travel

Ireland Day 3, or, How I Became An Unofficial Dough Bro By Proxy…

My goodness, Holly Kay and I are photogenic, aren't we?

It doesn't hurt to have the heart of Galway City as the background, though, to be honest.

We spent our third full day in Ireland in Galway City. Our day was filled with shopping, eating, and drinking.

We enjoyed lunch again at The Dough Bros, (you'll remember these guys from Day 1) and this time, we were able to meet and chat with Eugene, one of the owners (or should I say, one of the Bros) about their journey from Food Truck to Pop-Up to an amazing Wood-Fired Pizza restaurant in the heart of Galway City.

Myself and Eugene. Am I a Dough Bro by Proxy? Let's say yes. The ultimate decision will be up to the actual Dough Bros.

Also, I got this great picture of my cousin Molly enjoying her pizza…

This is a fantastic photograph. It belongs in the National Geographic of Pizza. You're welcome.

We did some more shopping and I met Chris Pine, as depicted by the above photo. Mm, he's handsome. We both told each other a joke and were laughing at each other's joke. I think that's clear.

Day 3 was sporadically rainy, but the sun came out a few times which made the roads glisten, which was pretty magical!

We had dinner at Rouge, on Dominick St., right near the beautiful Claddagh river, and this is a photo of a steak, topped with foie gras. I REPEAT. THIS IS A PHOTO OF A STEAK. COVERED IN FOIE GRAS. DO NOT PANIC.

Since we were merely a block away, we ended our evening again at The Salt House, and, along with the Galway Bay Brewery beer we enjoyed, I figured, since I was only 700 miles from Brouwerij Boon, I should take advantage.

Vat 109 is a Geuze (a blend of young and old Lambics) made of 10% new Lambic and 90% old Lambic. The old Lambic was brewed in April of 2014, and aged in a 100 year old oak cask used primarily for Cognac. It was blended with the new Lambic and bottled in April of 2016.

I picked up tart cherries and raspberries, with some funk, followed by some sweetness from the ANCIENT COGNAC BARREL. This was a real treat, shared among family and friends, and was very special. So happy we found it in the fridge at Salt House, singing its sweet siren song of sourful sourness and sweetness. With just a dash of (we want the) funk… (Gotta get dat funk.)

We ended the night with some Traditional Irish music and beer at Carroll's. Here's a video of the end of their wonderful set. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

Next time, you'll get to see our adventure at Galway Bay Brewery, and more!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Mikkeller NYC Coming Soon to CitiField, or, OMG LGM MKLR NYC FTW!

Thanks to my good friend Justin, friend of the Blog, loyal Met fan and member of the 7 Line Army, for sharing this amazing news!

Click HERE for the announcement video from the Orange & Blue Thing show!

Justin enjoying some Galway Bay Brewery Of Foam and Fury IIPA.

Justin was in St. Louis this evening (for a Mets game, of course) and texted me the news. Needless to say, I began to levitate with excitement like a giant orange and blue balloon.

Long story short, Mikkeller Brewing, which began in 2006 as a Gypsy Brewery (they had no official brew house, brewing on friends’ systems to produce their beer), and has expanded with Bars and Brewpubs worldwide. There are bars in Copenhagen, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and more, and a partnership brewery with Alesmith in San Diego.

Two Mikkeller exclusive beers for CitiField

Today, Jimmy Raras, Executive Vice President of Mikkeller NYC announced that Mikkeller will be opening a 10,000 sq ft Brewery, Kitchen, and Restaurant with 60 taps (mostly Mikkeller, but there’s bound to be some amazing guest taps) on the 126th street side of CitiField, that will be open year-round. The goal is to make Willets Point and Flushing a place to come not only during baseball season, but all year.

Mikkeller Henry Hops IPA

Breweries make great neighbors, and I can only assume Mikkeller will do great things for the Flushing community, and as someone who can be to Flushing in 10 minutes, I’m fully on board.

Mikkeller Say Hey Sally Pils

What do you think? Are you excited for a new Brewery in Queens? Do you think the space should have been sold to a more local Brewer? Let us here at Benedict Beer Blog know!

