Raise a glass for Beer Saturday
It's Saturday again folks and unbelievably we have left our Summer behind us for 2022 and some time soon, very soon you will see that first shop putting up those Christmas decorations and I shudder at the thought! Not because I don't like Christmas, on the contrary I love it! But because I hate seeing decorations before December is here, any earlier and you start to dilute the festive season.
Now enough about early Christmas decorations, it's Saturday, it's September and it is Beer Saturday! This week I got my hands on something a little different - White Haze IPA from O'Hara's and it was a quality find actually and I really enjoyed it.
I have seen O'Hara's here on Beer Saturday before from others around the world, so this is one you might be able to pick up wherever you find yourself on this fine day. Just pop into your local bottle shop, off-license, liquor store or whatever you guys call the place that sells the beers or a pub of course, that would be the obvious one eh!
I've just visited the O'Hara's website and they give an interesting history of beer in Ireland and about how there used to be loads of breweries, then lots dies away and now since the craft beer revolution, we have loads again. Rather than me re-hashing what I have learned have a read below yourself - all of this info below came from https://www.carlowbrewing.com/our-heritage/
Brewing in Ireland has a long history which, like different beer styles, has evolved over time. Historically Irish ales were fermented without hops and by the time the late 1700s came around porter breweries were in popular demand. By the 18th century most market towns in Ireland boasted at least one brewery with different regions producing different styles of beer. Ireland’s hops were cultivated in the midlands and Carlow became particularly famous for having the best arable land in the country for malt barley cultivation, land that to this day is still used for growing high quality malt. Old malt houses can still be seen all along the River Barrow and these would have serviced the breweries and distilleries of the country through the navigable river and canal system.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century there were over 200 breweries in Ireland, more than 50 in Dublin alone. A large malt house on the outskirts of our local town, Bagenalstown, originally operated as a water powered brewery until the late 1700’s before being turned in to a malting facility which continued to produce malt until the mid-1980’s. This building still dominates the entrance to the town and still has intact floor maltings. Carlow town boasted no fewer than 8 breweries. Unfortunately Ireland had a steady decline in it’s indigenous brewing industry over the past 200 years, with the beer industry today dominated by a small number of large internationally owned breweries.
While Ireland’s prestigious reputation for producing quality beers continued to dwindle, a craft brewing revival had begun in Britain and America. As early as the 1980s these two countries had gained great diversity in brewing, and Ireland looked to follow suit. In the early 1990’s the O’Hara family, along with a few other beer-loving entrepreneurs, stepped onto the scene, ready to put Ireland on the map. Ireland’s microbreweries were born again and the wheels were set in motion for the slow but highly successful craft beer evolution.
Today, there has never been a more exciting time to be part of the craft beer scene in Ireland. There are now 72 production microbreweries in operation, up from just 15 in 2012, according to a recent Bord Bia report. Craft beer consumers are becoming more numerous, confident and adventurous than ever before leading to demand for a wide variety of flavours and styles. Pubs and off-licenses are playing their part too and many now stock a broad range of Irish craft beer to meet customer demand.
The Irish Craft Beer & Cider Festival, co-founded by Seamus O’Hara, the festival has been held in Dublin since 2011 the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). In 2018 the festival moved to the Leinster Cricket Club, with over 20 Irish & International craft breweries setting up under the Festival Big Top to showcase some 150 different beers and ciders. Here at O’Hara’s Brewery/Carlow Brewing Company we are proud to be a part of this new diversity in styles and flavours. We look forward to the opportunities this new growth has to offer.
Very interesting stuff I'm sure you'll agree. Ok, now let me leave you with a grading on this fine beverage, until next time mind yourselves and if ya get it, take it twice.
The Grade
3.5/5
Thanks to @detlev for this ongoing and excellent contest for beer lovers around the world. Why not join yourself? Just tell a story about beer with a few photos or drink a beer and tell us about it.
The photos used throughout this post are all my own taken on my Samsung smart phone
Sláinte and Peace out.
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I’ve tried a lot of beers from O’haras and they are decent. Not the best on the craft beer market, but definitely good enough to be enjoyed with pleasure!
Cheers!
Yep, I think that sums them up very well actually, decent and drinkable but nothing to write home about..
I’ll have to keep my eye out for this one here in Australia.
Been enjoying my hazy IPAs as of late. Other people must be too, because there’s heaps of new craft breweries popping up that specialise in these sort of !beer
Enjoy mate!
Ya, I'm the same man, big fan of the Hazy ones too, they tend to be nice and hoppy and sessionable.
The part you talked about not liking early Christmas decorations got me laughing 😂 because I feel your pain. I'm not a beer fan or alcoholic fan🌚🌚 otherwise, I would have participated. Anyway, This Beer looks good. Keep flexing @ablaze
Yep!! Really gets on my nerves, like you'd thinking they'd at least wait until late November! It gets earlier every year!
😂 Still very funny. Well, I don't think I have a problem with it. Christmas has different meanings to different people you know. So I can understand the rush to an extent.
Ya I guess so, but the decorations going up in September, October or even November still drives me nuts! 🤣
😂
Cheers my friend and here is a bit !BEER for your lovely post
Thanks man, much appreciated
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