beer selection, if JDW can offer us both a compromise then it will get more of our business.

Glasses of prosecco in a pub? Only a tiny minority of places would serve a drink like that by the glass.

hynesie08

I really don't see any of the good craft pubs being effected by spoons. The people who go for cheap drinks wouldn't go to the likes of atg, black sheep, headline etc anyway and most people who know their beer wouldn't stick to one pub anyway. It's the likes of O'Neills pmacs taphouse etc that try to be everything that'll lose out to someone like spoons.

Seaneh

Heroditas wrote: »

Glasses of prosecco in a pub? Only a tiny minority of places would serve a drink like that by the glass.

Their wine selections is appalling in fairness.

drumswan

Ranchu wrote: »

We'll have to wait and see but I do think the gbb bars will suffer unless they get their pricing in order.

Their prices are already in order, I can tell because they do a roaring trade. The notion that their clientele who are happy to pay the current prices are going to jump ship and drink Adnans and Six point all night to save themselves a few quid is laughable

oblivious

hynesie08 wrote: »

I really don't see any of the good craft pubs being effected by spoons. The people who go for cheap drinks wouldn't go to the likes of atg, black sheep, headline etc anyway and most people who know their beer wouldn't stick to one pub anyway. It's the likes of O'Neills pmacs taphouse etc that try to be everything that'll lose out to someone like spoons.

They are pricing Cask ale lower that some lagers, not a model generally seen in Ireland. It should be interesting to see who will supply the Irish cask. Who is large enough to supply spoons at a price they want and will it have a knock on effect of places selling the same Irish cask ale at a premium compared to them.

Seaneh

Like like with the bottles of Eight Degrees beers and cans of Sixpoint beers, I don't think that Irish breweries will have to give them any discount of their cask ales. They will just sell it at a lower margain than other bars and make up for it on lagers/spirits/wines/food.

They sell local cask ales in the UK for circa £2.20 per pint, which is a lot lower than the bars around them, I doubt the likes of Purple Moose or Conwy brewery are giving JDW any discount compared to other bars they sell to.

hynesie08

oblivious wrote: »

They are pricing Cask ale lower that some lagers, not a model generally seen in Ireland. It should be interesting to see who will supply the Irish cask. Who is large enough to supply spoons at a price they want and will it have a knock on effect of places selling the same Irish cask ale at a premium compared to them.

Fair point. not a huge cask fan myself, as in it'd never be all I drink on a night out, but it'll be interesting to see what the Irish market makes of it.

BaZmO*

drumswan wrote: »

Their prices are already in order, I can tell because they do a roaring trade. The notion that their clientele who are happy to pay the current prices are going to jump ship and drink Adnans and Six point all night to save themselves a few quid is laughable

Does the Dark Horse do a roaring trade?

hynesie08

BaZmO* wrote: »

Does the Dark Horse do a roaring trade?

Apparently it does quite well, keeping the Guinness tap helped apparently. It's seen less as a craft beer bar and more as a proper boozer that has craft beer. So best of both worlds, although I'm sure some here know more than me.

Ranchu

drumswan wrote: »

Their prices are already in order, I can tell because they do a roaring trade. The notion that their clientele who are happy to pay the current prices are going to jump ship and drink Adnans and Six point all night to save themselves a few quid is laughable

Their prices have gone up by a comical amount lately. They are not in order with pubs less than a five minute walk away for exactly the same pint!

They might do a decent trade at the moment but that might change. That's what people are saying here.

Only time will tell. You can obviously see into the future though.

Seaneh

Fastest growing brewery in the country and about to double their output for the second time in a year and talks of entering the UK market. I'm sure they're perfectly happy just now.

hynesie08

Ranchu wrote: »

Their prices have gone up by a comical amount lately. They are not in order with pubs less than a five minute walk away for exactly the same pint!

They might do a decent trade at the moment but that might change. That's what people are saying here.

Only time will tell. You can obviously see into the future though.

Their prices or the prices they charge for other breweries beer? If it's the second can you fully blame them? If you're not happy with them fine but judging by the crowd in there on a Friday and Saturday a lot of people are.

Ranchu

Seaneh wrote: »

Fastest growing brewery in the country and about to double their output for the second time in a year and talks of entering the UK market. I'm sure they're perfectly happy just now.

Good for them. They certainly know how to charge anyway.