Anyone know these guys? Didn't know there was a brewery so close to me!!!! Found this in a shop in Leixlip this evening
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/10/re4uju8e.jpg)
Hope you are sitting down, I was reading on Beoir it was brewed by a contingent of ex Molsen Coors Management?, and it was rapidly turning into an "all fur and no knickers debate" as they were heavy on the marketing but not being brewed here (yet, Q1)
That pic makes it look flat as a fart what's it like?
nearest brewery to you is in Trim with Bru Brewery, the Mc Gargles is brewed in Chesire by http://www.thomashardybrewery.co.uk/
Damn!!!!
@tube Spar in Easton and they'd nothing else out of the ordinary
@CH I'm sitting down drinking one of my own pale ales. The beer wasn't as flat as it looked. The beer is just OK but I was excited at the prospect of a local brewery.
@blueshed, Damn!!!!! I've been had. The bottle says 'brewed in the EU', rye river brewing company, kilcock
Was given a christmas pack of this beer. Have not got around to it yet.
Quote from: iTube on January 09, 2014, 08:35:36 PM
Richard, you were at the last meet in the Lucan County... I handed around a 4 pack of bottles, you might remember? Gerry had them all and was getting in the taps last I heard.
Don't remember Shane but I didn't hang around too long
They sell it in a pub near me.
A red ale and a wheat beer i think it was (I def dont think it was a pale ale) - anyway i have sampled a few pints of the red a couple of times and its only alright.
But as was said - heavy on the marketing - Fancy wooden counter display and served in tankards (Rovers return style) everyone in the pub was asking do i bring my own glas - so i assume im one of prob only a handfull of people who had drank it.
Quote from: JimmyM on January 10, 2014, 12:27:40 PM
They sell it in a pub near me.
A red ale and a wheat beer i think it was (I def dont think it was a pale ale) - anyway i have sampled a few pints of the red a couple of times and its only alright.
Not wheat, its a pilsner beer.
A bit sweet but very drinkable. Its on sale at the Boro in Swords.
Think the suspicion with a lot of folks is that its not clear where they've come from. Very murky.
Their beer is currently contract brewed in the UK
The suspicion may be totally unfounded they are a trojan horse for a big macro but they literally popped up out of nowhere, slick branding (even if i find it terrible) product in a lot of places very quickly. They've obviously spent a lot of money.
I've never seen a craft producer enter the market like that.
Its on sale in Buskers in Temple Bar if anyone in town wants to try it
"irish family brewers" screams faux micro to me. The fact that is has "gargle" in the name too. Only a corporate would think thats funny/good idea.
Working in an offie, and over Christmas the rep came in to me to drop in gift sets of the 3 beers they do. The rep said the guys who own the brewery/beers "used" to work for Molson Coors and gave up the jobs to make beer themselves. So for starters they are not an Irish family brewery.
I've only had the IPA and Red - the red is better than the IPA but that wouldn't be hard, thought the IPA was tasting aftershave.
I've also heard one of those involved was big up in Heineken too.
Be great for the visiting american types who love that type of thing.
i also tried the Red and IPA over the Xmas period - not at all impressed - regardless of if they are a "little Oirish family brewery" or a macro, I don't think i will buy it again.
I had a bottle of mc garggles it .....was also my last. Bland stuff
Had a pint of the IPA in the Swagman in Sligo last weekend. It came in their own branded glass tankard. It was on the ok/not great end of the scale. :-\
mate just rang me and reckons the Liffey Champion newspaper has a piece about a €1 million investment on a new brewey on the old Kellys bakery site and 30 jobs.
the Rye river cafe is moving to this site also. the master brewer is Stephen Gilsenan and the owners seem to be Alan Wolfe and Niall Phelan who worked for Diageo and Coors.
mate also mentioned something about 14 different beers, think he got the info from the Rye River cafe FB page.
think we should invite them to our next meet and set them straight :D
or we could get them to sponser us for 000s and we change our name to Rye river brewers ;)
Looks like a good subject for a beer review (http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/board,45.0.html)
a €1m quid investment?
"Ex" Diageo/Coors staffers?
Popped up overnight nationwide?
Brewed in the EU? which we know is brewed in the UK presently
So many reasons to be suspicious.
None the less it could prove to be a great boost to the local economy with the jobs etc. I get a feeling that McGargles could one of their Brands we will wait and see how this develops.
Brewed in the UK appears to be only a start up thing for the market as this appears they are going to go ahead with a brewery.