Until next time!

Cheers!

Ireland Day 2, or, “In The Midnight Hour, We Cried Moher, Moher, Moher.”

It’s not a bad thing to wake up with this view of Galway Bay…

Absolutely breathtaking.

I brought some beer over to Ireland for our Galway friends Alan and Darren, who we had met last November, and Will, who we were supposed to meet but it didn’t align on our last trip. Why not do a photo shoot over Galway Bay with some amazing American Craft Beer?

Singlecut Beersmiths Heavy Boots of Lead (Rye Barrel Aged) and Jenny Said.

I haven’t had a chance to try the Rye Barrel version of the Heavy Boots, but this imperial stout boasts flavors of vanilla, toasted marshmallow, coffee, and chocolate.

Jenny Said is a beautifully hopped IIPA with notes of tropical and stone fruit, with some dank pine and some sweetness.

Interboro Spirits & Ales may be a newer brewery, but they’re pumping out some of the finest liquids in NYC. I’ve written about these before, so I’ll spare you the details, but if you’ve had ’em, you know I’m spitting truth, and if you haven’t, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Hopefully they’ll pump out another batch of Stay G-O-L-D, and I know they release Mad Fat! Fluid on the regz. Get ’em.

Funky Buddha Last Snow, a coffee coconut Porter that smells like walking into a Dunkin Donuts, and tastes like a delicious cup of coconut coffee. This is amazing stuff!

After a light breakfast, we headed out on the beautiful scenic drive up to the Cliffs of Moher. We decided we would eat lunch before walking along the cliffs, so we stopped at Vaughans Anchor Inn, in Liscannor, for a bite and a pint.

Quaint!

My first pint, and Holly’s first glass, of Guinness! What’s great about Ireland is that EVERY pub offers glasses of beer (half pints), which are perfectly sized for Miss Holly Kay!

I ordered mussels in white wine sauce, and we had some amazing soda bread. As I went outside to take a photo, I noticed some local beer on the shelf and asked the barkeep about it.

They were bottles from Western Herd Brewing Co., brewed only about 25 minutes from Liscannor.

I ordered the Blue Jumper IPA, which was nicely balanced, with more herbal, medicinal hop character than the citrus bombs here in the Northeastern US. This is more of a traditionally styled IPA. I shared this one with my Uncle Gerard!

And the Cliffs? Well…

They were gorgeous…

And we’re not so bad ourselves!

Don’t push my Dad, ‘cuz he’s close to the… EEEEDGE!

Oh, you want Moher?

I’ll give you Moher. We spent nearly 2 hours walking along the cliffs (close enough to get some great pictures but far enough away that nobody fell off a Cliff of Moher), and stopped for some chocolate at Hazel Mountain Chocolate ?!

For dinner, we found ourselves (all 15 of us!) at The Brasserie on the Corner in Galway, which shares its space with Blake’s Bar (which you’ll remember from THIS post). I ate steak (because why wouldn’t you?) and paired it with…

Independent Brewing Connemara IPA. Another well balanced beer with flavors of citrusy black tea! Delightful!

And, when in Rome… Drink Galway Bay Brewery beer!

This was a delightful milk stout with roasted coffee and chocolate. Another amazing brew from Will and the gang!

After our amazing dinner we made our first visit to The Salt House, another Galway Bay Brewery bar right in Galway City, with views of the Claddagh river (see above photo), and boasting an amazing beer menu with fine liquids from all over the world.

I enjoyed the Hexed IPA, and it put a spell on me (??) with it’s dank, citrus hop notes and just a bit of sweetness. This was AMAZING, and also not the last one I drank during our vacay.

What happened next was one of the greatest stumble (and I mean STUMBLE) upons EVER! We found a pub with a 15-piece big band playing some AMAZING jazz. It was stunning.

Click this for the amazing video (THANK YOU HOLLY KAY!)

Sometimes, you gotta end your night with some JAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! It was another absolutely wonderful day with my love, Holly and my family!

Until next time…

Cheers!

