Dempsey's Real Ale

Hotblack Desiato

I randomly came across this on the RTE player

https://www.rte.ie/archives/category/lifestyle/2017/0908/903244-new-beer-in-dublin-pubs/

Does anyone remember seeing this in pubs back then? A real ale brewery in Inchicore in Dublin in 1982. Sadly I can't imagine it lasted long, years ahead of its time. Even when the Porterhouses got going it took years to convince people to try anything that wasn't mass-marketed macro, the conservatism of the Irish beer drinker was (and in many cases still is) legendary

Also an interesting clip here about the last days of the Power's John's Lane distillery

https://www.rte.ie/archives/category/work/2017/0504/872416-johns-lane-distillery/

L1011

Some of the people involved in Dempseys started the Porterhouse later on. There's a short but detailed thread on Beoir about it.

Most of the first generation of brewers who tries to get in against the Guinness/Heineken Ireland/Beamish lockdown failed - Porterhouse and O'Haras were the only survivors really

See how few from 1999 are still here

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/here-with-the-beer-part-1-1.155261

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/here-with-the-beer-part-2-1.155262

BeerNut

There's a lovely photograph in the Porterhouse Temple Bar, at the very far end of the main bar from the front door, of the Dempsey's staff including a young Oliver Hughes and Liam LaHart.

It wasn't really the big breweries that did for Dempsey's, it was their own customers, the pubs, who refused to pay them. After the same thing did for Liam and Oliver's next venture, Harty's, they decided that getting their own pubs should be the first step before brewing.

Losty Dublin

Somebody told me years ago (And it may have been the decent gentleman who ran the antiques shop on Batchelor's Walk and served as the local CAMRA rep. Dave I think was his name.) that the original Porterhouse Red was pretty much Dempsey's with a few tweaks to allow for kegging and draught. As regards the brewery itself, it was in the Goldenbridge Industrial Estate.

Anecdote; an auld family friend who we referred to as Uncle Arthur worked in the unit beside it and loved the smell of malt that it provided. Close to the end of it's venture and one day he was asked in to fix the internal electrics. There was no cash to pay him for the nixer so he went home with a lot of their beer, all home bottled in any handy vessels.

Hotblack Desiato

BeerNut wrote: »

It wasn't really the big breweries that did for Dempsey's, it was their own customers, the pubs, who refused to pay them.

What a bunch of low-lifes.

They wouldn't get away with not paying the big brands or the big distributors, but thought it was OK to steal from a small company.

L1011

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

What a bunch of low-lifes.

They wouldn't get away with not paying the big brands or the big distributors, but thought it was OK to steal from a small company.

The ability to pull a vast range of product if they weren't paid was the main thing the big brands had to ensure they did. I'd imagine there's still issues today.

91wx763

I admit to adding to a zombie thread but this might be of interest for the record. https://www.facebook.com/TheMunsterExpress/photos/a.10152051970627202/10152093852362202

POBox19

L1011 wrote: »

The ability to pull a vast range of product if they weren't paid was the main thing the big brands had to ensure they did. I'd imagine there's still issues today.

As far as I know Diego won’t supply without a debit in place. Effectively they’re paid before a pub can pull a pint.

L1011

POBox19 wrote: »

As far as I know Diego won’t supply without a debit in place. Effectively they’re paid before a pub can pull a pint.

I'd expect Heineken, C&C and maybe even MolsonCoors are able to insist on the same but smaller breweries don't have the clout