Aye, they're not the only ones.
Wonder how long it will be before Kilcock is up and running.
Quote from: IrishBeerSnob on January 24, 2014, 10:37:59 AM
a €1m quid investment?
"Ex" Diageo/Coors staffers?
Popped up overnight nationwide?
Brewed in the EU? which we know is brewed in the UK presently
So many reasons to be suspicious.
I agree. 14 different beers would take up a lot of fridge space at your local booze shop...
Quote from: DEMPSEY on January 24, 2014, 10:43:57 AM
Brewed in the UK appears to be only a start up thing for the market as this appears they are going to go ahead with a brewery.
I think that is pretty typical for the industry - you start up brewing on someone elses gear to get product out there while you are cutting through the red tape to get your own brewery commissioned. AFAIK there is almost no money in getting your beer brewed under contract.
Don't know if anyone else saw the kerfuffle on twitter last night / this morning re McGargles.
The 11pmsomewhere podcast met with the owner of Rye River Brewing (Owner of McGargles) to interview him as part of his meet the brewers series.
Here's Ian's comment over on Beoir (http://www.beoir.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10112&start=60 (http://www.beoir.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10112&start=60))
QuoteI sat down this evening with Niall Phelan, one of the guys behind the brewery for the first of the 'Breweries of Ireland' interviews for the 11PM Somewhere Podcast.
The interview is over an hour in length - talking about the brewery, the beers, the branding, the plans for it, the investment, the history of brewing in Kilcock etc ...
I'm currently doing some post on it. It'll go up as this week's Episode of the show at the weekend.
Methinks some people are in for a shock when they hear this as tere's some major clarifications, details & explanations given, as Niall was super candid for the interview.
I for one am really looking forward to this interview as it should shed some light on them.
Yeah that was the point that i think some people missed and went into meltdown.
That slight however does look like something you'd be giving your reps to show to prospective accounts as afaik Untappd don't do that kind of info.
Hi Folks,
I am Niall, owner of the Rye River Brewing Company.
As well as the big kit in Kilcock, we will have a 1HL kit for small experimental brews.
Be happy to have any of you down to the brewery to use the kit and have a look around.
Full install should be in the next 4 weeks.
Also, just for clarity. The company is owned by myself, Alan and Tom. No big backer, no conspiracy.
Niall
expect a visit or two ok as your surrounded by Liffey Brewers, were in Summerhill, Clane, Maynooth, Dunboyne and about a dozen other places.
welcome to the site and best of luck with the brewery.
Saw the bottles in Dunnes earlier today
Quote from: Blueshed on January 30, 2014, 08:15:13 PM
expect a visit or two ok as your surrounded by Liffey Brewers, were in Summerhill, Clane, Maynooth, Dunboyne and about a dozen other places.
welcome to the site and best of luck with the brewery.
and Celbridge :) good luck with the venture. Will be delighted to go on a visit when all is up and going.
Great to see another player of consequence brewing in the Irish Market, and I wish you every success in your venture.
Can I ask a question though and it's a personal opinion and not that of the forum, why did you contract brew and market a beer that I know is of a lesser quality than you ultimately expect to produce down the road?
Will it not make your launch of Irish produced and branded beer that much more of an uphill struggle in what is rapidly becoming a more congested market with significant numbers of new entrants?
i have a very different opinion on our beers and so do untappd users. they are scoring well.
Mcgargles is designed to bring people into craft wwho might currently be drinking heineken or bud etc.
I like our beers and although we will make minor tweaks to the IPA, we will not change them when we brew in Kilcock.
The UK choice was simple. i know the guys well in that brewery and trust them.
cheers
Niall
The name and the marketing blarney are woeful.
Sent from my HTC One
Quote from: HopTown on January 31, 2014, 07:54:30 PM
Mcgargles is designed to bring people into craft wwho might currently be drinking heineken or bud etc.
For all I know I might like Mcgargles if I try it, and if I come across it I wouldn't rule it out, but this quote just nails exactly why I hate the whole idea of "craft beer" and why I'd rather hang out on this site rather than on a certain other site Irish beer related site.
It's not a f*cking religion, it's an intoxicating beverage. It either tastes good to you or it doesn't.
Craft is b*llsh*t. It's what's in the glass that counts.
The beer is alright, nothing spectacular, they had a tasting in my local offie a few weeks back.
Sent from my HTC One
Don't get me started on the "craft premium". Fer fook's sake Oi'd rather drink moild.
