Just had a look at the Galway Hooker website. Aidan Murphy helped us with our brew and provided us with very valuable advice and assistance, as well as providing us with all the malted barley. Congratulations to Aidan on the Bridgestone award. Here’s an excerpt from the review:
‘The easiest question you can ask us about this new Bridgestone Irish Food Guide is, “what is the best new drink you discovered during three years of research?” The answer is “Galway Hooker.” No question about it. Aidan Murphy and Ronan Brennan’s beer is a masterpiece of brewing, a pale ale that is quiet the most moreish drink we have encountered in years. Everything about Galway Hooker is the antithesis of mass-produced beers: it is subtle, graceful, has superb texture and mouth-feel, the fruit and hop notes are poised and tantalizing, it is refreshing rather than gaseous, and it is fresh rather than flat and dull. An amazing feat of brewing.’
Praise indeed! It’s great to see an Irish craft brewery do so well. We’ve had a couple of pints in Neachtain’s and wholeheartily agree with the Bridgestone people. We’ve had it bad in Ireland for years with the lack of choice in beer we have. We’re always shocked when travelling by the wealth of choice other countries drinkers have. As the world’s second largest beer drinkers (we’re behind the Czech’s – obviously some people aren’t pulling their weight) we should demand better. Although most of us here are dedicated Guinness drinkers we’d still like to see a greater selection. So it’s great to see the growth in craft brewing here. Who knows, maybe one day we might actually be able to buy something other than Guinness, Smithwicks, or the American lager muck in every local.
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