An Absolut Success !!!

Wednesday 30th of October at the Mabos Art Space in Hanover Quay, Dublin, saw the launch of Absolut Originality.  Absoult Originality is an exhibition combining four different disciplines into one exceptional piece. The idea behind this was to use this creativity from four different discipline areas and combine them to create a stunning, new design for a limited edition bottle of Absolut Vodka. The four discipline areas and their designers are as follows:


Fashion: Danielle Romeril
Light Project: Brian Kenny
Film: Jamie Delaney
Illustration: Chrissie Abbott

The combination of all of these guys imaginations brought one truly fantastic exhibition, the new bottle takes inspiration from the dress designed by Danielle Romeril (Left). There was also a fantastic video section to the exhibition which brought together the work of Brian Kenny, Jamie Delaney & Chrissie Abbott. This was a fantastic video that showcased the dress designed by Danielle but also had this great free flowing feel to it. The video really captured the uniqueness of the dress itself and in turn the new design for the Absolut Limited Edition Bottle.

Another great piece at the event was a new interactive exhibition that allowed the user to design their own dress based on the original from Danielle, but give it their own unique twist. This piece allowed people to alter and create a new design with just the movement of their hand. This allowed people to be as artistic as they felt they could be and gave a huge selection of fantastic original art pieces.









This was a fantastic event to be invited to and I have to thank Absolut for the chance to be involved and attend the launch of this fantastic exhibition, it was a great night enjoyed by everyone in attendance. There was a great buzz in the room, with live music being played and people having a chat about the different elements of Absolut Originality.


The new limited edition bottle is on sale in selected retailers and there are only a limited number of them, so if you want one you need to get out there quick and buy one, they are really great looking bottles.

Why not check out the Absolut Originality Website below for a bit more information, as well as some fantastic Absolut Vodka Recipes to try out on all of your friends and family.

http://www.absolut.com/ie/Originality/

Shane

The Genuine Beer Blog

@GenuineBeerBlog, Facebook & Google+ 

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The 12 Beers of Christmas !!!

Christmas is fast approaching and with it the winter months, this for me is my favourite time of year when it comes to drinking beer. The winter months bring such a wide variety of beers that help to make you feel warm when its cold outside. For me Porters, Stouts and imperial stouts are true favourites when it comes to the winter, but this is where you all come in.

We're looking for you all to give your favourite beer for the winter and your reasons why etc. Once we start to receive in your suggestions, we will pick our top 12 and these will be the 12 Beers of Christmas 2013.

This is your chance to get involved with the Genuine Beer Blog and also to reach out and give your suggestions for the best beers of the winter.

All you need to do is fill in the simple form below and click Submit, as simple as that. If your selection makes it to the top 12 we will put up your review of the beer itself, along with some comments from us on the beer too.

We look forward to all of your great suggestions and tasting those great suggestions too.

Shane

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Places You Must Visit - Feature Post : Bull & Castle

Hey everyone.
Today's post is the start of a new collection of posts that will be a regular feature of The Genuine Beer Blog; looking at great pubs, bars & restaurants that serve high quality beer and great food, throughout Ireland. Today's post kick starting this new feature is a fantastic Pub/Restaurant set in the heart of Dublin; today we are looking at the Bull & Castle in Dublin's Christchurch, Dublin 8.

Bull & Castle

5-7 Lord Edward Street,

Christchurch,

Dublin 8

http://bull-and-castle.fxbuckley.ie

The Bull & Castle is a fantastic pub that stocks a huge variety of craft beers from not only Ireland, but all over the world; it also has a reputation for absolutely outstanding food. This outstanding food all comes down to the history of F.X Buckley; one of the longest running butchers in Dublin. Francis Xavier Buckley opened his first butchers back in 1930 on Dublin's Moore street, which has since become a well known cornerstone in Dublin. This prestigious butchers provides the best quality meat to all of their steakhouses around Dublin, which can be experienced in the Bull & Castle. This great meat comes down to the hanging process that is used and also to the knowledge and great breeds of cattle that are used to produce their top quality meat. The knowledge of their meat is also evident when it comes to the cooking process; where you will be given the chance to have your steak prepared however you like it, from blue to well done; not to mention a huge selection of steaks available.