5 years ago I have to admit I was drinking Heineken and I guess I am one if those convertees, my goto session beers now are Hooker or Metalman, I do like to mix it up a bit now and again and find myself drinking a lot of Kinsale pale ale recently and specials from new market entrants.
I am really sorry to report I have tried Mcgargles now twice and was disappointed on both occasions :(
Say it aint so CH - and you said it took stones stones to admit to not doing a starter.
Mind, I'll be sitting in a tin can over the deep blue ocean in a couple of weeks and i'll be damn glad of a tiny can of heineken.
It's just the whole we're on your side, we're just not for you spin screams BS at me. No doubt their stout costs a euro or two more than perfectly drinkable can of "macro" Beamish - cos it's craft >:D
I'll drink what I like I don't care who makes it or what it's called, and if yer beer's sh*te good luck to ya but i won't be drinking it.
I was in a country pub during the summer and weather was scorching and they only had G, H and water, I drank 3 pints of the H and was ucking dying the next day.
Next time I will go for the water.
Only time I really drink H is on KLM, and as I've said a few times on here before Dutch H has a distinct iso-amyl acetate / banana flavour which is actually ok but makes me think of watered down chimay white. So much for what the BJCP knows about European lagers (IMHO, of course).
For me it's simple I will try all new beers and if I don't like them I will not continue to drink them.I wont make a fuss as its not for me to tell someone else how to run their business and I prefer to give them my view only if asked. Time is the great leveler and if a beer is not liked by the drinkers then they wont buy it again and again. I have a Christmas box set of these beers and will get around to them but will also wait and try the beers when they are brewed in Kilcock. I personally hope they meet my own tastes because the more the merrier and greater choice is what I want.
The best pub in Ireland has got to be the Lucan County bar (opinion given even if not asked for :P). :) :-*
+1 Mr D, but if one of my customers suggested I was doing something wrong in what I sell or there was room for improvement in an area, I would listen, after all I can have the best products in the world but if no one wants to buy them...
Lots of different perspectives on how the breweries push and market adopts a beer.
Best example I have seen outside tasting panels, and I won't name them, but xbrewery put half a dozen crates into the market subsidised the price and specifically asked for market feedback, they got it woefully wrong and majority was poured down the drain, but much cheaper to do that than full scale launch.
Needless to say having identified the core problem areas they came back and got it right the second time.
Mr x is my respecting the commercial confidence entrusted in me as to what the micro was up to when I called them on it and asked what they were up to.
I listen to everybody including bollixes as very occasionally even they make a positive contribution.
I'd thoroughly recommend that everyone listens to the podcast
Its very eye opening and Niall and his team have absolutely massive plans.
I've said it on the Beoir thread on the same subject that I feel there is learning points on both sides as it was very unfortunate the ways things went.
The link to the podcast is here http://11pmsomewhere.tumblr.com/post/75253990838/for-episode-6-of-the-11pm-somewhere-podcast-ian (http://11pmsomewhere.tumblr.com/post/75253990838/for-episode-6-of-the-11pm-somewhere-podcast-ian) its an hour long but covers a hell of a lot.
Listened in full, so disappointing that the obvious enthusiasm, passion and belief in a quality product does not come across in the marketing or the beer I have tasted :(
I think we may see some tweaking when they're up and running in Kilcock;
Personally I discount the Untappd stats as the sample sizes are so low. 30 odd unique drinkers of the red vs 200+ of rebel red.
Again though as he said they are hoping to get people who drink Heineken etc across.
I liked the bit where he offered help and the maybe of a new brewer doing a pilot brew on their kit.
Just listened to the podcast. Should be good to have all this on my doorstep. I like the idea of a 100 litre pilot plant :)
I haven't listened to the podcast yet, will do tomorrow. I think there is defiantly a market between macro and high quality micro beer.
So if I go into an off-license my choice is get 6 cans of Guinness for €8-10 or 6 bottles of craft beer for €18-22 , surly there is a market for semi craft beer (500ml) at €1.50 - 2 i.e. Aldi's O'Sheas range.
I would like the option of buying maybe 2 of my favorite craft beers with 4 mid range beers and maybe this is the market these guys might be thinking of judging by the size of their planned operation.
Hoping to have a trial brew at our stand at the Alltech fair this week
1. A Bramble Wheat beer with blackberries, cherries and Cassis
2. A Citrus Summer Lager - the citrus f Webb nose driven by hops, nothing else added.
Should have some on the Stand from Friday.
