mlyday
Well-Known Member
We will mostly be in Dublin and Shannon areas. Any local brews I should make sure I try, or any must visit pubs. We are going to visit the guinness storehouse.
Going to Ireland Next month....
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FiddleTilDeath
Well-Known Member
Go to the Porterhouse brewing company - make sure you try Wrasslers Full Stout there. Also go to the Bull and Castle and walk upstairs to their beer hall where you will try O'Haras and many other local craft brews available here! The B & C rocks! Take advantage of the cheap small glass portions of draft if you want to try more.
What you will come to understand is that Guinness owns everything everywhere and really you will be hard pressed to find any beer that's not Guinness, Smithwicks, or Carlsberg. Weihenstephaner is around at a few places. That said, the Guinness over there is amazing and the Guinness you will have at the storehouse will be the best Guinness you've ever had!
Also, you will find plenty of touristy music around Temple Bar, and I'm not saying none of its good because you can find great music, BUT if you want the real thing ( and a few craft brews on tap + great Guinness) go to the Cobblestone (http://www.cobblestonepub.ie) where they have live music every moment they are open. Generally its traditional pub jams. Check it out! Enjoy!
What you will come to understand is that Guinness owns everything everywhere and really you will be hard pressed to find any beer that's not Guinness, Smithwicks, or Carlsberg. Weihenstephaner is around at a few places. That said, the Guinness over there is amazing and the Guinness you will have at the storehouse will be the best Guinness you've ever had!
Also, you will find plenty of touristy music around Temple Bar, and I'm not saying none of its good because you can find great music, BUT if you want the real thing ( and a few craft brews on tap + great Guinness) go to the Cobblestone (http://www.cobblestonepub.ie) where they have live music every moment they are open. Generally its traditional pub jams. Check it out! Enjoy!
The only "local brews" are guinness (and the related products), and Kilkenney, which the later should only be ordered in Dublin. Otherwise your choices are Bud, Heineken (and Amstel). There are also a few ciders to try, Bulmers on ice is very tasty...and dont forget the whiskey....plenty of choices for whiskey. ....
Cheers and Enjoy.
If you have time make your way over to Galway....TRUST ME!
Cheers and Enjoy.
If you have time make your way over to Galway....TRUST ME!
Captain_Bigelow
Well-Known Member
I've been several times. The picture in my avatar is taken from the top of the Guinness storehouse when I was there in 2007. You get a complementary pint when you reach the top.
You can't beat a pint of Caffrey's in the Temple Bar area!
You can't beat a pint of Caffrey's in the Temple Bar area!
mlyday
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the tips. Im a big smithwicks fan so Ill have a few of those im sure. And I get two complimentary pints at the top, because the SWMBO is not a fan of dark beers, although Im sure she will taste it just to say she did.
If you get a chance go to Galway and then take a plane from there to the Arann Islands.
you can also take a boat to inisheer ( sp? ), the smallest Aran island. I loved it. the boat ride was rocky but beautiful.
BrewNinja1
Well-Known Member
Everything in Dublin is Guinness. There are a few more "local" bars though downtown that serve other stuff. We just accidentally found one because we were grabbing some dinner at a place our B&B hosts told us about. Dont remember the name of it though and I can only picture it in my mind...I know...lots of help. Everyone says it tastes different in Ireland....I call boulderdash. Tasted the same to me (the only thing I can ever think is that they try the extra stout and compare it to the draught you get here).
If your looking for something to do look at the musical pub crawl. One of the coolest things we did in Dublin. Its a couple guys playing traditional instruments, and they move around to a couple of different bars. They talk about some of the traditions of the instruments and about the instruments themselves. We even bought a cd off of them they were so good.
If your looking for something to do look at the musical pub crawl. One of the coolest things we did in Dublin. Its a couple guys playing traditional instruments, and they move around to a couple of different bars. They talk about some of the traditions of the instruments and about the instruments themselves. We even bought a cd off of them they were so good.
mlyday
Well-Known Member
We do have tickets for some sort of pub crawl, dont remember which one. I wasnt going to push the pubs too much to the wife, kind of figured we would hit one or two, but she started telling all pubs she wanted to visit while we were there. Bonus for me I guess. We are doing a tour so side trips are probably out. They do give us quite a bit of free time, so we probably will spend most of that time drinking. We are going through the adventures by disney tours. We used them when we went to london and paris a few years ago, they did an excellent job.
ZehBaron
Well-Known Member
I just got back from Ireland about two weeks ago
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Definitely go to the Guinness Storehouse, but don't set your expectations terribly high; the self-guided walking tour that you take is fairly vague and uninformative as far as the actual brewing process goes. I actually found it a tad condescending--it's definitely more about pushing the brand than teaching you anything. Of course, there's a ton of neat stuff there about the history of Guinness, which is pretty interesting if you're into that sort of thing. But what really makes the trip worth it is that free pint at the end...deliciously fresh, masterfully poured, and you get a fantastic view of Dublin while you drink it
.
As for the rest of your trip, it's a bit difficult to give advice without knowing your itinerary. Like others have said, it's mostly Guinness, Smithwick's and light lagers in the pubs, but if you're out west try asking for a Murphy's or a Beamish. They're not quite as complex as a Guinness, but every pint I had was amazingly fresh and smooth, and they struck me as more session-able beers than Guinness. You'll also see Bulmer's Cider at most pubs out west; it's decent and worth a try.
