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I had to go there today to renew my drivers license as its my local large town. I went into a pub for lunch for a couple of reasons. I liked the food in the pub last time I was in and also I wanted to see if they had any decent beer, it always seemed the place but last time I was not drinking as I had to drive home.
OK I still had to drive home but it would be over an hour by the time I would get in my car again so I figured I was safe to have a pint.

Anyway the first thing I noticed was a board that mentioned Special World Beers. There were only two beers on the board. [b:33de23n5]Desperados [/b:33de23n5](Tequila beer) which I am going to assume is Piss, and also [b:33de23n5]Innis & Gunn[/b:33de23n5] which I did not like the last time but it is a good beer and plenty of people like it.
That is not all their non Irish pub standard beers either. On tap they had [b:33de23n5]Krombacher [/b:33de23n5]which I have never had. They also had two wheats. [b:33de23n5]Paulaner [/b:33de23n5](everywhere these days) and also [b:33de23n5]Erdinger[/b:33de23n5].
Also [b:33de23n5]Budvar [/b:33de23n5]on tap.

I myself had an Erdinger. No Irish craft brew unfortunately. I can imagine Galway hooker going down very well as I know that place is packed at the weekends. Its only the second time I have been in there so I do not know who to talk to about beer in there yet.

Anyway aside from the beer, as a pub its brilliant. It has a great atmosphere, the décor is fantastic with a mix of normal bar tables/chairs and plenty of leather armchairs too. There is a beer garden out back too and they tend to have a lot of live bands on at night.

I will have to do a proper pub investigation in Mullingar soon to see what is on offer. I was disappointed when I went into [i:33de23n5]The old Stand[/i:33de23n5] as its off license had some truly excellent beer but nothing in the bar but the usual **Just back and they have loads so more in another post**. That said it was lovely and cosy and there was a cat wandering around which gave it a charm I would never see in Dublin.
Another favourite pub for food is [i:33de23n5]The Druids Chair[/i:33de23n5]. I have only ever had a Guinness in there but I have not been in about a year and have never had a nosy to see if they have any decent beer.

"Saruman":17khpsbk wrote: ...Desperados (Tequila beer) which I am going to assume is Piss, ..[/quote:17khpsbk]
Dead right there!!!! <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

I was also in Danny Byrnes there not so long ago. Bit of a let down beer wise.
I mean its great having what they have on tap and all, bit of a change from the usual. But I can't understand why a pub like that cant stock some Irish Craft Beer.
Galway Hooker and O'Haras would be the big two that can't be too hard to get in.

It is a lovely pub though. Nicely lit with candles everywhere and nice food too.

No reason at all they could not stock some Irish craft brew and I would say they would make good money considering how popular a pub it is.

Do Irish craft beer producers have reps they send around the country? If not then they should.
It would be great to have somewhere so close to have Galway hooker. OK so I would have to get a taxi which is €16 each way but its only 10 minutes away as opposed to over an hour on the bus to Dublin and I can not stay late in Dublin or there are no busses home.

&amp;quot;Saruman&amp;quot;:3hl9p2d1 wrote: Do Irish craft beer producers have reps they send around the country?[/quote:3hl9p2d1]

Yes, Us here @ ICB, the pay is crap and the hours are long but in time we get the job done.

all jokes aside the lads from Hooker have been actively accumulating pubs to sell their beer, unfortunately even the bigger irish craft breweries are pretty small and i would hazard a guess that they cannot afford full time reps to promote their beer to new pubs.

I sent an email to Aidan at Galway hooker.
I also sent one to the carlow email address.
I would sat Danny Byrnes would be a success but also suggested my local so I can walk across the road and get a hooker or a Celtic stout <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

At least I can get my O' Haras and drink it at home but if I want a Hooker I have to go to a pub.