Galway Bay Breweries

adamski8

They really should just give you the bill when the food is done. Its happened to me too but when your having many drinks after the meal wothout paying i think the blame is partially with them.

Seaneh

In a positive development, just saw on their bookface that GBB are making a collaborative beer with an American brewery on Friday and will release more details on the day.

Hopefully it's something exciting.

Saruman

Good stuff

Ravelleman

Hopefully it's with Anheuser-Busch - in time for 4th July.

Halloween Jack

I'm fairly regularly in the black sheep these days. Absolutely love the place, myself and my buddy often sit at the bar and have a waffle with the bar staff about the beer and they're all sound as a pound.

Was talking to them recently though and they mentioned they are changing a lot of the taps shortly. Most of the stuff that's going is stuff I don't really drink anyway but the ultimate aim is to have quite a small number of rotation taps and more of their own beers.

They've been turning out admittedly excellent stuff for a good while now, but half the fun of going to a craft beer pub is getting to try out weird and wonderful stuff on draft, particularly in my case, stuff I've tried in bottles or cans at home.

I'd hate to lose some of that variety, even if I'd still patronise the Galway bay bars for the excellent ambiance and their often brilliant own-brews.

Saruman

Without giving anything away, GB will be releasing some new beers that will be very reasonably priced. I wasn't specifically asked not to say anything but because it came from the owner, I'll only hint about it.

Seaneh

I know one of them is a California Common. Wonder what the others are.

BeerNut

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Most of the stuff that's going is stuff I don't really drink anyway.

I think they realised that the €6.50 pints of BrewDog was doing more harm to their reputation than it was putting money in the till. Much as I like Punk and 5AM, taking them off the bar sends the right message to whomever is setting that price.

Ravelleman

Saruman wrote: »

Without giving anything away, GB will be releasing some new beers that will be very reasonably priced. I wasn't specifically asked not to say anything but because it came from the owner, I'll only hint about it.

Well, you've pretty much given it away now so why not go all the way?!

Seaneh

Ravelleman wrote: »

Well, you've pretty much given it away now so why not go all the way?!

Yeah, do it, you know we want you to :P

I'd say the expansion of capacity from the new brew house is the catalyst here. Thankfully.

Ronan|Raven

Oops

Ronan|Raven

BeerNut wrote: »

I think they realised that the €6.50 pints of BrewDog was doing more harm to their reputation than it was putting money in the till. Much as I like Punk and 5AM, taking them off the bar sends the right message to whomever is setting that price.

6.50 ouch. Got a pint of punk IPA in fibbers for 5.80 or so. Still pricey enough.

symbolic

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

O'Hara's IPA on cask in the Porterhouse . Not bad. May help to ease the pain before Anthrax

Efilnikufesin!

Ronan|Raven

symbolic wrote: »

Efilnikufesin!

Just realised I'm in the wrong thread.. Taxi!

noby

symbolic wrote: »

Efilnikufesin!

Is that German for "I think you've posted in the wrong thread"?

quadrifoglio verde

Halloween Jack wrote: »

I'm fairly regularly in the black sheep these days. Absolutely love the place, myself and my buddy often sit at the bar and have a waffle with the bar staff about the beer and they're all sound as a pound.

Was talking to them recently though and they mentioned they are changing a lot of the taps shortly. Most of the stuff that's going is stuff I don't really drink anyway but the ultimate aim is to have quite a small number of rotation taps and more of their own beers.

They've been turning out admittedly excellent stuff for a good while now, but half the fun of going to a craft beer pub is getting to try out weird and wonderful stuff on draft, particularly in my case, stuff I've tried in bottles or cans at home.

I'd hate to lose some of that variety, even if I'd still patronise the Galway bay bars for the excellent ambiance and their often brilliant own-brews.

I'm generally the same when I go to the likes of the porterhouse and used to be when I went to the black sheep. Now however, since the quality of their drink is so good, im finding I'm buying their own stuff 90% (mainly ofaf) of the time and the other 10% it's something by 8 degrees or trouble that's good.
If I want something exciting I'll call into the likes of the drinkstore and pick up stuff their at a lower price.

Halloween Jack

One of the bar staff told me how much they were buying kegs of brewdog for. I don't really want to get into it but the fact they have a fair bars buying a fair bit off brewdog meant they were getting a good price.

