A Quart of Ale± #73. On the craft journey with a session at Crew in Limerick

 A Quart of Ale± #73

On the craft journey with a session at Crew in Limerick

Eoghan's Porter, going down smoothly in Limerick

What have we here? I’m asking myself as I study the tap menu. I see Adelaide Amber, Polly, Annie Brown Ale, Vanilla Milk Stout and Eoghan’s Porter. 

We are in the Crew Bar and Brewery in Thomas Street, Limerick, and all these beers, all by Crew, are available from tanks behind the counter. And there’s more on tap including beers by Yellowbelly and Porterhouse. And choices keep rotating.

The inner room in mid-afternoon at Crew

Brown (front) and Amber

Crew support more than just other brewers. Only the previous weekend, they celebrated their first birthday here with a night of good beer and great fun, and in the process raised some €1,110.78 for the local Rape Crisis Centre.

We got a warm welcome in from the showers and soon got the lowdown on the menu and decided to go through all five of their own beers.

First up was the self explanatory Adelaide Amber (4.3%), an amber ale, nice and light and very drinkable. Not too sure where the Adelaide comes in as this is more or less an American amber. 

Their details: Warming malt driven flavours of toffee, caramel, toast and a slight roastiness are complemented by classic citrus American hop character provided by Cascade hops.

While CL was delighted with this (plenty of sharing going on!), my first pick was the Annie Brown Ale (5.25%). Must say I loved it, full of flavour and one to take your time with. And the name? Well it is named for much beloved Crew staff member Annie Brown. It is a big, smooth, chocolate-forward brown ale with toffee, spice, dark fruit and a touch of citrus American hop character in the background.

Crew HQ

My next beer was the Eoghan’s Vanilla Milk Stout at 4.6% abv. It is what it says. A sweet milk stout with caramel, chocolate and coffee notes, and heaps of vanilla. Flavours much the same as the aromas, all before a surprisingly dry finish. Thumbs up again. Do they make any duds here? I doubt it. We certainly didn’t find any.

We kept finding top class beers and two stars remained. CL was a bit apprehensive about trying Polly at 6.00%. Polly? We asked. “It is the successor to our simple named IPA2 and the recipe is slightly changed, more hazy.” CL initially voiced a preference for the Amber but soon changed her tune as the tropical fruit, especially the pineapple, came through and true here with amazing precision. An absolute star for sure.

Polly is a star!

Their description: The beer formerly known as IPA #2! We took everything we've learned in the last year since we first brewed IPA #2 and used it to tweak and improve the process and recipe. The result is an even more intense juicy fruit character with a little more sweetness to balance the bitterness. To celebrate, we gave this hugely popular beer a real name - Polly. Rest in peace IPA #2, you served us well.

And we said goodbye with another dark one in the shape of Eoghan’s Porter Vanilla Espresso (6.1%). Tall dark and smooth as Eoghan himself, a great friend of Crew “who made a lot of this project possible”. It features vanilla, espresso, caramel, chocolate and dark fruits. Has a mild hop bitterness balanced by malt sweetness”. Class in a glass.

* By the way, if you come in feeling hunrgry, Crew have the solution.  Pizza fresh from Mamma Mia (William Street), can be added to your bill at Crew and delivered to your table Monday to Thursday 5pm to 10.30pm, Friday to Sunday 3pm to 10.30pm.

And who are Crew? I’ll let them tell you:

Crew Brewing Co. is a microbrewery and pub located on Thomas St in Limerick City centre, specialising in independent Irish Craft Beer.

We brew our own beer on site and serve it directly from tanks behind the bar alongside a selection of Irish Beer, Cider and Spirits.

Opened by three friends from Belfast with a love of beer, spirits and independent business with a focus on flavour, community and sustainability.

Leisurely Tour and Tasting at Cotton Ball Micro-Brewery

Leisurely Tour and Tasting at Cotton Ball Micro-Brewery

Eoin (right) starts the tour.

The sun shone as members (and guests) of the Munster Wine & Dine gathered at the Cotton Ball for a leisurely tour of and tasting at the pub’s own micro-brewery. The brewery was founded by the Lynch family less than five years ago yet they’ve outgrown the original brewery and have moved into a new one in their Mayfield (Cork) premises.