Holly Kay and Patrick’s Brooklyn Beer Adventure with Bradco! Or, OK, It Was Really Just Greenpoint Which is Basically Southern Queens and Then We Actually Ended Up Back in Queens But Hey, Beer is Awesome!

Holly Kay and Patrick live in Queens. Our dear Bradco (You’ll remember meeting him HERE and HERE!) also lives in Queens. Brooklyn is just miles south of Queens. Yet, the MTA makes it nearly impossible to get to Brooklyn from Queens (or vice versa) without either:

A) Going all the way through Manhattan, or,

B) Taking the G Train (which, according to this New York Times article used to suck but is now cool).

Anyway, it takes nearly an hour to get there, unless you take a car, so we rarely, if ever, find ourselves in Brooklyn. (Sorry, Brooklyn friends. We still love you very much.).

We decided to be fancy and took a Gett, cuz we fancy, you know. Our first stop was the incredible Tørst, in Greenpoint.

Tørst, (pronounced TERST, which is the Danish word for “Thirst”), is owned by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, owner of Evil Twin Brewing. It’s a small, modern, dimly lit, clean, sleek space with a marble bar and dark wood tables. Their beer menu goes from light to dark, and each beer is served at the perfect temperature and with optimal carbonation (which, if I had a craft beer-themed metal band, Optimal Carbonation would absolutely be the name.)

The beautiful taps behind the bar at Tørst.

Holly loves Tørst because when she drinks beer, she either doesn’t want to drink a full pint, or wants to taste a number of different beers. Tørst offers 5oz, 12oz, and 14 (or perhaps 16)oz pours. We usually order 5oz pours, so we can taste and share.

My first choice was Hill Farmstead Brewery Citra Single Hop Pale Ale. If you could animate the aroma, picture giant cartoon pineapples and grapefruits dancing out of the glass and circling your nostrils. This beer was the bomb, and I believe I had 3 5oz pours.

Holly started with Folksbier Brauerei Glow Up Berliner Weisse with Satsuma Mandarins. Tart, crisp, refreshing, citrus, which is literally everything you could ever want. This was a beautiful beer from this new brewery in Brooklyn.

Holly Kay and Bradco having what appears to be a VERY INTENSE conversation as I creepily take candid photos. TMZ, u hiring? (As an English major, I have to interject. Can I interject in my own Blog? Sure I can! I know it’s spelled Y-O-U. I wrote the letter u because I thought it would be funnier. Ok, carry on.)

Evil Twin Brewing Aún Más Todo Jésus, a Russian Imperial Stout with cinnamon, cocoa, chili peppers and coffee beans. The cinnamon dominates, but is rounded by the bitter coffee and cocoa, with some heat from the chili. My goodness, at 12% ABV this will knock your socks off. Thank… Well, thank Jesus for 5oz pours!

I highly recommend this Beer Bar. The bartenders are super friendly and knowledgeable and will let you taste something before ordering, and they’re serious about beer. They gave me a list of craft beer spots in and surrounding Greenpoint, which was much appreciated.

After tasting some fantastic beer, it was time to move on. Bradco suggested we stop at Moe’s Doughs, because he’s a wise, handsome man with exquisite taste. We each ordered a doughnut and split them up into three. (how do you split a doughnut into three? Shut up! That’s how. I’m sorry. That was mean. Please ask Holly Kay. She told me how to do it. It’s kind of like a peace sign.) We shared a salted caramel donut, classic glazed, and banana nut. They were dope. Everything is dope.

Like I said, DOPE!

Brad told us about this old movie theater in Greenpoint that turned into a Rite Aid (sad.), so we decided to stop there before heading north to our next stop (it’s like Queens is a magnet and it simply, pulls us back, slowly but surely…)

Behind Bradco and Holly Kay is the former balcony of the theater. Sad!

Gorgeous dome in the middle of the room. Sad!

Next stop was Greenpoint Beer & Ale!

Hello!