I've bought brewdog on draft for fairly reasonable prices in other bars.

Halloween Jack

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

I'm generally the same when I go to the likes of the porterhouse and used to be when I went to the black sheep. Now however, since the quality of their drink is so good, im finding I'm buying their own stuff 90% (mainly ofaf) of the time and the other 10% it's something by 8 degrees or trouble that's good.
If I want something exciting I'll call into the likes of the drinkstore and pick up stuff their at a lower price.

Like I say, drinkstore is around the corner from where I live, so most times I'm trying beers there, but it doesn't mean when I'm in a bar I don't want variety.

I like the fact that when I go into the black sheep there may be 5/6 beers on draft I've not tried. While I definitely enjoy most of their own brews, I would be less inclined to go regularly if I can only have one type of porter, one ipa, etc...

I'm sure they'll still stock a wide range of bottles, but as you point out, they can be had for half the price at home

Seaneh

Halloween Jack wrote: »

One of the bar staff told me how much they were buying kegs of brewdog for. I don't really want to get into it but the fact they have a fair bars buying a fair bit off brewdog meant they were getting a good price.

I've bought brewdog on draft for fairly reasonable prices in other bars.

They are buying off of Four Corners not Brew Dog.

Four Corners have raised the price 2 or 3 times recently and in the last 6 - 8 months the price has risen about 15% on what it was last year. They ate the first rise on their margin but then decided they couldn't on the second rise.

Halloween Jack

Seaneh wrote: »

They are buying off of Four Corners not Brew Dog.

Four Corners have raised the price 2 or 3 times recently and in the last 6 - 8 months the price has risen about 15% on what it was last year. They ate the first rise on their margin but then decided they couldn't on the second rise.

Fair enough, 2 years ago the price was 6.60 or thereabouts for a pint of punk, it's what, 6.90 ish now, so I accept it's not risen much.

Nevertheless if the price I was quoted was correct the margins were very very healthy to begin with and like I said I've purchased it cheaper in practically any other bar I've bought it in.

I just want to add that I didn't bring brewdog into the discussion and couldn't care less whether they are retained on tap in the Galway bay bars or not. Brewdog can be bought all over the place anyway and I stopped buying it when I started to broaden my tastes anyhow.

In fact I'd welcome their removal if it meant 1/2 more rotational taps. I basically don't want to have to only drink Galway bay beer in their pubs, variety being the spice of life and all that. I know there are alternative bars to drink craft beer in, but the Galway bay guys are big players in the Irish market, rightly so, their product is excellent, I just like the current set up, whereby there is always something new to try on tap when I go in there.

Seaneh

What was the price you were quoted? Are you aware they are not 50 litre kegs? So it's not like they get the standard just shy of 90 pints per kegs return from them.
So if it looks like they don't cost much more "per keg" you have to consider whether you're comparing it to a 50 litre keg or not.

Keykegs are 30litre which is just over 50 pints.

Halloween Jack

Seaneh wrote: »

What was the price you were quoted? Are you aware they are not 50 litre kegs? So it's not like they get the standard just shy of 90 pints per kegs return from them.
So if it looks like they don't cost much more "per keg" you have to consider whether you're comparing it to a 50 litre keg or not.

Keykegs are 30litre which is just over 50 pints.

Like I say I'd rather not mention the figure, for all I know it's sensitive info and I wouldn't want to put something like that on a public forum, particularly when it was something mentioned to me in passing which I have no way of verifying.

Also it's tangential at best to what I was trying to discuss, I brought up the brewdog thing in reference to another post.

Ravelleman

Halloween Jack wrote: »

Like I say I'd rather not mention the figure, for all I know it's sensitive info and I wouldn't want to put something like that on a public forum, particularly when it was something mentioned to me in passing which I have no way of verifying.

I've never understood the secrecy on this forum.

slayerking

Dead Pony Club at €6.50 a pint in the Black Sheep. A 3.8 % beer, while a very good beer, I'm not gona pay €6.50 for it. I dunno whether its Brewdog or the importers charging through the teeth or the black sheep or what, I just dont understand why low abv beers cost so much here, surely they should be cheaper!

BeerNut

slayerking wrote: »

I just dont understand why low abv beers cost so much here, surely they should be cheaper!

