Ah Summer! Ok, we’re not having the greatest one weather-wise here this year but at least there are some constants, like our Summer Series brewery tours and tasting sessions!

Once again this year we are running tour and tasting sessions on Friday evenings, kicking things off at 5pm with a brewery tour and following this with a tasting of our beers and some food pairings. Sessions last approx. 90 minutes and are a relaxed, fun session and a great way to kick off the weekend.

For an idea of what to expect on our Summer Series, have a read about Billy Lyon’s visit with us in 2014 on his blog corkbilly.com.

Contact us for more info, dates available and to book your spot on one of our Friday evening sessions, or book for yourself or someone else via our online shop.

Mine Head on a trip to the beach.

For visits to the brewery outside of these sessions please contact us in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you. Be advised that summer is a busy time for us with production and visitors so advance notice is required. We have more information about visiting the brewery on our Brewery Tours page.

We have been asked many times about brewing a gluten free beer, but up until recently we were not happy to do so, as it would mean either brewing with a gluten-free grain such as sourghum or chemically altering the beer, which is not something we are willing or happy to do.

Gluten Free Comeragh Challenger

However, new brewing products have come available that can break down the gluten in the beer, and after a bit of trialling and experimentation our head brewer Cormac decided to make this year’s Comeragh Challenger gluten free.  Comeragh Challenger is our regular summer seasonal since it was first released in 2012 and is an always popular one.

After a few delays and hiccups along the way, the beer was brewed and bottles from each batch have been tested and certified – the results of the analysis are showing a gluten content of <10ppm (far below the threshold of <20ppm for a food to be considered Gluten Free).  All batches brewed this year so far have been tested, so any Comeragh Challenger currently on the market is gluten free. We released some of the bottles before receiving certification but you can rest assured that even if the bottle isn’t marked as such, all stock out there is certified. Cheers!

Not one, but two 800th birthdays being celebrated around us this weekend!

Dungarvan 800

From Waterford County Museum:

On 3 July 1215 King John issued a charter at Marlborough which granted the customs of Breteuil (in France) to Dungarvan. It freed the burgesses in the town from tolls and customs owed to the Crown. The 800^th anniversary of this important event takes place on 3rd July this year.

Dungarvan will be spending the weekend celebrating this occasion, beginning with the arrival of ‘King John’ by boat to Dungarvan quay on Friday at 5.45pm, accompanied by a flotilla from Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club and there’ll also be a medieval banquet at Crews Restaurant, a market at King John’s Castle courtyard and a series of lectures organised by Waterford Museum.

Sherry cask which we aged Copper Coast in.

Crews were keen to serve a beer at the medieval banquet, which let’s face it would be a lot more fitting historically than “other drinks”, so we decided to barrel age some of our Copper Coast for the night – we used the same sherry barrels that Blackwater Distillery aged our Poitín collaboration in. It’ll be served from a cask on the night along with their fantastic medieval menu.

Crews’ Medieval Banquet Menu

Dromana 800

In tandem with this, Dromana 800 also takes place this weekend, celebrating 800 years of Dromana House. We will be taking part in their Georgian Fete on Sunday, 5th of July and will also be serving our barrel aged beer there, alongside our core range of beers.

For a taster of what will be happening in Dungarvan this weekend take a look at the RTE Nationwide programme which aired on July 2nd and features lots of familiar Dungarvan faces and places.

Father’s Day is tomorrow. But you knew that, right? And you’re all sorted with gifts and cards, right? Riiight..?

Ok, you’re not. But don’t panic just yet – we’re looking out for you here and have a back up plan for you.  First, you need a card – no probs, download the image below, print, fold and write your greeting. Card sorted.

Click on image for full size.

Then, for a gift run to your nearest off licence which stocks great craft beer, grab a bottle and present it with the card. Job done.

Too hot to run to the shop? Or finding it hard to let go of Dad’s bottle? The why not book a brewery tour and tasting session for him. We have a Friday evening series running throughout the summer, bookings can be made on our webshop and we can send you a printable ticket to include with your card. Bingo! Instant status as best son or daughter ever.

If your Dad likes his card, send us a pic on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or even a Vine. Our favourite will get a goodie pack from the brewery 🙂

Here’s to the Dads! 🍻

Cormac was delighted recently to be one of ten international brewers to be invited to the UK to brew for the Wetherspoon’s Real Ale Festival 2015, brewing up O’Dwyer’s Irish Stout at Wadworth’s Brewery in Wiltshire.

