Just wanted to pay a quick tribute to Oliver Hughes, co-founder of the Porterhouse, who died suddenly last night[/url:1srnf6xw]. Aside from his tireless work to promote Irish craft beer against all the odds over the last two decades (he pretty much single-handedly brought about the 2005 tax break), he was a great friend to Beoir and Irish Craft Brewer before it. He was always generous with his time and never less than a witty, entertaining and downright educational speaker.
I can't imagine that the Porterhouse would have kept going without a very personal involvement from him, even as it expanded out into an international pub chain and distillery. It's actually hard to imagine the whole thing continuing to run without him, but I really hope it does. His death is a huge loss to the Irish beer scene.