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

Seaneh

BeerNut wrote: »

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

That's how low abv beers should be.

oblivious

BeerNut wrote: »

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

Could be a great candidate for the beer engine

Saruman

BeerNut wrote: »

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

Well since TBN has just given it away....

The table beer will be the second runnings of OFAF. There will also be another beer for €4.50, might be the California common (think Anchor steam).

It fits nicely with Beoir's not yet widely publicised two for a tenner (or less) initiative.

BaZmO*

Saruman wrote: »

The table beer will be the second runnings of OFAF.

Hopefully they don't use that exact wording when promoting it. It'd be a hard sell to anybody unfamiliar with the brewing process!

Ravelleman

Saruman wrote: »

It fits nicely with Beoir's not yet widely publicised two for a tenner (or less) initiative.

This is a worthy cause.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

It'd be a hard sell to anybody unfamiliar with the brewing process!

It'd be an education opportunity to anybody unfamiliar with the brewing process

oblivious

BaZmO* wrote: »

Hopefully they don't use that exact wording when promoting it. It'd be a hard sell to anybody unfamiliar with the brewing process!

You don't want the public thinking in terms of sloppy seconds !!

matrim

Saruman wrote: »

The table beer will be the second runnings of OFAF

Second runnings?

Saruman

matrim wrote: »

Second runnings?

After a large mash has been sparged and sent to the kettle, there's still enough sugar in the mash to make a small beer.

For Beoir#1 there was enough to make a 5 percent or so batch for those of us who took the second runnings home.

cunnifferous

BeerNut wrote: »

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

Just what I was looking for, a session ale for a reasonable price! Was a big fan of TB Graffiti (not as much the price) but it seems to be gone in most places now. Really like the flavour of Amarillo and Citra too, never tried a beer with Wai-iti before.

Do you know if its gonna be a regular part of their range or just a seasonal? Also if they are gonna bottle it? Presumably in a bottle it would be circa €2.50?

Lucena

Well, I'm not too bothered by the alcohol content being lower, especially if the pints are cheap and tasty!

BeerNut

cunnifferous wrote: »

Do you know if its gonna be a regular part of their range

I believe it is, but probably only after the new brewery is running.

cunnifferous wrote: »

Also if they are gonna bottle it?

No idea, sorry. Bottling doesn't seem to be much of a priority for them in general.

GLaDOS

BeerNut wrote: »

Galway Bay's new Amarillo/Citra/Wai-iti 3.5% ABV table beer will be €4 a pint.

Excellent. If they bottle it at a decent price even better.

Creamy Goodness

Currently sipping the table beer in the brewdock. It's nice and actually I could see it as a good replacement for punk ipa (even though it's nearly half the strength) that was taken off the taps since the wholesale price hikes.

Seaneh

Picture courtesy of Mr. Beer Nut.
Reading very complimentary reviews on twitter so far, looking forward to trying it myself in a few weeks.

Ravelleman

Looks nice and murky.

cunnifferous

Looks like peach juice, I want!

BeerNut

cunnifferous wrote: »

Looks like peach juice

Tastes like grapefruit juice.

slayerking

Excellent, looking forward to trying this. €4 a pint is awesome, €3.50 with the beoir vouchers! :eek:

Seaneh

How much is it in the Galway pubs?

cunnifferous

BeerNut wrote: »

Tastes like grapefruit juice.

Good, I like grapefruit juice! Any other impressions? Is it thin/do you notice the low abv in the flavour?

BeerNut

cunnifferous wrote: »

Is it thin/do you notice the low abv in the flavour?

I'd say yes on both. It's enjoyable but it's no Graffiti.

cormacjones

Has anyone else gone off Buried at Sea? It just becomes a bit sickly sweet, in my opinion.
Stormy Port on the other hand, has become my favourite Irish porter/stout on tap.

Ravelleman

cormacjones wrote: »

Has anyone else gone off Buried at Sea? It just becomes a bit sickly sweet, in my opinion.

I had a touch of this last time I had a bottle of it. When I buy it I often go for a half-pint. As milk stouts go, Left Hand is still king for me.

cunnifferous

BeerNut wrote: »

I'd say yes on both. It's enjoyable but it's no Graffiti.

Boo-urns. Yeah Graffiti was something special alright, hope they bring it back soon.

Still look forward to trying the table beer though, is it available in ATG or Alfie Byrnes do you know?