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: Reuben Gray; Articles; 24 August 2017; 9291

When you think of great beer cities in Ireland, you wouldn't normally include Limerick in that list but things have changed significantly in Limerick. We just had the Beoir AGM there last Saturday and were met with a very warm welcome. Craft beer aside, there are some fantastic pubs there and now with local Limerick beer available in many. While specialist craft beer pubs are short on the ground, the ones that are there are doing an admirable job.

Mother Macs and the recently opened Wickham Tap are flying the flag for not just Irish Craft Beer but especially local Limerick beer such as Treaty City. Both pubs do serve regular macro beer too but they are both biding their time until that's no longer necessary.

Treaty City Brewing themselves went above and beyond by providing us a wonderfully entertaining and informative brewery tour thanks to Stephen.

What makes Limerick so special? We really needed to be there to understand it but Limerick seems to lack a lot of the big chains that have blighted many Irish cities. Everywhere you look there's a local café or bakery. A local barber, local pub, local shop. The only big chain coffee shop we noticed was in the train station, although I believe there's one other somewhere in the city. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of big, foreign chain retailers in the city but the area we were in was all about the local community. The biggest chain of anything we saw were a number of pubs called Flannery's which is only a chain in the sense that they are run by the same family. However they are run separately by different members of the family.

What does such a close community do to promote local craft beer and local pubs? They join forces and brew a community beer.

The night before the AGM, the beer was launched and Beoir members tried it on Saturday morning while visiting Mother Macs, before the AGM started. It was a very good beer too.

Here’s some of the press release surrounding the beer:

The beer is the result of a unique collaboration between the publicans of the Market Quarter and Treaty City Brewery.

Developing a beer from scratch is a long process that includes extensive research and numerous tasting sessions.

The result is the creation of ‘The Market Quarter Beer’, a light beer with a floral, citrus hop aroma.

“The Market Quarter beer is slightly floral and fruity with a medium malt flavour. It is an incredibly drinkable session beer low in bitterness and light in colour” explains Stephen Cunneen of Treaty City Brewery.

Not only is the beer unique, but the way it was developed is unique. It began with the Market Quarter publicans discussing the potential for a common beer, which would be exclusive to their pubs only. The publicans then met and discussed what could be done with Stephen Cunneen of Treaty City Brewery and a partnership was formed.

This is the first time this sort of approach has been undertaken anywhere in Ireland. It caters for traditional drinkers and craft beer enthusiasts alike.

James Lennon, Chairperson of the Market Quarter described the launch of the Market Quarter Beer; “We’re delighted with the launch of our Market Quarter Beer. It’s something that has brought us all together as a group. People are looking for a different drink experience, we can see that in the expansion of the craft beer and gin market. Customers want something more authentic. Therefore, we have developed this beer and want our customers to experience a new brew that’s interestingly delightful, and most importantly 100% Limerick made. We have loved creating it so we hope that you will love tasting it!”

The pubs where the beer is available are as follows.

Smyths Icon
The Red Hen
Mother Macs
The Old Quarter
Phil Flannery’s
Clohessey’s
Nancy Blakes
Charlie Chaplin’s
Angel Lane
Molly’s
The Library
The Office

: Reuben Gray; Articles; 21 May 2016; 6769

Last month, Beer Ireland launched their Micro Brewed badge and it has since started to appear on bottled beer and possibly on pump clips too? I'm not sure about that one.

For those that don't know, Beer Ireland is one of the two industry groups that represent craft breweries in Ireland with the other being the ICBI. Don't forget, Beoir represents the consumer and not necessarily the interests of the industry, though the two tend to go hand in hand when it comes to craft beer.

Beoir welcomes an attempt to provide a label that consumers can use to identify a beer as being independent. While being from an independent brewery doesn't necessarily mean the product is better, it does mean that it comes from a small brewery that supports local jobs and industry rather than a foreign owned multinational. One could consider it similar to the Guaranteed Irish badge except that it's more restrictive. At its core, the badge allows the consumer to make an informed choice to support a verified independent brewery.

To qualify for a Beer Ireland Micro Brewed badge, you need to meet the same definition Beoir uses for Irish Craft Beer with the addition of one.

The beers have been produced in a brewery on the island of Ireland.
The brewery is legally and economically independent of any other brewery.
The brewery meets the legal definition of micro brewery.
The brewery owners are professional members of Beer Ireland.

The last one means that the absence of the badge doesn't mean it's not a micro brewed beer, it simply means they are not a member of Beer Ireland and are perhaps a member of the ICBI or perhaps even not a member of any industry group at all. It's also worth noting that the criteria is all about the brewery that produces the beer, not the brand. A contract brand brewed by an independent brewery would still qualify in the same way it qualifies as Irish Craft Beer under our definition.

If you are ever in in doubt, just check the Beoir A - Z list. If it has a green tick, then it is a micro brewed beer and meets our definition.

: Articles; 10 September 2010; 6432

[Pending the updating of the new Directories, this is the old ICB pub list]

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