County Cork has three brewpubs: Franciscan Well,
Rising Sons, and The Cotton Ball (a little out of the city center, but easily accessible); a brew-restaurant, Elbow Lane; plus specialty beer bars, The Friary and The Bierhaus. Cork also hosts the Easter Beer Festival, Ireland’s longest-running craft beer fest held at Franciscan Well, which has since been joined by the Great Irish Beer Festival in September at Cork City Hall. Cork City is a compact, cosmopolitan, cultural, culinary, and cool place to visit and also a center of Irish craft beer. Note: I alliterated all of that without once saying the word “craic.” Related: next time I’m in Cork City, I should head to Blarney Castle to kiss the famous stone, as it might help improve my currently lazy eloquence…
Visit To Cork City Beer Crawl The Crucible Of Irish Craft Brewing Photo Gallery
Note: With special thanks to The Beer Nut for help on this entry (I’ve essentially just copied and pasted what he wrote to me in an email and then added some filler). Read his excellent blog to learn everything you need to know about Irish beer (www.thebeernut.blogspot.co.uk).
Visit Galway Bay Brewery Drink Some Of Ireland’s Best Craft Beers
Head to the west of Ireland, to Galway Bay, for a paddle in the
North Atlantic and a walk around the lovely little town, then go and drink some excellent local beers. The Galway Bay Brewery began in the Oslo Bar down by the sea, a good walk from the center. Their beers are excellent, from the vibrantly hoppy Althea session ale to Buried At Sea, their smooth Milk Stout, to their beer geek-pleasing Of Foam and Fury Double IPA. Closer to town is The Salt House, which has another excellent selection of beers—up to 21 taps. If you can’t make it to Galway Bay, the brewery also has a range of bars in the center of Dublin that you should look for, including The Brew Dock and The Black Sheep. More details here: www. galwaybaybr ewery. com.
Alongside its core range, Galway Bay Brewery always have plenty of specials and seasonal brews available.
