After an overnight ferry and the drive to the West Coast of
Ireland I fancied relaxing, so I headed to the bar of the Dingle Skellig Hotel
for a pint, glad that hotels serve on Good Friday even if the pubs are all
shut.
The usual suspects were all on tap, Guinness, Harp,
Smithwicks and assorted multinational Lagers and then my eye fell on Tom
Creans, a lager from the Dingle Brewing Company. Now I am not usually a huge
fan of lager, though a Peroni in Italy is always acceptable but my dedication
to Local products meant that this ought to be tasted.
“Not seen that one before” I said to the barman as he pulled
my pint, “They have only been going since last Summer” he replied.
Sinking into a deep leather chair I tried my first mouthful.
Light, crisp , with a bit of a bite and well chilled it really hit the mark. Making further enquiries I
discovered that the brewery was open to the public and determined to get along
there to find out more.
“Do you know why it’s called Tom Crean’s” asked the barman
as I ordered a second pint, luckily I did. Tom Crean was born on the Dingle
peninsular and was a major figure in Antarctic exploration, travelling with
both Scott and Shackleton. On Scott’s doomed mission Tom Crean fell ill and was
excluded from the final party who died in the snow, but still returned with
Shackleton.
When that expedition ran into trouble Tom Crean set off with Shackleton, in a
small boat to the whaling station on South Georgia to get relief for the rest of the crew stranded on Elephant Island. Landing on
the opposite side of the island he covered 35 miles over mountains in 18 hours,
a feat reflected in the lager’s badge – a compass pointing South and the words
18/35.
Tom Crean retired to his home village of Anascaul – a few
kilometres from Dingle and took over the local pub which he renamed The South
Pole Inn.
Tom rarely, if ever, spoke of his explorations and ran the
pub until his death in 1938.
Fittingly the beer was launched in The South Pole at 18:35
on his birthday 21st July 2011.
Finding the brewery is easy, just follow the sign to the Conor
Pass and it is the big white building on the edge of town. It used to be the
local creamery then stood empty for a number of years before being converted
into a brewery and there are some relics from the creamery days inside.
Anyone can visit and be assured of a warm welcome though the
full visitor experience is still a work in progress but do not let that put you
off.
There are a number of connections with South Wales, firstly
being the fact that Shackleton set off from Cardiff flying the red dragon flag
and, indeed he raised a lot of the capital needed through public appeals in
South Wales. Secondly one of the exhibits from the old Creamery days is an Alfa
Laval milk separator which would have been built in their Cwmbran factory, now
sadly closed.
Another more tenuous link is that on Scott’s fatal expedition one of the crew was a south Walian who intended, like Tom, to run a pub when he returned. Sadly this was not to be as he froze to death. The final link is that the National Museum of Wales has been holding an exhibition of Antarctic Exploration Photography with many images of Tom Crean.
Another more tenuous link is that on Scott’s fatal expedition one of the crew was a south Walian who intended, like Tom, to run a pub when he returned. Sadly this was not to be as he froze to death. The final link is that the National Museum of Wales has been holding an exhibition of Antarctic Exploration Photography with many images of Tom Crean.
I hoped to take a bottle of the beer back to Wales and sneak
a photo of it with the exhibits in Cardiff but was thwarted as bottled Tom
Crean's will not be available for another few weeks as the recipe has to be
slightly amended for bottling.
But enough of history, back to the present and the story of
the new beer.
Where the multinational beer factories make significant
additions and take a purely chemical approach to brewing small breweries such
as the Dingle Brewing Company and Tiny Rebel in Wales produce an artisan beer
where it is the skill of the brewer not a computer programme that determines
the outcome.
The brewing process is clearly demonstrated in explanatory
exhibits and you are able to get up close and personal with the brew in a way
that a huge factory would never allow.
Obviously having only one beer available at present could be
seen as an issue but, start small, get it right and develop a range over time
is the way to go. Small or micro-breweries offer something that the
chemi-brewers cannot, a quality product developed with much customer feedback
and one that reflects local taste.
Dingle Brewing Company fit perfectly into this model and
have formed a partnership with a Dingle butcher who is using the lager to add
an additional taste element to his sausages. They are as good as the lager
itself and beer and pork have a natural affinity which is well documented in
the snags.
I am looking forward to my next visit when I hope to try a
new beer or two and hopefully bring a few bottles home.
At present Tom Creans is available across Kerry and in
limited outlets in Cork and Dublin but the sheer quality of the pint means that
it will be demanded elsewhere.
A small, new brewery but one that is undoubtedly local and
destined to be great.
Visit UK Food Bloggers Association
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