The old brewery is being wound down, our guide Eoin Lynch told us, but is still being used for some brews, including their Lynch’s Stout. He is delighted with the “huge difference in space” afforded them by the new facility.

They also have their own mill, the grain coming from Togher. Speciality malts are imported, mainly from Europe, and we had some fun smelling the many aromas.

Speciality malt, from Belgium

Someone asked what’s the most popular beer. Eoin: “Most of the beer in the world is lager. Craft or not, you can’t ignore that. It is a very competitive market with more and more craft breweries opening. We use tip top ingredients here but labour is the big cost!”

They have almost tripled batch size with the new facility. “But we still need to balance demand, not to get too far ahead. You don’t want product sitting around.” And he confirmed, in response to a question, that draught does indeed taste better. One of the reasons is that most bottles are filtered for “shelf life purposes”.

He showed us some of their kit, including the bottling line, capable of doing 1,000 bottles an hour. A new keg wash means they put through three kegs at a time instead of one previously.

Now it was time to sit down in the Brewery Room, pay tribute to the bar founder, one Humphrey Lynch, Eoin’s great-grandfather, who left Ballyvourney at 15 years of age and settled in an American town known as Byefield which he later used in naming his Cork estate house. 

Cheese please

After working for two years with Joseph Longfellow, cousin to the famous poet, he worked for a year in the ship yard at Newburyport until the American civil war broke out. 

He was one of the first to enlist in the 4th U.S regiment light artillery battery and served through 27 general engagements principally in the army of the southwest and along the Mississippi valley. Then he worked for 14 years as a foreman of the picker room in Newburyport cotton mill. 

This would later give him the name of a public house he purchased in Baile na mBocht  (now Mayfield) after returning to Ireland in 1870’s. Nowadays, each bottle from the new brewery pays tribute to the man who made it all possible, bearing an image of American Civil War veteran Humphrey on the label. 

Keg washing facility

We were on the draught though, five beers in all. And Isabelle Sheridan of On the Pig’s Back supplied the cheeses for the pairings. Generally, it seemed the stronger the beer, the stronger the cheese. 

For instance, the lager and the easy drinking Indian Summer paired well with the Ardsallagh Feta, the Ale with Hegarty’s Cheddar, the Indian Pale Ale (with the Magnum hops, a favourite bittering hops here) with both the Cheddar and the Bleu D’Auvergne. The stout too matched up well with both the cheddar and the bleu. And Hegarty’s new comté style cheese called Teampallgeal was very popular across the board!

le bleu

A pint of Lynch's

After that generous tasting, there was a pint “of your choice” for each guest and lots of chat as the evening wound down and I relaxed with a flavoursome pint of Lynch’s excellent stout.

Until the next time, which will be a mid-summer trip to the county on July 8th. Members are asked to keep an eye on their emails for details. Later in the year, we will be visiting The Mews in Baltimore and Longueville House in Mallow.

• A more detailed account of the soldier and entrepreneur Humphrey Lynch may be found here  
• The Cotton Ball website is here. 
• For more info on Munster Wine & Dine, click here

Herbs? Salads? Natur-Ellie. Watch this Green Space

Herbs? Salads? Natur-Ellie

Watch this Green Space

Ellie, with a few of her herbs.

In the unlikely setting of a unit in a commercial estate, we are talking micro-herbs, herbs and salads in general. They are growing all around us. 

Urban gardener Ellie Donovan has just moved from another similar location and tells me she never thought there’d be such a demand for her organic micro greens. ‘“The chefs love them,” she says. She started with lots of varieties but is now down to six, the ones the chefs really like!

The urban garden!

She has been boosted by the signing of a new contract with the Market Lane group of restaurants. Market Lane’s original venture in Oliver Plunket Street will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and no doubt their other restaurants Elbow Lane (and its micro brewery), ORSO Bar and Kitchen, and the spectacularly situated Castle Cafe will join in.

And it was at the cafe in Blackrock Castle that Ellie first began to work with the group. Here she set up a small kitchen garden and now the cafe is self sufficient and look after it themselves. She has also grown some hops in a confined location at the top of Elbow Lane. “All the Market Lane places are excellent. I love them and we have a great relationship.”

