Ciara's Country Flavours: grab a cold one

Remember the days when you’d walk into a bar and your choices were Guinness, Heineken and maybe Carlsberg thrown in for good luck. The taps in front of you signalled what was on offer. Now when it comes to buying a beer, you’ve got menus full of IPAs and hoppy characters abundant.

Craft beer really has revolutionised the industry and the beer offering for consumers. Not just in Ireland. On a recent visit to the United States for the Alltech One Conference, one local bar in Kentucky had over 100 beers on tap and all were local. These days when tourists travel they expect to taste the region.

In Ireland, however, Irish brewers are limited by some pretty ancient laws – specifically the Craft Beer Bill which prevents breweries to sell or even allow visitors to sample their beer on-site. It dates back to English rule in Ireland and came into force so breweries wouldn’t be competing with pub trade.

Cuilan Loughnane, owner of White Gypsy Brewery in Templemore, Co Tipperary, explains: “The current scenario means that if people were to embark on a craft brewery tour, after listening to how the beer was made, the quality of the ingredients and the journey that brewers take in ensuring their beer is of the highest standard, at the end they can’t buy a bottle or even try a sample. The exception is in places such as the Guinness Storehouse. It is allowed to serve a pint at the end because it has a pub licence. Given that licences costs between €90,000 and €100,000, it simply isn’t viable for small craft brewers to go down this route.”

However, this law which dates back to the 1800s, is set to change. In the coming days it is expected that the bill will go through the Dáil for approval in the Seanad, with expectations that it will be back for a final vote before mid-July.

“If it is passed it means that after a visitor has embarked on a brewery tour, they can taste the beer that they have learned about. The opportunities that this presents, not just for brewers but also for rural tourism, are significant. There are 58 craft brewers in Ireland, spread geographically across the country. Last year over €1.7m people visited the Guinness Storehouse. Let’s try and get some of those people beyond Dublin to visit the breweries of Clifftown, Kilkenny or Dingle.”

Irish Country Living will keep readers updated on this development, but in the meantime craft beer lovers have lots to celebrate this week with Indie Beer Week in full swing.

Running until 1 July. It’s all about the independent brewers of Ireland saying thanks to the communities that support them, in the most enjoyable way.

Now in its second year, there are more than 30 participating breweries hosting over 50 unique and intriguing events, with everything from talks and tastings to beer house yoga, jazz and trad sessions, long table beer-matching dinners and scavenger hunts. There are also brewery tours, and although you still won’t get a sample at the end, let’s hope this is the last year that will be the case.

To celebrate the week’s festivities, many of the participating breweries will raise funds for their chosen local charity. This is a festival that showcases what the independent craft beer business is all about in this country – looking out for each other and supporting indigenous enterprise, talent and ingenuity.

For a full calendar of events, please see www.indiebeerweek.ie

We’ve had the Taste of Dublin, the Cork Summer Show, the Galway Food Festival, but now it’s Wicklow’s turn – with Taste of Wicklow taking place on 30 June and 1 July at the Abbey Grounds in Wicklow town. Expect to see some of the best in the business when it comes to food demos, with Catherine Fulvio, Kevin Dundon and Paul Kelly, and if you’re looking for a local taste there will be over 30 artisan food and craft stalls.

Many have been tweaking their delicacies for months, just for this event.

Wicklow Town & District Chamber president Robin Bradley said: “Now in its sixth year, The Taste of Wicklow Food Festival has become the standout social event of the year in Wicklow Town and this year sets out to promote all the food producers in Co Wicklow.”

It’s also a great day out for the family, with everything from face painters to local bands set to put on powerful performances.

Tickets are available online at www.tasteofwicklow.ie/tickets

Chefs and restaurant owners listen up, as we have found something that might just make your life a little easier. In a recent edition of Irish Country Living Food, we wrote about Stefan Griesbach, MD of Gannet Fishmongers, and the new website www.eatmorefish.ie where consumers can get the best of fish from the west. Now it has gone one step further, developing an app for chefs and restaurants.

Stefan explains: “Looking at a restaurant like Kai in Galway, head chef Jess Murphy wants turbot tomorrow night, then all she has to do is log into the app, click the products, click the amounts and send it away. No more texting orders, no more phone calls.”

Given the nature of how kitchens work and changeover of staff on different shifts, it means everyone is on the same page.

“Maybe a sous chef will order fish today and things change tomorrow, and there is always so much going on in kitchens, this app allows your fish and seafood orders to be logged and visible to all your kitchen staff and to the staff at Gannet. It cuts down on admin and pointless printing, phone calls and late-night text messages.”

It’s not just fish that needs this kind of progression. It opens up a whole new range of opportunities for kitchen ordering as a whole.

Gannet Fishmongers Factory Shop is open Tuesday to Friday, 10am-5pm, at Ballybane Industrial Estate. Order fish to your door anywhere in the country at www.eatmorefish.ie