With the new bill to allow craft breweries & distillers to sell their own produce on-site without acquiring a bar license a mere handful of bureaucratic footsteps away, & in sight breweries like Hope Beer in Kilbarrick in Howth, County Dublin are excited & already in the process of putting together their taproom to complete theirpiece of the puzzle like so many other craft brewers in Ireland. So, I took this opportunity to take a visit to see Hope’s brewery, check out the taproom & catch up with my old drinking buddy, their headbrewer Mark Nixon.

Recently I took a road trip to Cork with wife & dog in tow in 22 degrees celsius weather (as you do), & Eight Degrees were kind enough to give me the nod for a last-minute ‘hey-can-I-stop-by’ visit as despite me being an avid fan of their beers, I’ve never actually in all the time I’ve known Scott, Cameron & Caroline (which is going on 3 years plus) ever been to their brewery as frankly, I’m never ‘Lee-side’. So I was sure as hell not going to miss this opportunity.