So it’s the Monday after Gráinne and Tim tied the knot over the weekend, and after celebrating such a momentous occasion, it’s natural to take stock of where we’re at at the moment. So a quick recap the first third of 2016 and see what’s coming up on us in the near future.

After 2015 was filled to the brim with getting the brewery to the capacity we needed, plus adding in the new canning line, we began 2016 looking forward to brewing again. The first item on the to-do-list was get a fourth beer onto the year-round offering sheet, and because we figured that IPAs were a style that hadn’t received its fair share of attention ( 🙂 ) , we came out with Ironmonger. So far it’s been a big hit and we’ve received loads of great feedback.

A big change for us was making the decision to leave our Chameleon range behind in favour of true seasonal brews. Chameleon had been a wonderful way to get our love of experimentation out in such a way as to test the market, Equinox and Heat Sink (sort of) were both brews out of that range, so we felt it had achieved that goal. Along came Spring, and we know…not the most unique name, but we could tell you horror stories of the brainstorming that went on here to think of something else. Spring was very well received, some people, including experienced reviewers, had difficulty putting Spring into a style category or categorising its complexity. Cask was where Spring really shined, and went out with a bang at the RDS show on Paddy’s Day weekend.

Zwickel is our newest brew, and like Orange is the New Black, is one of our limited releases. Lagers are still a funny category in the Irish craft beer world, often overlooked in favour of hoppy pales, bitter stouts, or bready reds, often being viewed as tasteless, yellow, fizzy liquid to horse into ya. As most people know, the Germans can brew beer pretty well, and one that we always loved was the style of lager you get mostly in Bavaria. Our interpretation of the Zwick(e)l, Landbier, Helles, or Kellerbier style (all are slight variations of each other) is keeping close to the style but with some smoked malt added for a little extra complexity 🙂 We use German malt and hops of the same variety that Bavarian brewers use, and we’re really happy with the way this one turned out. Huzzah! (And it keeps @metalman_tim happy while he goes through his seemingly never-ending lager-phase.)

Besides beer we’ve got a few new additions here at the brewery in 2016. James (The Yank) joined us at the start of the year to help get our beer out to new locations, hopefully you’ll see his smiling face at tastings and different events through the year. We finally purchased a van that makes it up to Dublin and doesn’t worry us that it’ll make it back, and with new branding, it looks fab. Adam’s wife Sheila gave birth to a healthy and happy baby girl, and despite attempts on our part to influence the decision to name her Carafa, Waynetta, or some other ridiculous name, they went with the lovely and sensible Emily Mae.

So a quick peek into the future sees a re-release of an old favourite at the end of May, details to follow soon. Also a summer seasonal just up the road from that. some fun events like Ballymaloe’s Litfest, Bloom in the Park, and please God a flippin’ summer this year that we can actually go out and enjoy!