Heading to Ireland on Saturday. Any last minute tips?

Going w/ my parents and brother for a week to Ireland. We're doing a self guided tour with a rental car and staying at hotels/B&Bs across the way. Fortunately there's 3 of us driving, so hopefully we won't end up in a ditch or off a cliff. We're renting a Volvo wagon, considering we're spending a bunch of time in the car between cities.

Here's the basic itinerary, day by day:

1) Galway
2) Galway, Limerick
3) Waterford
4) Kilkenny, Dublin
5) Dublin
6) Dublin

From what I understand, I'll pretty much be living off of Guinness in the pubs. Is there anything else worth partaking? It looks like there is virtually no craft beer available.

Any last minute tips general or beer related (of course)?

Cheers.

........Get drunk!!!!

Sorry, that's all I have, I just couldn't resist. I'm jealous of ya, dude. I'm sure someone else (Orfy or Loweface ???) will eventually wander over and chip in too!

Try Beamish, IMHO it's better than Guinness, but Guinness does put on a good tour.

I went to Ireland in 2005, it's beautiful there. Be sure to chat with the locals, many of them are as willing to tell stories as you see in the movies

Also, I'll repeat the advice the rental car guy gave me when I left the lot: When you come to a roundabout, look right, and go left! There's a nasty one in Galway, you can't miss it. Good luck, I got stuck there for about 5 solid minutes, going around and around and around...

In Galway look for a Galway Hooker. (yep)
In Dublin, find the Porterhouse.

If you do the Guinness tour, go in the morning and go directly to the top (High Gravity Lounge) then work your way back down. The lounge gets crowded early.

Whiskey. Irish Whiskey is better than their beers.

<Ducks, hides>

I'm going next year. Please give us a rundown of your trip when you get back.

Have fun!!

Was there a few years ago with the Navy and found that Murphys and Beamish are much more prevalent in the bars... Gotta go with the Murphys. Also if you get a chance find a small pub and watch a Hurling Match. Its awesome sport. Not sure if they have a "season" but its worth a try.

+1 on the Beamish and Powers.

Murphys is great, as are hot whiskeys.

like bearkluttz said try and watch a hurling match or gaelic football.

Hit up duty free on your way back for some cheap Jameson 12 year. If you smoke, stop at duty free on your way there and get a carton of cigarettes. Last October cigarettes were selling for over 7 euro a pack and from what I heard, American cigarettes are ten times better than European cigarettes even if they're the same brand. I brought a friend a few cartons of Marlboros from Logan in Boston and his Irish and French roommates were extremely jealous.

From what I understand, I'll pretty much be living off of Guinness in the pubs. Is there anything else worth partaking? It looks like there is virtually no craft beer available.

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I was living off of Guinness everywhere I went - not just the pubs. A pint of the black stuff costs less than a 10oz bottle of Diet Coke. Try some Bulmers Cider on tap. Its called Magners over here in the states.

Most of the bartenders are paid well enough and it is not customary to tip when at the pub. It took me a couple of days to understand why bartenders weren't taking my money.

See if you can slip in a visit to the Jameson distillery. Its in Middleton between Cork and Dublin. Its interesting and you get free samples. At the end of the tour jump when the tour guide asks for volunteers for a tasting. You'll get to sample 5 kinds of whiskey. The tour is held on their old distillery grounds right next to the current distillery.

Oh yeah, get some MORO bars. Best damn candy bars I've ever had.

Don't order Scotch....

Have fun, ya lucky plonker.

So I got back and had a great time.

As I suspected, I didn't see a whole lot of variety in beer. We pretty much survived off Guinness for lunch and dinner. Not that I'm complaining.... It tastes MUCH better there than any Irish pub with high turnover here.

It seemed like every pub had the following staples: whiskey, Guinness, Carlsberg (blech), and Bulmers. Rarely were we able to try anything else.

In Limerick we found a place that had Beamish (not too far from its origin of Cork, I guess). It tasted a little more chocolate and coffee notes than Guinness. I'd had it in the Nitro can in the States before though.

In Waterford and Drogheda (north of Dublin) we had Murphys. It was a bit thinner in the mouth and seemed more poundable. I think I preferred it slightly over Guinness. Irish seem very territorial and brand loyal though. Whether it be Gaelic soccer or stout. One sassy (and cute) waitress claimed Guinness wasn't real stout and insisted they only served Murphys lol. Holy cow, when we were in Waterford and Kilkenny it seemed like there was a territorial war going on for hurling/soccer or something. We would drive through villages and see the whole place blanketed with team colors.

In Dublin @ the Bull and Castle pub I managed to find Galway Hooker IPA (Dublin, not Galway, go figure). After an extensive search this was probably the only pub with substantial beer diversity. I wish I could have had more than a pint, but I was stuffed. The hop profile was different and didn't have the prominent citrusy flavors I'm used to from American IPAs. Pretty good though.

Oh, I also saw many Guinness quality trucks outside pubs. This, in addition to proximity to the factory, probably has something to do with the higher quality in Ireland. Has anyone seen these trucks in the States?

I'll have to share some pics once I sort through all 800 I took!

Cheers.

mmb said:

Don't order Scotch....

Have fun, ya lucky plonker.

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Yeah, I did have a good bit of whisky though. It's far cheaper than vodka, which I prefer. They must tax the hell outta vodka there or something.

You know what I don't get is, the Irish burn peat pretty much everywhere in the countryside. I have no idea why they historically never used it for whiskey.

Beamish is way tastier then Guinness.

Glad you Enjoyed the trip.

Give me a shout if you are in Limerick after Monday, I'm in Paris till then...

+1 On the Galway hooker.

Try Guinness, Beamish, and Murphies (mostly in Cork) and decide for yourself on what suits you best...

How long do you plan on being in Limerick?