Dublin – Against the Grain
There isn’t really a vast amount of different options for craft beer drinkers in Dublin, although the situation is rapidly improving with bars such as Brewdog opening up. One chain that came up was the Galway Bay Brewery which was established in 2009 and has a number of locations around the Republic of Ireland which are proud to sell craft beer. It was a bit of a walk to go and visit it, but I thought that it would likely be worth it.
We arrived on a Friday evening and it wasn’t clear if we’d be able to get in given the number of people out in Dublin, but a friendly member of staff at the door offered a warm welcome and found a table for us. They complied with all of the health requirements and scanned my NHS app to show I’d been double vaccinated.
In short, this is an exceptionally well run pub which is beautifully on-trend as far as I’m concerned. The beer menu is on chalkboards above the bar and also available by using QR codes on the table. The staff members were efficient, knowledgeable and personable, making for a comfortable visit.
I couldn’t decide which beer to have, so I had three, as that’s the most sensible option when I’m not sure what to do. From right to left, these are the Buried at Sea from Galway Bay Brewery (who also own the pub), the Of Foam and Fury from the same brewery and the Nitro Stout from Bru Brewery who have apparently gone out of business over the last few weeks. The Of Foam and Fury was of particular note, an 8.5% DIPA with a variety of hops which had a real body to it and plenty of flavour.
The vibe inside the pub felt inviting, with a sense of atmosphere without the feel that there might soon be a riot. The pub is well reviewed and also serves food, which we would have likely been tempted by if we hadn’t just visited the Brazen Head. I noted one of the few negative reviews which said:
“Apparently asking for a Corona for my wife is against his morals or something. I work in a micro brewery, people like him give craft a bad name #snowflake”
It’s handy when people put snowflake at the end of their review, as I can then immediately identify where the problem lies without needing to know anything more. We were so pleased (by this I think I mean that I was so pleased, and Liam didn’t disagree to save time) by this visit that we sought out a couple more bars in the chain, more of which in later posts. Very pleased with this visit and there were plenty of staff around for customers who wanted to order more drinks.