This therefore sets you up for a great meal that can only be accompanied with fantastic beer; this is something that the Bull & Castle has heaps of.
The Bull and Castle prides itself in offering its customers a huge variety of beer and other alcoholic beverages from all over Ireland and the rest of the world. The Bull and Castle provide a huge selection of craft beers; gently persuading its customers to try something different from the main stream beer that is out there. If you have an open mind about beer and are up for trying some fantastic craft beer then you really should give the Bull and Castle your attention. There is a vast menu of beer to choose from which people may find overwhelming and not really know where to start. This is not a problem as the great staff at the Bull and Castle will help you to find a beer that will suit your taste, asking which style of beer you like and what flavours your enjoy; matching a beer to that taste. You are also able to get a tasting tray, where you can try either 4 beers (small tray), or 8 beers (ultimate tray). This gives you the opportunity to try a huge selection of different craft beers from all over, its a fantastic opportunity. The Bull and Castle has beers ranging from Ireland to America, from Scotland to Germany and from England to Belgium, you will definitely find a beer that you will enjoy that you may not have tried before.

If beer isn't your thing, not to worry as they also offer a fantastic range of Wines, Ciders and Spirits; something for everyone; there is also a cocktail menu to help get your evening started.

I really cannot highlight enough what a fantastic establishment the Bull and Castle is; it really will not leave you disappointed in the slightest. I would highly recommend giving the Bull and Castle a try, if not for the great selection of alcoholic beverages available; but for the fantastic steak house menu or even the finger licking good bar menu upstairs.

Overall I would give the Bull and Castle a rating of

for fantastic food and a huge, amazing selection of Craft Beer; a real must visit Pub.

If you are a pub/restaurant interested in The Genuine Beer Blog doing a feature post on you; or if you have any suggestions of must try places, please drop me an email at shaneraiseurglass@gmail.com.

Shane

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Widmer Brothers Brewing Company - Hopside Down IPA !!!

Hey Everyone, 

Sorry it's been a while things have been crazy busy recently; but we're back. 

Today's beer review is a must try beer, one that you should go out and get ASAP as you really won't regret it. Today's beer is from Portland, Oregon, United States of America; hope you all enjoy :D

Beer Name:
Hopside Down IPA - Rotator IPA Series

Brewery:
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

Brewed and Bottled:
929 N Russell Street,
Portland,
OR 97227,
United States
http://widmerbrothers.com/

Alcoholic Percentage:

6.7% Vol

Measure:

355ml

Taste:

Strong Hops, Slight Bitterness, Deep Full Flavour, Crisp, Smooth

Colour:

Light Orange

Odour:

Strong Hops, Slight Citrus

General Thoughts:

Widmer Brothers Brewing Company's Hopside Down IPA is a light, crisp beer with the characteristics that you would expect from a lager/pilsner style of beer, however it packs the deep, full flavours of a great IPA. Hopside Down IPA is light in colour with a deep, rich hops flavour that you would come to expect from a traditional IPA. There is a real hard hitting punch of hops that I love in a beer and is something that I would certainly be looking for in an IPA. There is a slight bitterness to this beer with a mild citrus note, this gives the beer a real moreish quality; making you want to go back for more and more. The overall feel of the beer is a smooth, light, well rounded beer; balanced with the strong hops flavour, giving the bitter notes, but with a slight sweet edge to give an overall well balanced beer. Hopside Down IPA also backs a punch when it comes to Alcohol Percentage, coming in at 6.7% ABV. This however isn't a problem for this beer as it doesn't feel like you are drinking a beer that is that strong in alcohol, which is a great attribute. Overall Hopside Down IPA is a really well balanced IPA with bitter notes and a strong, developed hops flavour. This beer will not leave you disappointed and I recommend going out and getting yourself a bottle as it is a truly fantastic beer. All in all I think that Hopside Down IPA is a must buy beer and one you can enjoy anytime.

Price:

€2.79 (Avg Price - from Super Quinn)

Shane

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Kinsale Brings a Brand New Craft Brewery to Town :D

Hey everyone, today's post is a really exciting review of a brand new Craft Brewery from Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland. Hope you all Enjoy :D

The Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery
From Humble beginnings comes a fantastic new brewing company down in Kinsale Co. Cork. Like most of us avid beer drinkers and brewers there is always a dream to produce and supply the public with your own beer, for the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery this is no longer a dream. This new brewing company started off with a little brewing time in another fantastic brewers headquarters down in Cork,  the Eight Degrees brewery. This gave the guys a chance to start making their first beer, their Pale Ale, which allowed them to get their new beer out to the public as quick as possible. This brewing time acted as a great learning tool for the guys and allowed them to really harness in and perfect that first beer that would be presented to the public. 

