Ireland Beer Alert: Local craft micro breweries are growing!
Delicious local Ireland craft beer is good news for the Irish and tourists, but might pose a challenge for iconic Ireland beer brand Guinness.
QUOTES:
“What do you mean you don’t have Guinness? For God’s sake, that can’t be right at all”
“But I also love myself a pint of Guinness, I do. I’m a Guinness drinker and I really like Guinness.”
“It’s not like blasphemy, it is blasphemy.”
“It’s a staff favorite, and it’s a local favorite.”
“It’s sweeter, it’s stronger abv and it’s got a bit of a bite, but it’s nice, it’s really good quality.”
“We have Killarney Stout instead, because we support local”
“That’s sacrilegious… and he’ll walk straight out the door”
“It has a lot more hops and a lot more malt and they use chocolaty malt which brings out the flavors”
SHOW NOTES
Amidlife Traveler podcast: No Guinness in Ireland? Blasphemy! Ireland Bar Replaces Guinness w/ Local Killarney Stout Craft Beer
Hey hello everybody! Thanks again for your support of one of the best new travel podcasts, Amidlife Traveler.
In this travel podcast episode, Amidlife Traveler host Laura (who loves Guinness beer, by the way!) discovers that the craft brew trend of micro-breweries is not just a phenomenon in her local USA Pacific Northwest area of Washington & Seattle area. By happy surprise, an Ireland trip that included Killarney resulted in the discovery of Killarney Brewing Company, to the challenge of finding a pint of Killarney Stout to enjoy, and finally to the discovery of a wonderful boutique hotel (The Ross) with enjoyable modern pub atmosphere (Lane Café Bar).
This is the story of how a single bar in Killarney Ireland, as part of a major tourist destination, made the brave decision to move towards supporting quality local business and products. Choosing a local microbrewery and craft beer over an iconic Irish brand like Guinness was not quick, but this episode describes what was behind the decision to replace the iconic mega-brand Guinness stout tap handle with locally produced Killarney Stout craft brew. The story is told by local Killarney Irishmen Patrick and Steven. From them, you’ll hear about the decision to make the change to supporting local at The Ross Hotel and then what happened afterwards with reactions from locals looking for a pint of Guinness (Spoiler alert: No Guinness? = Shocker).
Guest note: Patrick McGrath manages The Ross hotel in Killarney, where the Lane Café Bar is located. Patrick is a wealth of information on trends including high expertise in trending movements in craft beer and spirits such as craft gin. Stephen is a very helpful bartender at the Lane Café Bar who is tied into the local music scene and is often is serving up those Killarney Stout beers and breaking the news about no Guinness on tap at the Lane Cafe Bar.
Host note: The topics and shows featured in our Ireland series are based on our real experiences and opinions, this is not a paid program.
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- Stephen, Lane Cafe Bar, The Ross Hotel Killarney Ireland
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- ‘We support local’ tap handles at Lane Cafe bar, Killarney Ireland
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- Welcome to the Lane Cafe Bar
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- Tap handles at Killarney Brewing Company!
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- Brendon the awesome bartender at Killarney Brewing Company
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- This is real people – come sit by the brewing equipment at Killarney Brewing Company, Ireland
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- Killarney Brewing Company, Ireland
RESOURCE LINKS AND THINGS TO DO IN IRELAND
Lane Cafe Bar @ The Ross Hotel