The Franciscan Well, Cork, Ireland

Posted on July 8, 2015 by melsmosaic

Among various places visited while in Ireland, a great place stumbled upon (no pun intended) was Franciscan Well Brewery.

It’s a newer brewery (founded in late ’90s), but has great history to it.

‘The Franciscan Well Brewery was founded in 1998 on the North Mall in Cork City and is built on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery and Well, dating back to the year 1219. Legend has it that the water from the well has miraculous and curative properties and people would come from afar to drink from it.’

We opted to take the entire brewery tour to find out about what all they do based on the additional info they provided on their site.

‘The Brewery has combined modern technology with old age tradition in forming classic beer styles including lager, ale, stout and wheat beer. All the beers brewed at the Franciscan Well are natural, and do not contain any chemical additives or preservatives and are made with the best ingredients.’

It was great. To put the size of the brewery in perspective, the only thing I can think of is that it’s maybe a quarter size of the end zone of a football field? Maybe 1/3? It’s tiny. They have so little space, have to stay on top of things to a tee and provided more much more insane amounts of info, from law restrictions, what got them started, real estate, bottling, competition, brewing specs to tastings from beginning to…ahhh…end.

The tour provided 4 or so tastings where you also went through the components of yeast, barley, etc. All their brews were great. But, one I do remember was a hefe with way too much banana. I definitely did not need to have more of that.

When you visit the brewery, they have an outdoor brick pizza oven where you can order a great meal, as well, to help soak up all the fun. Worth checking out to get in even more Irish culture.

3 Stars Brewing Company

Posted on June 28, 2015 by melsmosaic

Washington, DC is becoming a growing microbrew market, between the city proper and local areas. Many of the new ones are in the city, and are helping some of the run-down areas get a face lift, since they cost less to operate (lower rent) and then bring traffic to the area. I was recently housesitting and found out about 3 Stars Brewing Company that was less than a mile from where I was staying — perfect! It’s right near Takoma Park in DC/MD. It’s in the far east side of the NW quadrant of DC. Go a couple blocks and you’re in NE.

It’s very hidden in a row of industrial buildings — they could use a bigger sign. They’re open Thursday-Sunday for tastings and tours. They also have an area for homebrewers to come get the ingredients they want to brew their own stuff, aka their Homebrew Shop.

The menu is pretty vast and you can taste 4oz. pours for $1.50. You can’t go wrong with that. The ABV range is also pretty wide so you also have to be pretty cautious on some levels.

I’m torn between the Peppercorn and Ghost as to which one was my favorite.

In addition to the nice tastes, you can of course get pints as well as growler fills. This would be there perfect place to go on the weekend with their picnic tables, They mentioned food trucks also swing by so you can fill the stomach with food in addition to beer.

Wheat, grapefruit…and beer

Posted on June 21, 2015 by melsmosaic

I love wheat beer, I love grapefruit. But putting them together, I wasn’t sure about. I am also never sure about low ABV stuff. So while roaming around Rodman’s last week I came across a tasting that changed my mind about all of these. There was a sampling of Schofferhofer Grapefruit. On these hot summer days that have hit us, this could not be a more perfect brew. It has that hefe background with that refreshing grapefruit taste. And, it’s only 3.2% ABV. The guy doing the demo says he uses it to refuel after a workout. Hey, each one to their own right? Would be perfect after yard work, for picnics, basically for anything on a hot summer day!

Extra Irish Brews

Posted on June 21, 2015 by melsmosaic

There are the well-know Irish brews that most people turn to. So it was great to find (and enjoy) the various domestic brews we don’t hear much about here in the States while there recently. And since you can get half pints, you don’t have to drink a ton of the stuff when it’s on tap. I can’t say that I have a favorite. They were all pretty darn good.

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Guinness Factory

Posted on June 7, 2015 by melsmosaic

Of course when one travels to Ireland for the first time it’s almost a given/requirement to visit the Guinness factory. While planning the visit, I luckily received tips to purchase tickets in advance to avoid long lines once arriving.