Greenpoint Beer & Ale occupies a large space in an industrial area of Greenpoint. I’d tried a few beers from them, thanks to Craft at C’est Cheese (BLOG POST) and Rick Nelson (you’ll remember him from THIS BLOG POST! And check out his blog Rickommended!), and they were awesome, so I was looking forward to visiting the source.

Speaking of Rick Nelson, I texted asking if he wished to join us, but he wasn’t available, and sent me what I can only imagine is an Angry Rick Nelson Emoji…

Yup.

My first choice at Greenpoint Beer & Ale was Vert Mont Double IPA. An homage to the hazy, Vermontian (is that a word?) IPAs we all know and love. Balanced citrus, pine, and sweetness. A solid brew, and, as the kids say, Hazy Ayy Eff.

I’ll have a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, please. With extra pulp!

Holly posing in front of the cozy fire place in the beautiful industrial tasting room!

Another stand out beer was Catalyst, a saison with Brettanomyces. Beautiful lemon zest, dry, crisp, amazingly refreshing!

Holly’s favorite beer was Night and Day, a German style Schwarzbier (dark Lager) with roasty coffee notes, but still crisp enough and with a low ABV, this beer suits both cold winter days and hot summer nights, baby!

Please, no butts.

Our bartenders at Tørst mentioned that Threes Brewing had a pop up shop in the neighborhood, with beer to stay and to go, and merchandise. Apparently, they took over their friend’s lease after he had to close his restaurant, and were testing the waters to see if a full time restaurant and beer bar would be feasible.

Pop Up Beer Bars? Where do I sign up??

Gorgeous bar at the Threes Pop Up Shop @ Franklin & Kent in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Cans and Growlers to go, as well as Merchandise, with draft lines.

Holly Kay and I are drinking Unreliable Narrator IPA, and Bradco is drinking I Hate Myself IPA.

It’s clear that Threes doesn’t take itself too seriously, making juicy, hazy IPAs with self deprecating names like Unreliable Narrator, I Hate Myself, SFY (the beer formerly known as Superf*ckingyawn), and Constant Disappointment. (Greenpoint made what I can only imagine is a response beer, a juicy, low ABV Pale Ale with oats, called Constant Reassurance…).

The tap list was small, and IPA-heavy (hey, if you’re going to attract people in Brooklyn to an out of the way spot, the same people who line up overnight for Other Half’s hazy juice bombs, this is the way to do it), but I’ve never had a bad beer from Threes. Their pils, Vliet (pronounced “VLEET”), is not to be missed, and they make some of the best saisons I’ve ever tasted.

Bradco checking his beer into Untappd probably.

As we’d already made our way north through Greenpoint, we figured we’d share a cab to our favorite Long Island City brewery, Big Alice Brewing.

Not sure who was more excited. Holly Kay? Bradco? That lady? (The correct answer is: That lady.)

Our awesome bartender friend Annie greeted us with a smile, even as the bar was packed!

We didn’t get our usual spots at the bar, but we snagged a space around a barrel in the brew house and ordered a flight of 6 beers to share…

Look at all the pretty colors!

Highlights:

Smoked Saison! Beautiful floral and lemon notes, with a nice smokiness. Bradco said it reminded him of smoked salmon. Loved the peaty, campfire smoke on the nose and taste. It’s such a departure of what I usually gravitate towards, and it was a nice refreshing change.
Date Night, Bro? A stout brewed with Donuts! Sweet, toasty, bitter.

Peppermint Stout. It was like a liquid Thin Mint. I ain’t mad.

Lemongrass Kolsch. People need to make more Kolsch. It’s so crisp, bright, and citrusy, with some beautiful fruity esters from the yeast. Lemongrass adds just the right amount of tart. It makes me want to drink one after I mow my lawn (? I live in an apartment in Queens… A man can pretend to have a lawn, can’t he?)

Everyone’s favorite. Jalapeño Rye IPA. I’ve written about this one before, but it’s surprising each time I sip it. The pepper is a wonderful addition to the spice from the rye and citrus from the hops. Drink this!!!
After Big Alice, we parted ways with Bradco, went and got massages in Astoria at our favorite place, and went home to watch Quantico before bed, because we like to pamper ourselves sometimes.

