A new €1.8 million brewery backed by the families behind some of the country’s best-known pubs has been launched in Dublin.
Changing Times Brewery is based in Glasnevin, along the banks of the Royal Canal, and will initially employ nine people, with two full-time positions and seven other roles.
Its backers include Dublin publicans Willie Aherne and Paul Sheehan of The Palace Bar on Fleet Street and Sheehans Pub on Chatham Street respectively, as well as Benny McCabe, who owns a number of popular bars in Cork, and brewer Shane Long.
The backers said the idea for the brewery came from listening to feedback from customers over a number of years, which led to conversations between the publican families, and eventually detailed discussions on creating their own brewery.
The brewery’s products will be stocked in The Palace; The Long Hall; The Swan; The Bankers; Arthur Maynes in Donnybrook; Devitts; Doheny & Nesbitts; Sheehans; Lemon and Duke; The Bridge 1859; The Blackrock; The Bank; McSorleys; Darkey Kelly’s; and The Ferryman.
The brewery will initially provide two products – Daydreamer Lager and After Hours Pale Ale – but hopes to expand its product range early next year. The products are also expected to be expanded to additional pubs in the coming weeks.
Mr Aherne of The Palace said the brewery was set up to “give pub goers something new and something locally brewed”.
“Our customers were saying they were in the mood for change and that we should be brewing our own range of beers,” he said. “We listened and took note. This led to conversations with other families of publicans, whose customers were saying the same things and eventually we decided to create this brewery so we could make those customer suggestions a reality.
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“Effectively, the concept for Changing Times Brewery was born over the pub counters. We look forward to giving our customers a taste of that something new, that change they have been looking for.”
Speaking of the concept behind the name, Mr Sheehan of Sheehans Pub said: “Change has been good for modern Ireland. We’re no longer a country that is stuck in our ways or who does things just because that’s the way they have always been done. That is the spirit behind Changing Times – there’s always time for something new. We wanted to address those changing tastes with this brewery.”
Brewer Shane Long said the products were brewed using “quality Irish ingredients from the best producers”.
“Combining high-calibre hops, barley, malt, yeast and more with the insights of our customers, we’ve been able to develop draught with a great taste that we believe will help change people’s minds and become their regular pint,” he added.
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