Supporting craft breweries

Citizen Six

Speaking of White Hag. Spotted this rum barrel aged version of black boar available today. I normally don't like rum barrel aged beers, but enjoyed this one. Didn't find it was too much different from the bourbon barrel aged one to be honest. Less of a liquorice flavour from it.

irish_goat

So here's what Porterhouse Central has become. Design looks like an American diner and those stools looks very uncomfortable...

This area looks like something you'd see in a US tech firm office.

Passenger

Sterile for sure. As long as it isn't testing ground for a possible Porterhouse TB refurbishment.

breezy1985

That's the look I expected them to go for. I've seen similar around some for the craft beer chain groups. I'de say it will do very well in terms of attracting customers and the kinda Brewdog industrial style will be instantly recognizable to casual beer drinkers.

Are they reopening that really good offie next door ?

Pen Rua

Brew Dog Cork has a similar set up as the second picture - it's the smoking area and has a couple (maybe 4?) high tables & stools, then this weird staircase thing which you can use as a seat but looks wildly uncomfortable.

Citizen Six

It's in their Dublin one as well.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119574297#Comment_119574297

That does look like somewhere Google would hold their staff meetings.

Complete with wnky mission statement in the back and everything.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573913#Comment_119573913

Jaysus that's awful. Used to be one of my favourite places.

Brock Turnpike

They are terrible looking designs for pubs.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119574514#Comment_119574514

If that's the future of pubs, I want no part of it! Reminds me of the famous Simpsons scene..

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119574507#Comment_119574507

The colours and industrial look in second picture reminds me of a trendy gym.

ciaran76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573913#Comment_119573913

I'm getting a n Eddie Rockets vibe from the bar stool picture.

thesandeman

https://www.fft.ie/porterhouse-central-reopens-as-tapped/

I don't know if link will work, but the PR person has done a great job here.

I rarely go to Dublin these days but I used always get to the Porterhouse pubs any time I was up pre covid.

The only thing that would put me off from the article is the mention of DJ sets 🤮🤮

hynesie08

They got rid of the TV's? That's a load of ****.

JayRoc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577470#Comment_119577470

Agreed. No TVs? Yay. DJ sets? Boo.

Citizen Six

What's wrong with getting rid of TVs? Still more than enough pubs with TV if that's what you want.

Hurrache

Did anyone pop in to the opening yesterday? A colleague went by for a gander but didn't go in, said the music was pretty loud and awful, but might have been due it being the opening.

Might be aiming to be a craft pub but more populist in terms of the crowd it wants to attract.

Technocentral

I had a lovely cask Brehon Oatmeal stout in the Forty Foot on Sunday for 2.70, a mate was asking how Brehon can sell it for so cheap?

BeerNut

Strange question, rather than "Why is stout so expensive everywhere else?" Next time you see a pint that costs over a fiver, ask where all that money goes.

Technocentral

Surely the margins for a small producer would be tiny at that price? Or do you want small brewerys to go out of business?

hynesie08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119577848#Comment_119577848

It was a nice spot to watch the midweek games, and the tv's were converted into billboards when not in use.

Not the end of the world, But between getting rid of the pint of the day and now this, I suspect i'm no longer the target audience anymore.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579403#Comment_119579403

I always like that touch of hiding TVs in pubs when it's not in good use rather than Sky Sports News on repeat.

I'm pretty sure the target audience will be the Saturday night party crowd rather than anything to do with craft beer. But its not so bad and makes sense for them when you have another pub not far away.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579133#Comment_119579133

Will it be on for long? That's the Wetherspoons place in Dun Laoghaire, right?

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579320#Comment_119579320

Have you ever noticed that supermarkets sell beer? That Brehon stout is €2.79 for 500ml in Lidl, when available. Brehon is obviously satisfied that they can sell sustainably to both Lidl and Wetherspoon at a wholesale price that allows the beer to be sold to drinkers for less than €3. My point really is that this isn't on the brewery: the retail price is set by the retailer, and Lidl and Wetherspoon are big enough that they can apply a thinner margin and therefore charge a lower retail price.

I think people don't notice because most pubs, unlike almost all other retail trades, don't operate in a competitive environment. It's essentially a cartel and the consumer pays the high price for it. Furthermore, the cartel's cosy agreement with big breweries and blocking of tap access for independent producers is far more likely to drive Brehon out of business than the wholesale price paid by Wetherspoon and Lidl.

BeerNut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119573986#Comment_119573986

What used to be the off licence is now a bar/restaurant called Aperitivo.

I'm just back from Tapped. I was never a big fan of PH Central and I like that it's now brighter and feels more spacious. The upper zone is no longer a restaurant, so adds further to the drinking space. I would say the TVs will come in due course -- there's a fair bit of loose wiring and blank wall space still. My biggest gripe is the dearth of low seating with backs: the banquettes have been replaced by high stools at counters, presumably to facilitate stand-up drinking and cram more people in. I also think that relying on a printed/web-based beer menu will cease to be functional before long. A row of taps without badges looks neat but it's not practical when something either goes off or arrives new.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579553#Comment_119579553

Whetherspoons use their massive buying power to get the core products cheaper than a small pub so the can take the hit on smaller stuff by balancing low and high GP. They also keep GP down by buying close to end date stock because they know they can ship it fast.

So spoons is no different to 250 independent pubs getting together in a group.

BeerNut

1. Wetherspoon does not buy close to end date stock. It's a pervasive myth but it doesn't make any commercial sense. It certainly doesn't ship fast in Ireland.
2. As a single company, it is legal for Wetherspoon to set prices/margins across the chain. It is not legal for independent pubs in a group to do that, as the LVA and VFI discovered, in court, in 2009.

hynesie08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579736#Comment_119579736

Any truth in the rumor that they actually imposed a shorter cellar life than CAMRA recommends? I believe the recommendation is an untapped keg can stay in the cellar for 4-6 weeks but Spoons aim for 3-4? It's something i always use against the short stock argument.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579736#Comment_119579736

I'm not sure what it is but the last time I was in the 40 foot I had a pint of the Dungarvan brewery's beer and it tasted auful. Completely different to how it tastes in a bar in Dungarvan

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579648#Comment_119579648

There would never be a constant supply of close to BBE products for such a strategy to actually work.

It might work if you're running a discount retailer that can take whatever products you get, not when you have a relatively stable product lineup across hundreds of bars.