In 2006, cousins Aidan Murphy from Cork and Ronan Brennan from Galway saw a gap in the market for a craft beer from the west of Ireland.

Aidan and Ronan’s brewery is based Oranmore, just outside Galway. The pair are responsible for creating the first-ever permanent pale ale brewed in Ireland. The name Galway Hooker was inspired by the traditional boat from the region, which was used in the 18th century across Galway Bay.

Both Aidan and Ronan combined their vast knowledge of distilling and craft beer to create this award-wining beer. Aidan has over 10 years’ experience in the industry and has worked in several breweries around the world.

“I worked in Okell’s Brewery on the Isle of Man for two years,” he said. Not to mention a masters degree in brewing and distilling, which he completed at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, in 2003.

“Ronan did a degree in hotel management, so he knows the retail side of things,” added Aidan.

The production of craft beer has been on the rise in recent years, with microbreweries helping revive the art of making ale on a small scale.

Galway Hooker Pale Ale is available in bottle and on draught and is a firm favourite in pubs and restaurants across the Galway area and beyond with locals and tourists alike.

“So far, we’ve done a small bit of exporting to France and Spain. We are hoping to expand into the American market once we are stable enough. We’re also sending a pallet of our beer to Taiwan in the coming days. Every opportunity we get to market our beer, we take,” explained Aidan.

Fresh

The pair consider their beer to be like food – the fresher and the less processed the better. The more preservatives and additives used, the lower the quality of the product.

Both enjoy making beer the old fashioned way, using natural homegrown ingredients. Malted barley is their main ingredient. It’s crushed in the mill to extract the starch from the grain. Other cereals, such as maize, that are used in other breweries aren’t used at the Oranmore distillery.

For Aidan and Ronan, it’s all about quality. The Mash Tun, where the grain and water are mixed, creates the fermenting process – this is how the ale is made.

Galway Hooker is known for its depth of flavour. The production of the malted barley is what makes the product unique.

“Although there is huge competition in the market, our beer is the first pale ale of its kind. It sets the benchmark for other breweries.

“We only use the finest ingredients when it comes to producing our beer,” said Aidan.

They were presented with the best beer in Ireland award by Beoir, the Irish Consumer Beer Group, in 2007 and 2009, as well as the Glas na hEireann award last year.