We had a wonderful day with Brad, and felt so welcomed everywhere we visited (of course).

All in all, not a bad little Saturday. Oh, also, watch Quantico. It’s on Netflix…

Until next time…

Cheers!

Galway Pt. II, or, I’m Not a Creep But I Did Facebook Friend Our Waiter at Blakes Because He Was Awesome…

**HELLO! Before we begin, you can still donate to Galway Hospice HERE (We talked about it last week), Alan and the Galway Bay Brewery boys have raised nearly 10,000 Euro total!! Click the link and donate!**

When last we left you, dear, sweet readers, Holly Kay and I had just tapped out after our ___th Murphy’s Irish Stout, and headed back to our B&B for a long winter’s nap… (See Galway Bay Brewery Pt. I if you haven’t read it, then head on back here!)

Our next morning, we had our full Irish Breakfast and drove into Galway on our quest for Irish Sweaters! We’d been looking in each town for the perfect sweaters (because ya have to!!) and we stumbled upon the Galway Woollen Market, a quaint little shop with two floors of many different styles of Aran Islands Knitwear. Holly ended up with two sweaters, one purple, and one green, which make her look really cute and Irish, and I ended up with a lovely navy blue sweater with big brown wooden buttons that, in my humble opinion, makes me look like Paddington Bear, which is also cute (but not Irish) (but still cute. I’m cute.)This picture also made it into last week’s blog, but Holly’s too cute for me to just post it once, and also, it’s right in front of the Galway Woollen Market!!

HK Drinking a Latte at Coffeewerk + Press in Galway City!

Coffeewerk was such a cool space!

After our morning shopping in Galway, and because we were spending two nights, we planned an afternoon SPA DAY (!!!) at the Shore Island Spa at the Loughrea Hotel and Spa, just outside of Galway City. We decided on a Couples Afternoon package, which included a massage, facial, the Rasul Mud Chamber (which is something I never need to do, ever again), and 90 minutes in the Thermal Relaxation Suite, which had saunas, steam rooms, a jacuzzi, and two relaxation rooms, one dark, with color lights all over the ceiling, and one light, overlooking the gorgeous Lough Rea.

It was a wonderful few hours, and a nice period where we could stop, breathe, and reflect on our beautiful vacation.

When we got back to Galway, we parked our car back at the B&B and walked the 10 minutes into Galway City. Our new friend Darren (the Irish Whiskey aficionado) recommended we visit Garavan’s, the bar he manages. We ran into our OTHER new friend Sjef, behind the bar, who recommended a few places to eat. Both Sjef and the other bartender recommended a pub called Blakes Bar, a lovely little pub attached to a restaurant called Brasserie on the Corner, with a small, artisanal menu. Holly and I shared everything, Chili and Sesame chicken wings (which came in a giant bowl and the wings were covered in the sweet, spicy chili and sesame sauce), an Irish Cheese Board (BECAUSE WHY NOT?) and a Beef Burger. We figured if our night was going to be anything like the night before (beer emoji beer emoji beer emoji winking face emoji) we wanted to make sure our bellies were full.

The food was great, but our experience was made perfect by our server, James. He was just as knowledgeable as Darren (and had been to some whiskey conferences with him) and well versed in all the Irish Whiskeys on the menu. He made some suggestions, and we ordered the Powers John’s Lane, a 12 year old Single Pot Still, aged in both bourbon and sherry casks which is named after the address of the original Powers distillery. It was smooth, with dark fruits, caramel, vanilla and toffee. Here’s how it went down… Holly Kay: “I’d like that on the rocks.” James: “Nooooooooo…” So he brought them out neat, and we enjoyed them neat, and it was an absolutely lovely accompaniment to our full meal.

Our expectations on this trip were to experience some of the quintessential Irish hospitality, and James at Blake’s Bar went above and beyond our expectations, chatting with us about whiskey (as Darren had the night before), and what we’d done on our trip so far. He turned what was an already good meal into a wonderful experience. And now we’re friends on Facebook (I’m not creepy!!) Cheers, James!