That's my two cents, anyway. Have fun!
.Definitely go to the Guinness Storehouse, but don't set your expectations terribly high; the self-guided walking tour that you take is fairly vague and uninformative as far as the actual brewing process goes. I actually found it a tad condescending--it's definitely more about pushing the brand than teaching you anything. Of course, there's a ton of neat stuff there about the history of Guinness, which is pretty interesting if you're into that sort of thing. But what really makes the trip worth it is that free pint at the end...deliciously fresh, masterfully poured, and you get a fantastic view of Dublin while you drink it
.As for the rest of your trip, it's a bit difficult to give advice without knowing your itinerary. Like others have said, it's mostly Guinness, Smithwick's and light lagers in the pubs, but if you're out west try asking for a Murphy's or a Beamish. They're not quite as complex as a Guinness, but every pint I had was amazingly fresh and smooth, and they struck me as more session-able beers than Guinness. You'll also see Bulmer's Cider at most pubs out west; it's decent and worth a try.
That's my two cents, anyway. Have fun!
I love Ireland.
Here is a great entertaining book that you might want to read before go (or anytime). Hilarious travelog from a serious beer drinker.
Here is a great entertaining book that you might want to read before go (or anytime). Hilarious travelog from a serious beer drinker.
mlyday
Well-Known Member
I love Ireland.
Here is a great entertaining book that you might want to read before go (or anytime). Hilarious travelog from a serious beer drinker.
Looks interesting. Ill be picking this up tommorow.
Let me know what you think (after you read it).
Donner
Well-Known Member
I just got back from Ireland about two weeks ago
Definitely go to the Guinness Storehouse, but don't set your expectations terribly high; the self-guided walking tour that you take is fairly vague and uninformative as far as the actual brewing process goes. I actually found it a tad condescending--it's definitely more about pushing the brand than teaching you anything. Of course, there's a ton of neat stuff there about the history of Guinness, which is pretty interesting if you're into that sort of thing. But what really makes the trip worth it is that free pint at the end...deliciously fresh, masterfully poured, and you get a fantastic view of Dublin while you drink it
As for the rest of your trip, it's a bit difficult to give advice without knowing your itinerary. Like others have said, it's mostly Guinness, Smithwick's and light lagers in the pubs, but if you're out west try asking for a Murphy's or a Beamish. They're not quite as complex as a Guinness, but every pint I had was amazingly fresh and smooth, and they struck me as more session-able beers than Guinness. You'll also see Bulmer's Cider at most pubs out west; it's decent and worth a try.
That's my two cents, anyway. Have fun!
i thought the guiness tour was the disney of breweries. A lot of show without a lot of info. It's not like the tours at coors or bud, where you actually see the process. But, as was said, if you approach it as the history of guiness and not the process then it is a neat tour. Check out the 1,000 year lease while you are there.
FYI, i thought/think beamish is a much better beer than guiness, but maybe that was just me. Less acrid at the end, which i liked.
I spent several weeks in Amsterday and never went on the Heineken tour. I was just in Ireland and did not visit the Guinness brewery in Dublin.
I've kicked myself since. I'd say plan it into your trip. Maybe at the end of the day when you'd be drinking somewhere anyway.
I've kicked myself since. I'd say plan it into your trip. Maybe at the end of the day when you'd be drinking somewhere anyway.
Diablo
Well-Known Member
As others have said, macro beers brewed by Guinness are dominant here but it is slowly changing. A list of pubs stocking craft Irish beer is maintained here:
http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=91&Itemid=69
Bull and castle is the best craft beer pub in Dublin and is also good for food. Porterhouse is good too.
http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=91&Itemid=69
Bull and castle is the best craft beer pub in Dublin and is also good for food. Porterhouse is good too.
mlyday
Well-Known Member
Im less interested in the tour, and more interested in the store and bar.
BuonAnno
Well-Known Member
That site is great! Thanks for posting!
Donner
Well-Known Member
The bar is cool and the store is okay, but you'll be able to find guiness stuff everywhere in dublin. As someone else said, when you start to get into the sections of the tour about the advertising and how guiness impacted ireland.
If you aren't interested in doing the tour then i'd suggest you skip the brewery all together. The free beer you get at the top and a trip to the store isn't worth the cost of admission alone. You'd save money by going to the shop (which is in the lobby and can be reached before you pay for the tour) and then walking to a pub for a beer. It wont be as nice a view, but you'll save a lot of money.
This glass is my favorite stout glass. It has BrewHouse Series printed on the inside bottom of the glass; the print acts as activation sites on the bottom that keep a steady stream of bubbles coming up. I got it in Ireland... I imagine you can get them at the brewery. I've seen very similar ones over there in gift shops, but they don't have the text printed on the bottom. Maybe available the brewery store?
[click pic for bigger]
[click pic for bigger]
mlyday
Well-Known Member
We are doing the whole trip as a tour and this is included, so Im paying for it anyways. Im sure Ill love the tour, but Ive done the brewery tours before so it not super important that I get the how be make it tour.
I am looking forward to all of the good beer I will be having durring my trip. I have printed out the list of the craft brews. My only worry is that Ill find something I really love, and not be able to get anymore.
I am looking forward to all of the good beer I will be having durring my trip. I have printed out the list of the craft brews. My only worry is that Ill find something I really love, and not be able to get anymore.
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