As with us all there was deliberation as to whether to start off with a safe Pale Ale or to really push the boundries and make a beer that they love and one that they would want to drink, so this is what they did. They put aside all the boring, plain, pale ales that are out there and really started to work on a recipe that would wow all of its drinkers. This Pale Ale has a great balance of Citra and Cascade hops bringing a whole new dimension to the beer. Several batches of this beer where made in order to really bring a brand new, quality Pale Ale to the public and boy have they made an impression. 

This is what the guys over at the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery had to say about their Pale Ale:
"This beer is mostly about the hops but there is some nice biscuit like character in there as well. Being based in Kinsale we also wanted to make a beer that could be paired well with food, and give local restaurants a gourmet beer option for their menu's. The beer works really well with seafood as well as going great with spicy food and anything from the BBQ.  I think the profile and bitterness level is spot on for a Pale Ale but we look forward to bringing in more bittering and hops in our IPA series." 

I was lucky enough to give this Pale Ale a try and I can't tell you how blown away I was with it, it is absolutely fantastic. Here is a full beer review really giving you all an idea of the true character of the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery's Pale Ale.

Beer Name:
Pale Ale

Brewery:
Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery

Alcoholic Percentage:

5.0% Vol

Measure:

330ml

Taste:

Strong Hops, Smooth, Slight Sweetness, Bitter After Taste

Colour:

Deep Orange

Odour:

Strong Hops, Slight Citrus, Slight Tropical fruits

General Thoughts:

The Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery Pale Ale is a great, full bodied Pale Ale, which packs a real hops punch, which I love. There is a bitterness that comes from the two hop varieties used in the beer, Citra and Cascade, this gives the beer a real moreish quality, making you want to keep going back for more and more. The Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery Pale Ale is a real easy drinking beer, smooth and full of well rounded flavours, ranging from slight tropical fruit notes, to citrus notes, all the way through to the mouth watering grapefruit flavours. There is a slight bitter after taste which helps keep the drinker interested. There is little to medium carbonation in this beer, making it nice and refreshing, perfect for those summer nights and days, drinking in the sun while cracking out the BBQ. This beer really blew me away, for a breweries first attempts at a mass produced craft beer, this just knocks you for six. I was absolutely amazed by it and really cannot wait to get out to the shops and get myself a crate of this fantastic beer. If a brewing company can make a beer like this on their first attempt then I am really excited about what the future has in store for the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery and what other new beers will be coming our way in the future. I know one thing, I cannot wait to get my hands on them. All in all a fantastic start to the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery's beers, not only making a great beer, but one that is truly different and memorable.

Some Important Information:
The official launch of the Blacks Kinsale Craft Brewery Pale Ale is Friday 28^th June in The folk house in Kinsale. Many local pubs and restaurants are stocking the beer so far and they hope to have it in most places by the end of June.

They will also be rolling out the Pale Ale to other Cork Venues and Dublin Venues in the next couple of months, more on this will be available in the coming weeks.

Shane

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Odell Brewing Company: IPA !!!

Hey Everyone, Hope you've all been enjoying some fantastic beers over the weekend in the sun, Today's beer comes in from the USA, I hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
IPA

Brewery:
Odell Brewing Company

Brewed and Bottled:
800 East Lincoln Avenue,
Fort Collins,
Colorado,
CO 80524
USA

Alcoholic Percentage:

7.0% Vol

Measure:

355ml

Taste:

Strong Hops, Smooth, Slight Sweetness, Bitter After Taste

Colour:

Light Orange

Odour:

Strong Hops, Slight Citrus

General Thoughts:

IPA by the Odell Brewing Company is a fantastic, smooth beer with real full developed flavours. This beer is deep in flavour, strong in hops and also has a nice malt note to it. There is also a slight sweetness to this beer which helps to balance out the strong hops flavour that you get in this beer. This slight sweetness helps to mellow the bitterness from the hops giving an overall, smooth, developed flavour. IPA does have a slight bitter after taste, however I think this is a great attribute in a beer as it makes you want to go back and drink more and more of the beer. One of the surprising things about IPA from the Odell Brewing Company is the real balance in alcohol flavour. This beer comes in at 7% ABV, however this beer is so well balanced you would never think it was that strong. This beer really doesn't taste as strong as it is which is a real bonus. All in all IPA from the Odell Brewing Company is a great, all rounder that is well balanced in deep hops flavour and also allows for a slight sweetness to round the whole beer off. If your looking for a good example of an IPA then this is definitely a beer you should try. I would really recommend this to you all as it is a really nice, smooth drinking beer.  