All the brews took place at the UK breweries on the 9th February 2015, with all the brewers meeting in London for the social side of things the following evening.

Cormac (front and centre) with the other international brewers.

The beers are to be served alongside forty other UK real ales as part of the JDW Real Ale Festival which runs from March 13th – 29th, with ales going on rotation in the pubs across the UK.  Each of the beers has been brewed using only British-grown hop varieties; a total of 24 different hop varieties are being featured amongst the festival beers, including established varieties (Fuggles and Goldings) and newer varieties (Boadicea and Jester).

The overseas beers on offer have been sourced from brewers in Brazil, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, Spain, Ireland and Australia.

“The festival is the perfect opportunity to showcase the wonderful range of British-grown hop varieties and support British hop farmers” said beer festival organiser Gary Holmes. “It will give beer enthusiasts the perfect opportunity to enjoy a superb selection of UK and international beers, many of which have not previously been served in Wetherspoon pubs.”

 O’Dwyer’s Irish Stout

Based on Dungarvan Brewing Company’s own Black Rock, this is a smooth, full-flavoured beer brewed using roasted barley to give a chocolate taste, complemented by notes by herbal hints of vanilla and aniseed.

Brewed with Challenger and East Kent Goldings hops.

Currently being served on rotation handpumps at JD Wetherspoon pubs across the UK, keep an eye out for it!

We have a very exciting collaboration taking place at the brewery this week… more details soon and keep an eye on our social media accounts for hints to the brewer coming to work with us, and the very special beer being planned…

We are delighted to have Ireland’s newest distillery, Blackwater Distillery, just a few miles from us in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, and were especially pleased when Peter from there made contact with us with an idea he had in mind.. a distilled beer, the first of its kind in Ireland.

Peter wanted to explore the idea running a beer through his still and putting the resulting spirit to rest in Sherry casks for a couple of months, to take on the colouring and some of the flavouring of the casks. So, in January Cormac brewed up a strong (7%) oatmeal stout, which was then transferred to the Cappoquin distillery where Peter continued the operation, turning 800L of stout into under 100L of spirit.

Cormac and Peter, brewer and distiller,
with oatmeal stout fermenting behind them.

The spirit is currently maturing in the sherry casks, and it will be bottled at the beginning of April to be on sale in time for West Waterford Festival of Food, where it will be launched.  There will be a very limited supply of this initial run of only 100 bottles.  This is the first spirit of its kind in Ireland, which begins life as a beer rather than a wash which would be the normal process for making a whiskey. We are really looking forward to tasting the end result, especially to taste it side-by-side with the original oatmeal stout to see which of the flavours from it come through in the spirit.

Details of stockists and availability of the distilled beer will be coming shortly, if you are interested in stocking it please do get in touch.

During the West Waterford Festival of Food weekend there will be opportunities to visit the brewery and distillery for tours and workshops, and you can learn more about the products we make at the Irish Craft in a Glass series over the festival weekend.

We are delighted to announce that we now have two accredited Beer Sommeliers at the brewery, with Claire and Tom both having been awarded the recognition following assessment at The Beer Academy in London last week.  This brings to seven the total number of Beer Sommeliers in Ireland and both are delighted to be joining the illustrious group of Paul, Phil, Aidan, Sarah and Des.

Receiving the awards from Alex Barlow, Director of Training at The Beer Academy
(Photo from The Beer Academy)

The beer sommelier scheme offers recognition of a significant depth of knowledge of beer styles and beer and food matching for successful candidates and follows on from Claire and Tom’s ongoing work in the areas of food pairings, tutored tastings and beer education and staff training. Both are also qualified beer judges through The Beer Academy and have a wide knowledge of beer styles, flavours and food pairings and have been huge ambassadors and promoters of the craft beer scene here in Ireland over the last five years.

Beer Sommelier medal

Summer Series

Join Claire and Tom throughout the summer as they host tours and tasting sessions at the brewery as part of our Summer Series, where you can learn more about our beers and try some samples with food matches and test their knowledge hear their thoughts on the world of beer and food pairings! First of the series is this Friday, 11th of July at 5pm. For more information or to book a place, please contact the brewery.

Cheers!