We then headed back to Garavan’s, and went with one of Darren and Alan’s suggestions from the night before, Green Spot, another Single Pot Still, with flavors of vanilla, citrus, and mint. We caught the end of some live music, which was great Craic!

Live Music at Garavans! (apologies for the vertical video, it was a Facebook Live)

Christmas came early in Galway!

It was cold outside, but it was Nut Hot in here!

After Garavans, we went to the Salt House, Galway Bay Brewery‘s other pub in Galway City, and met up again with Alan…You all remember Alan from last week’s post… This no-longer-bearded beauty and his GBB family raised nearly 10,000 Euro for Galway Hospice, and you can still donate HERE!

We met up with Alan and his wife Danielle, and Laurien (whose husband Will is the head brewer for GBB)… Laurien and Will are transplants from Georgia, and it was fun that my Mississippi gal got to hang out with another southerner!

‘Allo Harvey! This little gal belongs to Alan and Danielle! What a face!!

Wait, so, this is a blog about beer?

Alright, let’s get to it…

As soon as we arrived, Alan greeted us, and said to Holly Kay, “I know more than anybody when you hit that wall… And last night, at around 11pm, I noticed that you’d hit that wall. And when I woke up this morning, I felt kind of bad for ya…” Holly said “Don’t feel bad! We had an amazing time!” Apparently, Alan, Darren, and Sjef left Lonergan’s and headed to… Where else? The Casino! These guys are professionals, and have way more stamina than I do…

I was handed a glass of Galway Bay Brewery’s Full Sail IPA (which I spoke about in last week’s post), which is a balanced, citrusy wonderland of Irish fun…

I drank x2 of these… Trolltunga by Buxton Brewing from England, in collaboration with Lervig Brewery in Norway. This was a sour IPA, with tart, tropical peach, grapefruit, and pine. Absolutely unreal stuff. Alan was so excited about it (he was drinking it when we got there) and it was wonderful.

My Dad’s favorite beer! So nice to see some US craft on draught!

Holly ordered the Buxton Brewery Extra Porter, brewed with Guatemalan Coffee… Super bitter, roasty chocolate, coffee, dark cherries, floral, smokey. Another fantastic brew. We’ve got to find our way to England to try more of their beer!

We were so happy to be able to spend time with our new friend, Alan, and to have met Danielle and Laurien. Galway is a magical city, and that was only emphasized by all the hospitality we experienced while we were there. We’ll absolutely be back (Alan, you got a spare room?)

Until next time!

Cheers!

Galway Bay Brewery and the Beard Off Fundraiser, or, How We Made New Beer Friends Across the Atlantic Sea!!

Hello, friends!

***I wanted to FIRST start off this post by saying, Thursday, December 1st, Galway Bay Brewery in association with The Oslo, Salthouse and Gallagher Galway are hosting a BEARD-OFF Fundraiser to raise money for Galway Hospice. If your means allow, please donate HERE and we will watch all of these grown men’s glorious beards be shaved off for an amazing cause. Head to the Galway Beard-Off Fundraiser Facebook Page to see videos of the boys talking about how life will be without beards… Now, back to your regularly scheduled Blog Post….***

We have a very special post today, as I will recant the tale of how Holly Kay and I met some of the coolest people in Ireland… WITH BEER!

The last post I wrote about Ireland left off with us getting a great night’s sleep after a wonderful night out in Killarney. From there, we drove the unbelievably GORGEOUS Dingle Peninsula, whose vistas are stunning, every way you turn.

Come on! Come on!I mean, COME ON!!

From there, we drove and stayed in Gallow’s View Bed & Breakfast in Bunratty, where we were warmly welcomed by our host. I’ll write about this part of our trip in a later blog post, so stay tuned.

Our next B&B was St. Judes, in Upper Salthill, just across the river from Galway City. St. Judes was a lovely, French-style home just about a 10 minute walk into Galway proper, and, if you walk in the opposite direction, about 10 minutes from Lower Salthill, with bars, restaurants, an aquarium, and some casinos.

