Back in Dublin, Drinking Beer Again...

I dropped my bags off at my hotel and headed for the nearby Brew Dock.

The Brew Dock

This is one of three pubs owned by the same group that owns the Olso and Salt House (and a couple of others) in Galway. They didn't have the Full Sail IPA on, so I went with the Stormy Port porter. Nothing new to report, tastes the same a last time -- which is a good thing.

Galway Bay Brewing Stormy Port Porter

My goal was to head over to the Porterhouse for a few pints of Oyster. On the way I passed Farrington's -- one of the pubs with a "Irish Craft Beers" sign in the window, so I stopped in.

Farrington's in Temple Bar

It turns out they have six Irish Craft beers on draft. I went with a Metalman Pale Ale. 

Metalman Pale Ale

This is a tasty beer, but it it is superb on cask.  The other draft beers I had also had before, so went to a bottle, the 8 Degrees Sunburnt Red.

8 Degress Sunburnt Red

It was enjoyable, but I guess I'm not a big fan of the style -- I want either more hops or more roasty maltiness.

I asked Barry, the barman for a suggestion and he suggested the Dr Rudi's Single Hop Belgian Ale.

Dr Rudi's Single Hop Belgian Ale

This is produced by the "Brown Paper Bag Project" which is not a brewery but a marketing company (i.e. a contract brewer) The beer is brewed by 8 Degrees (for now). It was definitely made with a Belgian yeast. It was fine but lacked the complexity you find in a lot of Belgian brewed Belgian style beers. I find that is the case with most (but not all!) small American breweries as well.

Well, that was three beers I wasn't counting on -- but thoroughly enjoyed -- so I continued on the Porterhouse. They have a cask ale TSB -- produced with New Zealand Sticklebract hops, long before they became trendy. I decided to try one before my Oyster Stouts.

Porterhouse TSB

It was tasty but nothing all that exciting. Not to sound like a broken record, but the Metalman Pale on cask I liked better.

Then it was time for an Oyster Stout. And another...

Porterhouse Oyster Stout

Yum. For a break, I had another of their nice Czech style Dark Lager, Bohemia.

Porterhouse Bohemia Dark Lager

It just made me take a note "Self, get back to Prague one of these days."

They had their second hand pump working, with a beer from Thornbridge in the UK, their Halcyon Imperial Pale Ale. I really like the Thornbridge beers, so I broke the rule again.

Thornbridge Halcyon Imperial IPA

Lovely, lovely, lovel. This would stand up well with a US Double IPA. Without the additional CO2 the hops really come thru.

In talking with a local, he mentioned the Black Sheep (the other new pub in the Galway chain) had quite a few cask beers. It sort of was on the way to the hotel -- not really but close enough.

The Black Sheep

They did have some cask beers, but I forgot to write them down. They didn't really grab my attention so they must be things I've had before. They did have one draft beer I hadn't had, the Metalman Garnet.

Metalman Garnet

This is one of their seasonal beers. It was a red ale and well made but it was too late in the evening to give it a fair rating. I definitely will have it again next time I am in town.