Recycled fish boxes

It is a confidence building relationship too and that will help Green Space expand. But it's hard going on your own! 

More hops for the brewery are in the pipeline. She will be using an enclosed outside patch of concrete close to the unit and will be growing lots of plants, probably including hops, in pallets that she has been collecting. And the garden at her country home will also help her ambitions to grow more outdoors.

One of the advantages in being in a commercial centre is that it is something of a community and people tend to help one another out. For instance, a nearby unit gives her used fish boxes and they are ideal for her business.

Micro!

Ellie uses coco fibre (also known as coir) as a growing medium. It is a natural product and hers includes rooting hormones. And then she also uses liquid fertilisers. At present, she is using tap water but plans are in hand - indeed some of the gear is in place - to replace it with rain-water. And another plan is to get a solar panel on the roof.

She is getting used to the particular environment of her Ballyvolane unit, learning day by day. She lost some lettuce overnight during the recent spell of very hot weather. She is pretty happy with the natural light but also uses some hanging fixtures that give close to a natural light. And she has heat mats in place for propagation.

Hydroponics in action

And what does she grow? Well lots of little herbs (some larger ones too: Rosemary, Sage, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Parsley...). The micros include Basil (four or five varieties), Coriander, Chinese and other chives, Rambo purple radish, and more. Also salads such as Mizuna, Wild Rocket, Mustards, Pea shoots etc. 

And she’s always experimenting, trying something new. So be sure and watch this Green Space!

* Read more about Ellie’s career here. 

Happy New Beer! Mayfield’s Cotton Ball. Ireland’s Latest Micro Brewery

Happy New Beer!

Mayfield’s Cotton Ball. Ireland’s Latest Micro Brewery

Forward planning. Jack Lynch in the Cotton Ball Brewery.

Months of research and hard work paid off this week when Ireland’s newest craft beers began to flow at the Cotton Ball Brewery in Mayfield.  The Cotton Ball pub, under which the brewery is built, was the venue for an early tasting of Lynch’s Lager, called after the family that founded the pub back in 1874.

While touring the new facility yesterday with Jack Lynch, I was shown a number of barrels previously used by Jack Daniels (and to be used in the future for a Lynch special brew). At least one of the barrels, Number 59, is stamped with the name of the American distillery and the address is Lynchburg, Tennessee, and that is one of the places where Jack Lynch’s grandfather, Humphrey, worked while in the United States in the 19^th century. And it is Jack's son, Humphrey, who is the Cotton Ball brewer.

A lot of lager here!

More beers are planned but, for now, there are just two, a Lynch Lager and a Lynch Stout, and these are exclusively available at the bar and at a very good price, I might add! My first venture was a pint of the lager. It is superb, full of great flavour and with a good cut in the finish. 

Christmas Stout

The Stout (left) is also excellent, flavour, smoothness and a long dry finish the striking characteristics. You get the hints of your old toffee bar in the aromas and on the palate and the flavours last, still a pleasure well after the swallow. Both beers are available on draught at the bar but you can expect to see them in bottles sometime in 2014.

Aside from the special, an Ale is planned for the New Year and should make an appearance as the Spring kicks in. And there are also plans to increase the food element at the Cotton Ball and indeed produce specially matched bites for the beers.

This barrell has quite an aroma, all the way from Lynchburg to Lynch's!

The brewery will be officially launched on January 25^th (6.00pm to 9.00pm) when you may try the new pints, enjoy the music and the new food menu.

Just to go back to Humphrey and his working trip to America. One of the souvenirs he brought back was a full size Stars and Stripes with 39 stars on it. This is an oddity as there were never 39 states in the union. The legend in the photo says the flag manufacturers took a gamble thinking that the Dakotas would be admitted as one state but instead North and South Dakota simultaneously joined the union as two separate states, taking the numbers from 38 to 40.

The 39 star flag

The flag is displayed in one of the loveliest corners of the Mayfield pub, a corner that Jack says will now be called the Brewery Room and one that will contain quite a lot of Brewing memorabilia in the months ahead. 

Must say I am looking forward to visiting on a regularly basis to keep an eye on what Jack and his sons Eoin and Humphrey are bringing up from underneath. It is no great hardship to me. The walk is short and the beer is good. Happy New Beer!