In reply to lots of comments above, I absolutely respect all your views. Not everyone will like out brand or liquids and that's the way of things. Sure it'd be no fun otherwise.
If you've been drinking micro brews for a long time I do think you'll like our new stuff coming in the summer. It will be under a different brand name.
And my offer stands. The 100l plant is open to all. Just email me if you want to book in from late march onwards. Niall@ryeriverbrewingco.com
I listened to the podcast last night myself, I hadn't really read much into Rye River/ McGargle's before to be honest nor have I tried any of the beers yet (Just have the podcast on iTunes). But I must say I'm intrigued about the approach to targeting the market that haven't got into craft beer yet. Like I'd be in the local with a few mates and might say to them "would ya not try a pint of this stuff, it's lovely!" and it's usually met with an answer along the lines of "Ahh I think I'll just stick to good ol' [insert brand here], cheers" usually because they're not too familiar with the different beer brands or maybe not keen in paying for a drink they think they won't like. (I know they were my reservations anyway as early as about 12-18 months ago - I'm a sucker for marketing :'()
I'm not saying I'm one of these folks that will turn me nose up at the big brand beers out there (only some :-[) but if this is a market that McGargles will give a bit of attention to, I can see this being a great benefit to the craft beer industry in Ireland (for all brewers looking to expand the general selection of beer out there) IMO. The fact that these lads have the experience behind them I'm sure will give them a good advantage to get a decent craft beer brand of the ground. If folks are more willing to try this "gateway" brand, they might be more keen to try some more of the complex brews going.
Tim O' Rourke is of the same opinion and banging that drum last year, perhaps he had his ear, I like the approach though, you are paying for the malt so you may as well use them!
IPA is the new black, that's why everyone is ramping up the hops. A lot of people don't get a subtle beer anymore.
Sent from my HTC One
As Eoin and I have agreed on before you can make nice beer without piling in buckets of hops. My current favourite hopped beer is Jaipur and O'Dells st Lupulin. Great examples of flavoured hop beers rather than just bitter beers. :)
Totally agree with this statement. There is a big difference between nice hop flavour and too much hop bitterness. Its something we try to perfect in our brews and got it wrong a few times. Its such a waste if lovely hops when the beer is too bitter. The malt is there for a reason and we have found a good balance between the two.
Quote from: DEMPSEY on February 03, 2014, 08:48:53 PM
you can make nice beer without piling in buckets of hops........ Great examples of flavoured hop beers rather than just bitter beers.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Quote from: Tubomyces on February 03, 2014, 07:43:22 PM
Co-incidentally Pearse Lyons was saying in today's paper that Irish brewers are going too heavy with the hops. Maybe he's right!
Wow...don't know where he got that from. I wouldn't tend to agree anyway.
Quote from: DEMPSEY on February 03, 2014, 08:48:53 PM
As Eoin and I have agreed on before you can make nice beer without piling in buckets of hops. My current favourite hopped beer is Jaipur and O'Dells st Lupulin. Great examples of flavoured hop beers rather than just bitter beers. :)
Where's the Like button?
There is a lot to be said for entering the beer market without imitating the excesses of those who have gone before. Bitter bombing is a niche within a niche, its main focus being to attract attention to a breweries ability to accelerate hop shortages by making undrinkable beer.
But I disagree with the statement that too much hops are being used. People who write for papers should be able to distinguish between a brewery isomerising hops for bitterness, and carefully applying hops for flavour and aroma. Late additions take serious amounts of hop rates.
Hi all,
Great to meet everyone who was at Alltech over the weekend.
As Niall said earlier I would be very happy to brew with anyone who wants to try our 100hl plant when it is up and running.
We are going to try to do something pretty unique with that plant so watch this space!
Also if you want to come se the site where the brewery will be going in Kilcock give me a shout, Steve@ryeriverbrewingco.com.
Cheers,
Steve (Rye River Master Brewer)
Hi Steve,
Yes a great weekend, enjoyed the chat with you all.
Sure there's not a typo in your offered brew size?:
"100hl plant"; to me thats 10,000 litres. 10 tons of beer in old money!
Now most of use brew 25 L batches ( in round money ) so thats 400 brews.
That would take me and 'Mrs D' a year to drink all that! ;)
But its a great offer assuming it sthe smaller 10 hl plant!!
If you run out of recipes then there are a scillion of greaty brews on our site!
"Onwards and Upwards"
Ha ha!
Yeah, it's the 100l / 1hl plant!
Will your such a killjoy Steve was all set to let us play on his 100hl kit ;)