Galway City

Holly Kay in the Latin Quarter, Galway.

Before we left the US, I posted a message on a beer group that I’m a part of on Facebook, asking for recommendations for awesome craft beer in Ireland. I received a response from Alan O’Reilly, manager of Oslo Bar in Lower Salthill, which is the flagship pub of the Galway Bay Brewery.

Alan wrote, “If you bring me American Craft Beer, I will give you beer. Galway Bay Brewery beer!” Holly immediately bought two large wine bottle sized ziplock bags on Amazon (which triple zip, so if anything breaks or leaks, it won’t get all over your clothes), and we brought 4 different American beers over with us.

We arrived at Oslo Bar around 6:30pm, and were on the lookout for Alan, who we found out back, inside what seemed to be Galway Bay Brewery’s brew house. We soon discovered that GBB had expanded, and the brew house in the back of Oslo Bar is now used as a Distillery for Micil Poitín, an Irish sprit (think of it as Irish moonshine), made from Irish Grain and bogbean, a plant that grows in bogs throughout Europe. We met Padraic O’Griallais, who quit his job as an Irish Speaking Schoolteacher, to take over his family’s business. Micil is named after his Great-Great-Great Grandfather, Micil Mac Chearra. Of course, Holly Kay and I were poured a sample, and it was spicy, herbal, and warmed our hearts and souls with the spirit of Ireland. Man, it was so cool.

After that amazing introduction, it was time to show Alan the beers we brought!

We brought two Gose-style sours, Westbrook Brewing Gose, and Stillwater Artisinal Gose Gone Wild, an IPA that our buddy Nathan had brought us from Georgia, Orpheus Brewing Life.Death.Life.Truth, and Peak Organic The Juice, an amazing new beer from this brewery, a hoppy pale ale.

To say Alan was thrilled would be an understatement. I mean, just look at our faces in the photo above. It was so cool to make new friends halfway across the world, simply with craft beer! Alan was giddily showing his coworkers the beer we brought him, and told us to follow him back down to the bar.

Alan giving us his best smile, and showing some bar patrons some amazing stouts that are NOT Guinness. (I sent this to my Dad, of course, please refer to my blog post about the Stout Monster)

We sat down at the bar and Alan poured me one of GBB’s newest beers, a collaboration with Cigar City Brewing (!!!), Ceasefire Rhubarb Sloe Sour. Some lemon and lime pucker, with nice bitterness from the rhubarb. These guys aren’t messing around with their beers. They recently hired Will Avery, all the way from Georgia (the United State, not the country) to be their Brewmaster, and expanded their brew house to a location just outside of Galway City.

We were going to visit the brew house itself, but the timing didn’t work out, so that just means we’ll have to go back to Galway soon so I can write another blog post! Ok, Holly? 😉

Alan poured Holly a Harvest Altar, a delightful brown ale with sweet, nutty caramel from the malts, with some nice hop spice and bitterness.

Next up for me was Full Sail, GBB’s flagship IPA, really well balanced, with some juicy hops (El Dorado and Cascade) and a sweet malt backbone. This guy clocks in at 5.8%, so, it would be cool to have a few of these and see how the flavors develop. Again, that’ll be another trip back to Galway!

While at Oslo Bar, we also met Darren Green, Alan’s dear friend, whiskey expert, and manager of Garavan’s in Galway, which won Whiskey Bar of the Year in 2014 and 2015. As soon as he heard Holly Kay mention the word whiskey, he perked up, and immediately rattled off nearly the entire history of Irish Whiskey, to our surprise, and also to our DELIGHT

Alan was finishing work at 7pm, and told us to meet he and Darren later at Lonergan’s Bar, just a short walk from Oslo Bar, which, as he described it, is unlike any other bar we’d see in Ireland… “We’re the youngest people there by 50 YEARS…) But first, we asked for dinner recommendations, and Alan suggested Dough Bros, in Galway City. We had to go, because you can’t just have one pizza in Ireland…

It’s Dough Bros, Bro!