Price:

€3.00 - €3.50 (Based on Average)

Shane

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Arrogant Bastard Ale !!!

Hey Everyone, hope your all having a great weekend so far, today's post is an exceptional beer, one that I wish I could get my hands on more of, Today's Beer is from the Stone Brewing Company. Hope you all enjoy :) !!!

Beer Name:
Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewery:
Stone Brewing Company

Brewed and Bottled:
1999 Citracado Parkway
Escondido,
California,
CA 92029

Alcoholic Percentage:

7.2% Vol

Measure:

650ml

Taste:

Deep, Rich, Smooth, Strong Hops, Slight Bitterness

Colour:

Light Brown / Slight Red Tint

Odour:

Slight Hops, Slight Malt, A Little Sweetness

General Thoughts:

Arrogant Bastard Ale is a fantastic beer, one of the best beers that I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. This beer is deep, full of flavour and really moreish. This beer has a strong hops flavour, mixed with a great level of malt flavour and a slight sweetness. There is a bitterness to this beer from the hop content of the beer, however this is a pleasant bitterness and one your glad is there to balance out the little sweetness to the beer. Arrogant Bastard Ale is a strong beer coming in at 7.2% ABV, you would expect a beer of this strength to not only taste really strong in alcohol but also to be overpowering. Due to some exceptional brewing this isn't the case at all with this beer, this beer doesn't seem overly alcoholic at all and is so well balanced and deep in flavour you won't find it overpowering either. This for me is a beer that I wish I could get more easily and would drink more often if I could, unfortunately it isn't easy to get which will make it all the better and more special when I can get my hands on it. The other plus point to this beer is that it comes in a big bottle so you get much more for your money, making this a win win situation. On the whole Arrogant Bastard Ale is one of the best beers I have ever tasted and really have to commend the Stone Brewing Company for making an exceptional beer. Deep, Rich, Full flavoured beer, perfectly balanced, with that moreish quality making you want to return time after time. All in All an exceptional beer, Thank you Stone Brewing Company !!!  

Price:

€3.00 - €4.00 (Based on Average)

Shane

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Las Vegas: Nic's Stag Do - A Trip of a Lifetime !!!!

Hey Everyone, We are back, its a been a hectic last couple of months, but within the time away I went on a trip, A trip that can be summed up in one word "EPIC". 

This was no ordinary trip away, this was a trip with  6 of my closest friends, to somewhere that needs no introduction as it just speaks for itself, LAS VEGAS. 
This was a trip to celebrate the future marriage of one of my best friends Nic, (subsequently the marriage has now happened). Nic decided that we should celebrate his upcoming wedding in real style and head over to the USA, to Viva Las Vegas to have a Stag Do (bachelor party) that he would never forget. This being a Stag Do mean't that there was plenty of beer drinking done which I will come to shortly. 

Las Vegas is such an overwhelming place, there is so much to do and so many places to go, also if you enjoy a drink and a little flutter in the casino, this place is like heaven.
I wanted to do this post to firstly talk about some of the great beer that we had while away in Las Vegas, but also as a thank you to Nic and the rest of the guys for a fantastic week and a week that I feel has brought us all a little closer together, and not only that but also brought about some real close friendships.

So here they all are, from left to right we have, Matt, Chris, Nic (the Groom), Phil, Dan and then Will at the back behind Nic.

It is safe to say that Las Vegas really didn't know what they were letting themselves in for when we arrived, we knew we were going to have a great time before we got there, but it exceeded my expectations on so many levels.


We did everything you can think of while in Vegas, I won't go into all the details as you know what they say, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas", but i will talk about a couple of the many things we got up to while we were there. We took full advantage of the casinos and all the slots they had to offer, some of us winning big on these, others just about breaking even. 