Unlike most brewery tours it was self-guided and you could read through everything and go at your own pace. You get all information from history to brewing process to marketing and more.

With the tour you received a (free) pint of the stout. Now, one could go to the 6th floor of the building and have it poured for them, or you could stop by the 4th floor and learn how to pour it properly. Hello, that’s a given! So much fun to pour your own brew.

Very fun part of Dublin, Ireland. Cheers!

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New Brews

Posted on May 10, 2015 by melsmosaic

Had the chance to sip some new brews this weekend. Love veering from wine from time-to-time.

First was Flying Dog’s Single Hop HBC-431 Imperial IPA. You could sip this beer all day. And, if you did you would be in extreme trouble, both physically and financially… It’s 10% ABV and runs about $15/6-pack. I’d never had a single hop beer. You could taste some orange, apricot and it was a tiny bit thick. So good and worth the money.

Also had Blue Moon’s First Peach Ale. I love the majority of their stuff so had to try this. Could be a pro or con depending on your palate. It tasted just like peach iced tea. I am not an iced tea fan, let alone peach tea. So, I would much prefer just a traditional Blue Moon. But for some, this Seasonal could be a winner.

Have you tried either of these and have any feedback?

Buddha Beer

Posted on April 21, 2015 by melsmosaic

Got to try a new beer last weekend that I definitely hadn’t heard of before — Lucky Buddha. It’s imported from China and is a light brew in a cool bottle, I will say.

It has a bit of a unique flavor to it, but nothing to write home about. To me it was a traditional light beer — they label it as “brewed and bottled at the Thousand Island Lake in China fusing the finest quality malt, hops, rice and water from this pristine region delivering an Asian style lager that is truly an enlightened brew.”

With a low ABV (4.8%) it would be good for a hot summer afternoon day when you don’t need anything heavy. Another thing to note about this, the bottle is smaller than it should be — only 11.6oz. Totally get skimped on that level. The 6-packs were about $10.

Blood, Sweat, & Beer

Posted on March 1, 2015 by melsmosaic

Today I checked out the DC Independent Film Festival to view a screening of a movie that sounded very interesting — Blood, Sweat, & Beer.

It’s “a feature documentary about the explosive growth of the craft beer industry and the dramatic journeys of two start-up breweries.” The producers interviewed over 100 brewers and narrowed it down to two. Throughout the movie, there are some great stats about beer, good interviews, and all around solid information about this great drink.

The brewers from the Pittsburgh-area are (relatively) recent college grads who had to submit a location for a senior year project and soon thereafter launched The Brew Gentlemen (that’s the very quick story for it). They have made a huge contribution to help a rundown steel town come back to life. We sampled a couple of their brews. Good stuff.

The other brewery featured is that of beach lover who has been in Ocean City pretty much his whole life and wanted to change the scene from macro to micro brews — Backshore Brewing Company. He had to start it small because there is not much room on the boardwalk, from seating to brewery material proper. But, you have to start somewhere. He’s gone through some ups and downs, from the name to the size, but it’s growing and growing. I tried their light beer and it was nice!

The movie is due out later this year. If you like independent films and/or beer, worth checking it out.

Ommegang

Posted on February 1, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was at a happy hour the other day and found a new (to me) brew on tap, so that of course meant I had to try it. Ommegang was the wonderful producer, out of Cooperstown, NY (also the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame). The beer proper was their Rare Vos Amber Ale.

Very nice. Matches the name by color, light hops, some herbs & fruit and nice & smooth. ABV is 6.5%. Totally worth checking it out if you’re an amber beer fan, or just a beer fan, in general! Cheers.

Brew on

Posted on January 7, 2015 by melsmosaic

There was just a great article about the Best New Breweries in the US in The Daily Meal. They are everywhere across the country, showing how much microbreweries continue to grow. And as noted in the article, according to the Brewers Association, an average of 1.5 new breweries opens every day in the U.S. alone. In 2014, 13 states reached the 100-brewery milestone (along with some other great stats).