Keeping Up To Date

Today I want to report any updates on previous posts -what's been going on in my beer world, so to speak.


Very recently, I did a post on The Bierhaus which can be read here.

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention their Summer Beer Festival which took place last weekend (20,21,22 June). By all accounts my plugging was unnecessary as they had a full house all weekend, despite - or maybe because of - serving no mainstream draught beer. Dave got in a number of guest draught and bottled beers for the weekend, the stand out one, for me, being the Meantime Pale Ale from England . There was music and Uncle Pete's Pizza (second next door) did Bradwurst. Who said there wasn't a market for quality beer. The Bierhaus had an absolutely hopping weekend while not selling a single pint of Guinness or Heineken. Look out for their Octoberfest!


My post on the standard of bar serving (here) caused quite a stir on this forum - a debate that still rages.

I had made reference to a bar serving Weihenstephaner but their staff didn't seem to have a clue what it was or, in some cases, that they even stocked it. At the time, I didn't name the bar. It was The Crane Lane. I can now happily report that the staff now seem to have gotten to grips with said beer and even know how much to charge for the Vitus (7.5% Weizenbock). The management were a little slow off the mark in getting their staff familiar with this new beer but better late than never. It must be noted that The Crane Lane does sell a fine varied selection of world beers and local microbrews from The Franciscan Well, not just a rash of 'premium' lagers like many bars do when they want to up the beer selection.


Again, a heated debate arose in this forum when I criticised The Pavillion for having such a poor selection of beer - the post can be read here.

I've been in since. Again, I say I do like the understated, modern décor. A look over the counter told me that, yes, they have changed their beer selection. For the better? Yes, sort of. On the down side, they seem to have taken out bottled Hoegaarden. But they have started to stock Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen - add the dunkel to that and we'd be getting somewhere. While I often complain about too many lagers in bars at (the expense of other beers), The Pav have put in one of my favourites - Vedett. The people who make Duvel (come on, guys stock that too!) make this fresh, crisp lager that actually has some flavour, and while clever marketing and packaging doesn't make a bad beer good, I am a sucker for the look of this bottle and all their marketing gimmicks (check out the site). Budweiser 1795 has also made an appearance, which I do prefer to its neighbour Budvar (the story is here)
In the name of fairness, I handed over my hard earned cash to try their coffee again. I'm very sad to say that it was even worse than the last time I tried it. It just didn't taste like coffee at all. There are obviously some serious problems with their coffee procedures or machine - people don't seem to appreciate that it takes a lot of effort and training to make a decent coffee and The Pav don't seem to be bothered in fixing their problems.
On a happier note, they are now serving lunch in The Pavillion. The person responsible for the food is Mary who previously did Janey Mac's in South Court Terrace and her reputation speaks for itself. I'll be having lunch there myself soon but I'll go elsewhere for my coffee.

Update; I've had lunch there and can confirm that my expectations were correct - the food is well made home style soup and sambos, with a bit of flair at reasonable prices (and it's not that easy to find good soup about town).


In this post I heralded the arrival of Weihenstephaner in Ireland.

Well, finally the Dunkel version had come in. For people who like Schneiderweisse Original, Weihenstephaner should very much appeal. It has a similar sort of darkness to it (quite pale for a dunkel) and while very much its own beer, does have similarities. I think it may just be my regular pub drink.
I had written that their Vitus was somewhat of a disappointment to me. Well, after a few in The Bierhaus and The Crane Lane, I have developed somewhat of a fondness for the pale strong weizenbock that is Vitus. Weihenstephaner have a huge catalogue of beers so who knows what other ones will come to our shores in the future.


Although this post was somewhat disjointed (and all the links took me ages), I feel it is necessary to report on how things are changing and if people are responding to my criticism.

My last drink was; Pint of draught Beamish, 4.1%abv (I think)