Craft beer lovers wil raise a glass

CRAFT beer lovers are in for a treat this month with two major festivals taking place in and around Dublin.

In Dun Laoghaire, the Irish Craft Beer Festival will be taking centre stage in the Old Ferry Terminal this week.

Running on May 17 and 18, the festival will kick off the summer in style as the team brings back the nation’s original and favourite craft beer festival.

With an explosion in the Irish craft beer market in recent years, the Irish Craft Beer Festival has changed with the times and is rolling back to what Irish craft beer is all about.

Featuring a more focussed number of brewers, this year’s crew will be offering tipples you cannot buy in your local.

There will be lots of festival specials, with new beers being launched as well as seasonal twists on household favourites.

From craft brewers, to cider makers and distillers, this year’s participants are all unique and indigenous in their own way.

From family run farms making cider to three best friends with a shared love for graffiti and good food now brewing beer – the list is full of colour, fun and most importantly – quality.

Along with the local heroes, a number of international breweries will be joining this year’s line-up including craft beer rock stars and godfathers – Brewdog, London’s finest Anspach & Hobday, the lion and bear from California – Firestone Walker, Michigan’s favourite Founders, sunny Portugal’s Nortada and a modern brewery from rural Somerset – The Wild Beer Co. 

Among those taking part is Priory Brewing Co, Ireland’s first social enterprise brewery, which re-invests all its profits into local enterprise development and jobs. 

Tallaght, in South Dublin, has a proud heritage as one of Ireland’s most important medieval monastic centres.

On the same site, now known locally as the Priory, the Archbishop of Dublin established a summer palace, incorporating a small brewery and hop garden. Now 250 years later, Priory Brewing is again producing hand-crafted local beer in the heart of Tallaght village. 

Meanwhile, Dublin breweries will be leading the brightest and the best of Ireland’s Independent Craft Brewers as the annual Indie Beer Week takes place from Wednesday, May 22 to Sunday 26 in a series of nationwide celebrations across Ireland.

Among the breweries that showcasing their range of beers are 12Acres, Black Donkey, Black's Brewery, Boyne Brewhouse, Bridewell, Carrig, Cotton Ball, Dead Centre, Dungarvan Brewing Company, Hope, Old Mill Brewery, Porterhouse, Priory Brewing, Reel Deel, St Mels, Trouble Brewing, and West Kerry.

Peter Mosley, from Porterhouse and Chairman of the Independent Craft brewers of Ireland, said: “Today’s launch will kick start a series of celebrations to encourage visitors to discover our local independent brewery and to taste and explore particular beers very unique to their area.

“It is important for the association to raise awareness about microbreweries in Ireland that employ talented young professionals and produce quality and genuinely independent beers.

“We are proud of our members’ successes so far and their very loyal following across Ireland which continues to grow every year thanks to the Indie Beer Week.” 

This year’s Indie Beer Week is a nationwide collaborative effort within the independent brewers’ community to celebrate genuine Irish brewing.

Local breweries will involve their local pubs, restaurants or off-licences for tastings, live music and local food to highlight their dynamic range of truly unique and genuine beers.

Some breweries will open to the public and welcome their community for tours and tastings.

This year is the third annual Indie Beer Week Festival which has grown dramatically in support from the network of Independent Craft Breweries across Ireland and the public seeking new, genuine beers to try out.