We also went an visited the Grand Canyon, this is somewhere that if you haven't been to, you must go. There is only one way to really appreciate the awesome sight and that is by helicopter. This was a real highlight for us all and the first time that I had ever been in a helicopter, the views and sights that you get to see are just breath taking and something I am really glad to say that I have now seen.

But apart from all the gambling and sight seeing, there was plenty of drinking. We experienced a whole range of great American beers while we were in Las Vegas. For a lot of the boys this was the first time that they had experienced Samuel Adams, they all really enjoyed it and a few drank this for the majority of the holiday. We also got to experience the Stone Brewery's IPA, this was a fantastic beer and one that I would highly recommend. This beer has a strong hops flavour, giving it a bitter after taste. This bitterness makes you want to go back for more and more, let alone the smoothness that this beer brings. This beer has an overall full balanced flavour with a hint of sweetness to bring the whole thing together.

We also go to try a couple of beers that are made specifically for the bar, at Twin Peaks on the Las Vegas Strip. These were their Dirty Blonde beer and Naughty Brunette Beer. The dirty blonde was a wheat beer made with a slight lemon note to it, this beer was smooth and light, giving it a real refreshing quality. The Naughty Brunette (this was my favourite), is a Maple Nut Brown Ale, this was a dark brown beer with rich malty flavours, this beer had a slight bitterness coming from the hops but was well rounded from the slight sweetness. The best thing about Twin Peaks beer is that it is all chilled and served at around 0 degress, this means that it is extremely refreshing and also gives the glass a real frosted look. These were both fantastic beers that I would definitely recommend you trying, if you're ever in Las Vegas you must go down to twin peaks. There were many more beers tried while in Las Vegas but I will be doing reviews on these in the near future.

Las Vegas has so much to offer, but for me the best thing that Las Vegas did for us was show us a real good time. I had a really fantastic time with the best group of guys you could ask for. This trip reinforced some already great friendships, but also helped to start and create some other really great friendships. I hope that Nic had as much fun as I did, in fact I know he did, but on the whole I just want to thank all of the guys above for the best week ever, and not to mention thank you Las Vegas for giving it to us.

Here is a video that shows just some of the memories that we all shared on this trip. I would love to hear from all of you readers to share your experiences of Las Vegas, the times you had there, the beers you drank, but I would also like to hear from people that are now looking at going to Las Vegas. Please all leave your comments in the comments box below.

I hope you all enjoyed the post, a new beer review will be on its way very soon,

Shane

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Honker's Ale !!!

Hey Everyone, Its mid week and probably about now that were all wishing for the weekend, well why not have a midweek beer to help bring the weekend a little closer. Today's review is from the Goose Island Brewery, Hope you all enjoy !!!

Beer Name:
Honker's Ale

Brewery:
Goose Island 

Brewed and Bottled:
Goose Island Beer Company
Chicago, 
Illinois,
USA

Alcoholic Percentage:

4.3% Vol

Measure:

355ml

Taste:

Light, Refreshing, Slight Bitterness, Slight Hops

Colour:

Slight Cloudiness, Dark Orange

Odour:

Slight Hops

General Thoughts:

Honkers Ale is an interesting beer, light and refreshing with a slight hops flavour. This is a very easy drinking, palatable beer, one that you could enjoy many of. There is a slight bitterness to this beer coming from the hops, which also leaves a slight bitter after taste, this helps to give the beer that moreish quality, making you want to go back for more. Honkers' Ale is a subtle beer with subtle flavours, there are no out there flavours, that burst onto the scene, making this any different from other beers out there, however saying this it is still a very enjoyable beer. This beer is also mellow in character, therefore its not overly heavy in flavour or overly rich, you kind of know what you getting with this beer, a nice easy drinking beer with all round nice, slightly hop flavours. There is little to no carbonation to this beer, which helps make this beer so easy to drink. All in all Honker's Ale is a nice all round, mellow, refreshing beer, with slight hops flavours and a slight bitterness. This beer is easy to drink, however doesn't stand out from the crowd, therefore if your looking for a "Wow" factor beer, this wouldn't be it, but if your looking for an easy drinking beer that you could have mid week to take the edge off the week, then you would not be disappointed. Overall a nice beer, that you could find yourself drinking many of, but not a beer that really packs a punch.

Price:

€2.50 - €3.50 (Based on Average)

Shane

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