Beer’s no trouble for crafty cousins

THE recession in 2008 saw national unemployment rise to 13.6 per cent over a five-year period.

Businesses closed, jobs plummeted and you’d be forgiven for turning to drink in the midst of all the economic turmoil. And that’s what Northsiders Stephen Clinch and Paul O’Connor did.

However, rather than drown their sorrows they actually managed to find a way to turn their love of beer into a sustainable business.

Inspired by Dublin based brewers, The Porterhouse Brewing Company, cousins Stephen and Paul, who hail from Cabra and Beaumont respectively, noticed there was a distinct lack of craft beers on the Irish market and after some initial research and deliberation, the pair launched Trouble Brewing in March 2010.

“We had done a bit of travelling and we were really big fans of the Porterhouse, and we saw that outside of the Porterhouse, there wasn’t really a lot of great variety,” Stephen told the Northside People.

“There were a lot of younger, hipper brands abroad but there wasn’t really that sort of option here, for some really good craft beer with some edgy branding so we thought ‘why don’t we have a look at doing something’.”

The cousins began plans for a brewery and after acquiring premises in Allenwood, Kildare, along with brewing equipment from Sioux Falls in South Dakota, they were soon ready to launch their first beer, Deception Golden Ale.

“We started out just brewing one beer originally as we were learning our way, and then six months later we added the Dark Arts Porter to the mix,” said Paul.

“We originally had an idea of doing it as a one off, but it got very good feedback and people were raving about it so we added that to the range.

“We’ve gone on from there and we must have brewed about 40 different beers since thrn.”

Both Stephen and Paul admit that the selection process can be difficult, but when they decide on a new beer it can take just 3-6 weeks from the day it’s brewed until the day it’s kegged.

Originally their focus was on getting into pubs and implementing a consistent product that was exclusively available on draft, but after initial success and increased demand, the company started to produce beer for bottles in April 2012. 

The venture has gone from strength to strength ever since, and Stephen says that the brewery’s output has more or less doubled year on year.

Paul puts the growth down to Trouble Brewing’s attention to detail and quality.

“We want people to really appreciate the flavour and get the most out of the ingredients and the most out of our beer,” he adds. “I suppose attention to detail and flavour is the difference between what we’re doing and what the big brands are doing.”

Trouble Brewing beers are available in 16 Dublin pubs. A full list of outlets can be seen at troublebrewing.ie.

Jack O’Toole