Holly and I shared a Limeburner Pale Ale from Kinnegar Brewing in Donegal. As Alan put it, these guys don’t make a bad beer. This bottle was about 6 months from its bottling date, but the citrus of the hops stuck around just enough to balance the malts. Crisp, and super refreshing, this was a perfect pairing to our pizza… Bros.

Alright, so… Lonergan’s. We took a cab back down to Salthill, and walked into the pub, and, as Alan had described, the place was full of elderly Irish men (and one dog). The only other lady in the pub was our sweet Barmaid. She poured us two pints of Murphy’s Irish Stout, and we sipped them as we waited for our new friends to join us…

Proper Glassware… Also, can you call this a perfect pour? Or is that trademarked?

A few minutes later, Alan, Darren, and Sjef (a bartender and another whiskey connoisseur from Garavan’s) came in. Suffice to say, Alan made good on his promise, (but not before signing up for, and encouraging Holly Kay and I, to donate funds to Galway Hospice for GBB’s BEARD-OFF Fundraiser), as we were chatting with the fellas about ~~The Circus~~ American Politics, Irish television show Father Ted, Craft Beer, Whiskey, and everything else under the sun, every few minutes, another pint of Murphy’s would magically appear in our hands. By about 11pm, Holly Kay and I looked at each other, and said “We’ve GOT to go.” We’d been up since around 7am, and had driven several hours that day, and although Murphy’s is less than 5% ABV, when you’ve drank 6 or 7 of them, you start to get a little bit of the jelly leg, if ya know what I mean. So we drank what we could of that last pint, bid our goodnights, and went back to St. Jude for a gooooood night’s sleep.

I’m going to stop here, and will continue our Galway tale in my next blog post.

I’ll finish by reiterating that TOMORROW NIGHT is Galway Bay Brewery’s BEARD-OFF Fundraiser to raise money for Galway Hospice, and you can donate HERE if your means allow!

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

Cheers!

Business Cards Are Here! Or, I’m Officially Official!

These came out absolutely SEXY! And YOU ALREADY KNOOOOOW I went glossy, because you want that amazing looking brew to “Shine like the top o’ tha Chryslaah Building!” (Yup, I just referenced Ms. Hannigan from Broadway’s Annie in a Blog Post.)

So, now YOU can spread the word as well! If you read this and want some to distribute, send me an email at patrickbenedict@benedictbeerblog.com and I can give you a stack for your business, home, or just to give out to friends, etc. Let me know! Thank you all for your support!

And as always, thanks to Holly Kay for motivating, encouraging, and inspiring me! These wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her!

😉

Until next time!

Cheers!

Guinness Storehouse, or, How Holly Kay and Patrick Showed Off Their Former Bartending Skills (And Received the Certificates to Prove It!)

From my Sexy Posing in Front of Breweries series…

Hi all! Update #1 from beautiful, sunny then suddenly rainy Ireland! We are safely in Kilkenny, about to have our second breakfast on this unbelievably green island, and today, we’re going Full Irish (get your mind outta the gutter…)! I wanted to share some photos from our trip to the Guinness Storehouse yesterday!

Holly and I opted to pour our own Perfect Pints, as the Gravity Bar (with a 360 degree view of the city of Dublin) was filled with loud, obnoxious Americans, “I’M FINE ON THE STAIAHS (stairs)! I DON’T NEED TO WAIT FAH (for) YEW (you)!!” A grandmother yelled to her family members.

This was the only photo I could get without a bunch of strangers in it. But check out the top of that guy’s head!

There’s a lot of money in the Guinness Storehouse, its kind of like Walt Disney World, (it’s even got a whole section dedicated to how important water is to beer, and the waterfall smells like Disney water!).

Don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the barley and hops that you’re used to…

A lot of the different videos were outdated, and whatever was supposed to be projected inside the simulated mash tun wasn’t working.

We saw some great exhibits, though, specifically the advertising section, and the shop was beautifully decorated for Christmas (WE LOVE CHRISTMAS, FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA!)
Anyway, I won’t blather on. Here’s some pictures from our experience! Enjoy!

My gorgeous wife!