First Beer in Dublin

Yes, I am in Dublin, home of the St. James Gate Brewery, the traditional home of Guinness. You can see the brewery from the front door of my hotel (which believe it or not was accidental).

Guinness St James Gate Brewery

I stuck me head in the main entrance (for work, not tourists) and it seems they have a keg or two ...

Mountain of kegs

The security guard chased me away so I went to find a beer. It was harder than I thought as it was 9am and most places don't open until noon. Dublin is also the home of the Porterhouse Brewing Company a brewpub turned microbrewery that makes one of the worlds best stouts.

Porterhouse Brewing Company

When I went by the first time it was 11am and as expected, they were not open. A sign in the window said "Ask about our guest cask beer from Headless Dog Brewery" -- that sounded very interesting but when I went back at noon the sign had changed to "Dungarvan Brewey." Not a cool a name as "Headless Dog" but I had read good reviews of Dungarvan so I was willing to try it.

It was about 12:10 and still the front door was locked. I was getting impatient and thirsty when the manager opened the door and invited me in. He apologized for opening late but he was busy getting the fresh cask tapped. It was the Dungarvan Helvick Gold Blonde Ale. "Would I like to try a pint, " he asked? I answered yes almost before he finished the question.

Dungarvan Helvick Gold

As an added bonus, it was on the house. "The first pint from a new cask is on the house. Angels Share"
It was fresh and fruity and a nice hoppy finish. A great first beer.

Now in case some of you are thinking that I am an impostor  or maybe been taken over by space aliens, my second beer was the Oyster Stout.

Porterhouse Oyster Stout

It tasted a bit different from the ones I remembered from their London pub. The saltiness (from the oysters) was more pronounced. It was very, very good and I will consume mass quantities this week.

In fact the glass was almost as pretty empty....

Nearly empty Oyster Stout