The "Brewery" room, just one of many cosy sections in the Cotton Ball

Lynch’s Stout

Hand crafted from 5 malts and traditional flaked barley. Bittered moderately with American and New Zealand hops. Late kettle hopped with premium Kentish aroma hops beer. Warm matured on the same aromatic hops, after which the beer is cold matured on Jack Daniels impregnated American oak.

The result

A phenomenal marriage of coffee roast, caramel, lush, balanced by a clean bitterness exploding into a tangerine, mandarin aromatic delivery with the faintest hint of oak.

Lynch’s Lager

Pilsner lager made with 100% Cork malted barley ,is clean Bittered with Columbus and galena U.S.A grown hops. Late kettle addition of hallertãu perle and hersbruker, fermented with our rapidly settling yeast strain. With a proven record of making clean cut pilsner lagers portraying the individual hop aromas from New Zealand to Norway and the east and west of Europe.

The result

Another unchallengeable quality lager delivering, subtle aromatic hop flavour and aroma from a bed of light malt caramel flavour with a thirst cutting clean bitterness.

Cotton Ball details:

18 Old Youghal Road, Mayfield

Cork Ireland

Phone  (021) 450 3096

Hours: 

Mon - Thu: 10:30 am - 11:30 pm

Fri - Sat: 10:30 am - 12:30 am

Sun: 12:30 pm - 11:00 pm

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The Burren Brewery

The Burren Brewery

Ireland's Smallest Micro-Brewery!

When you walk into the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna, you see the normal beer dispensers on the high counter. But then, in the middle, you see something totally different: three unusual taps labelled Gold, Red and Black.

Owner Peter Curtin has his own brewery here, “the smallest micro-brewery in Ireland”, and the taps, designed by a local artist, dispense his lager (Burren Gold), ale (Burren Red) and stout (Burren Black). And very tasty they are too, as we discovered after a tasting of the three.

The brewery, just over 12 months old, is upstairs and Peter showed us up his stairway to heaven! It is all neat and compact. He has got some very good gear here and a great love for the task as we found out. And the pub is the only place that you can get these beers.

The pub itself, just a few miles from the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, has a very long history, in family hands since 1893. But the Curtins were also bakers and that history goes back even further, hundreds of years. Nowadays the pub is also noted for its food and, this year, was voted “Best Gastro-pub in Munster” by the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

 Timing wasn’t quite right for us to eat there but the menu is filled with delicious dishes such as traditional Irish bacon, Cabbage and Parsley sauce and a slightly less traditional rendition of Irish stew (featuring local Burren beef in place of the more typical lamb).

Pride of place is given to several dishes featuring Smoked Fish and Eel from the family's award-winning Burren Smokehouse, run by Peter and Birgitta Curtin. Try the Burren smoked fish platter which is served with organic leaves from nearby New Quay. The Burren Smokehouse  is literally a few yards down the road and well worth a visit. And they have a great shop there too with local products from other producers. You may also buy online.

And don’t skip dessert in the Tavern. Peter says they are fabulous, homemade by Fabiola's Patisserie in Doolin. Fabiola has worked in Michelin starred restaurants and you may also sample her pastry delights at the Cafe in the Doolin Crafts Centre.


Food and good beer. What more do you want? Well, you get much more in this bar as there is a fantastic music programme throughout the season. That series is drawing to a close now but not before paying a massive tribute to Micilín Conlon (who played in the pub for all of 57 years) over three nights (26th,27th,28th of October). And, on the Saturday and Sunday (4.00 to 6.00pm), there will be a tasting combining the local beers, breads and cheese. Sounds great.

If you like a laugh, you’ll never be short of one with Peter and his crew in the Roadside. His sense of humour was seen at its sharpest recently when he more or less hi-jacked the Thursday set aside for Arthur and instead designated it Peter’s Day with pints of Burren Beer selling at three euro.

The beers are very popular with tourists. They are good, really good. So why not call in if you are in the area. Worth a detour, as they say in the best guides.

 Also visited: Cliffs of Moher   Wild Honey Inn  St Tola Goat Cheese Lahinch area Ballyvaughan Tea and Garden Rooms The Burren