RESTAURANTS AND FOOD: October fest

Sunday, October 30, 2011

FRANCISCAN WELL OCTOBER FEST

Click on image to enlarge

FRANCISCAN WELL
OCTOBER BEER FEST

No shortage of choice when I called in to the well established OctoberFest at the Franciscan Well Brewery and Pub at the weekend. There were dozens of beers on tap, and many more in bottle at the bar itself.

Renewed acquaintance with John Radley of Cremin and Radley who had a stand there. Tempted also to renew acquaintance with their Fruli Strawberry beer or the Schneider Aventinus but then spotted the new Irish lager from Kerry named after the arctic explorer Tom Crean.

This 4.6% ABV from the Dingle Brewing Company is not half bad and I enjoyed my pint. The blurb says it is light and delicately hopped..perfectly balanced and elegant... I’d agree with that.

Hadn’t seen the Svyturys range before so I had a try at their stand. Got a glass of their Ekstra, a pale easy drinking lager at 5.2%. They are especially proud of the Nefiltruotas Raw, a Zwickelbier Lager described as the lager world’s answer to real ale. Liked my sample and will explore this Lithuanian beer further. Some humourous ads on their site, by the way!

The Franciscan Well joined in the Bord Bia national Beer/Cheese Tasting Events this weekend and on Saturday afternoon, they had the very knowledgeable Willie Healy of the well known Bandon food store URRU in charge of that particular stand.

Here I got the chance to sample their newest stout, the Shandon Century Extra Stout (7.5%), available on tap and in a limited issue of numbered bottles (which, I’m told, are flying out the door at Bradley’s Off Licence). It is something special, full bodied and smooth and with a great dry flavour.

Willie had examples from four local cheese producers for sampling with the stout and the other Franciscan products and they were Hegarty’s, Gubbeen, Ardsallagh and the Fermoy Natural Cheese Company. My favourite match was the stout and the cheddar from Hegarty’s.

Well done to the Franciscan Well who had the whole thing well organised and had plenty of friendly staff on duty to help out.