Check out the Franciscan Well brewpub in County Cork.
Three years ago, my friend John Garvey of Garvey Communications Associates, Inc., took a trip to Ireland. Being a craft beer fan, John naturally checked out some of the brewpubs that have sprung up over there in the past 10-15 years or so.
Upon his return, I received an e-mail from him with a YouTube link, which you can view here:
Imagine my surprise when the video contained therein was a bartender named Tom from the Franciscan Well brewpub in County Cork jokingly chastising me for never having been there. As readers will know, I visit the Emerald Isle almost every year, and make a point to visit as many craft beer venues as I can. For whatever reason, I just had never made my way to The Franciscan Well.
So this year, I made it a goal to get there and therefore I'm making the brewpub the focus of this week's column (which I'm writing about 100 miles or so up the road in County Clare).
The pub is a beautiful venue, and although my friend Neil and I visited it on an afternoon of a quiet day, I can imagine how festive it gets at night. Dark wood and low lighting give the place and old world feel and this is appropriate as its name comes from the fact that stands on the former site of a Franciscan Monastery, dating back to the year 1219. The "well" part of its name comes from the fact that there is a (now-defunct) well on the grounds whose waters were said to be holy and have the ability to cure ailments.
While the well water's mystical properties remain open to debate, the newer liquids produced there—the beers—definitely have a mystical quality to them. While we were there, we sampled the Rebel Red, a balanced Irish red ale that uses Fuggles and East Kent Goulding hops. Rebel Red also was named the best beer in Ireland in 2001 by a panel of judges that included the late, great beer writer Michael Jackson.
While I was there, I spoke with owner Shane Long, who told me some exciting news: He plans on exporting some of his brews to the U.S. later this year. He has some distribution lined up for several areas of the country and I told him I'd get the contact names of some companies so we could have it here in western Massachusetts. (This was a genuine offer of assistance, albeit one that masked a selfish ulterior motive: I want to be able to drink the beers on a regular basis, not just when I travel to Ireland.)
But what about Tom, the bartender who ribbed me in the YouTube video? Well, sadly, he wasn't there that day, but his absence gave me the chance to needle him for not being there.
You can see it here: