Wicklow wolf will be fine I believe the post was about the Wicklow brewery a different one . WW has serval big backers including a large pub group . Black donkey have not closed , yellow belly are still going but brewery is gone . They are contract brewing and just suppling their local area but still strong . Many have fallen but more have entered 16 closed in last few years but 20 opened . Boundary up North are struggling and doubt they will survive that’s one that will cause a ripple effect . Viewed as at the higher end of inovation losing them will make others take a closer look at their own business
With 76 breweries in the republic it’s a far cry from the last 90s when there were just 7
I did indeed mean Wicklow Brewing. No fear of Wicklow Wolf - had a pint of their Tryfeckta collab with Fierce in Fionnbarra's the other night. Solid.
I stand corrected on Black Donkey. I was talking to someone recently who told me that BD was on the way out.
Shame if Boundary does go - they are up there with the like of 3Floyds, Solemn Oath, Superflux, To Øl and Whiplash in terms of producing exceptional, world class beers. I know that the cross-border sales thing was ham-stringing them. As was the fact that, for some archaic reason, they had to ship their beer from their place in Belfast to Cloudwater in Manchester who would then have to ship it back to customers in Northern Ireland to complete online orders for them.
I still hope for a day when each brewer in Ireland can open their own tap-room. In the US/Canada there's plenty of taprooms combining their beer offerings in a taproom with a bottle shop and really great food.