An Irish Stout aged in Irish whiskey (with an e) barrels? Pretty Hot And Tempting! Presenting Phat Phantom, which takes the best of Cork whiskey barrels and fills them with the best of Cork craft beer for a magnificent Mitchelstown and Midleton collaboration. With lovely roasted notes, flavours of chocolate and a hint of clove and raisin, this tastes like Christmas pudding magic in a bottle. Style: Dry Irish stout aged in Jameson whiskey barrels Malt: Irish pale malt, dark crystal, roasted barley, chocolate malt, flaked barley, oats. Hops: Fuggles. Strength: 5.5% ABV Bitterness: 41 IBUs Tasting notes Colour/appearance: opaque black with a cream head. Aroma: dark dried fruits – predominantly raisins and prunes – dark chocolate, oak. Flavour: a medium body with sweet fruity vanilla notes up front, followed by a measure of sharpness from the dark grains. A touch of hop bitterness and a dry finish of barrel-related tannins. Aftertaste: smooth roasty aftertaste with a subtle whiskey glow. Food pairings Get your hands on some barbecued brisket, cooked low and slow, and put it with Phat Phantom to take the flavours into the stratosphere. It’s also worth trying with a char-grilled flat iron steak, the smoky flavours of the beef playing off the oak in the beer. On the sweeter side of things, try this beer with a creamy coffee ice cream or even a chocolate rum and raisin baked cheesecake; it will cut the richness and let you taste each glorious mouthful anew. Launch Date: August 2018. Serving temperature: 8 degrees Celsius Availability: 330ml bottles. Get social: #PhatPhantomStout
Read More →About the beer Our ambition is to blend the best characteristics of a great IPA with a wild, rustic farmhouse yeast called Brett, or – to use its full name – Brettanomyces Clausenii. Think bright, hoppy, citrus fruit aromas combining with an unsettling streak of funk to miraculously create a beer that is complex, tart and funky. If it makes you think of something cooked up in a Burco boiler in the backshed of a Big Nothin’ homesteader, then you’re on the right track. Brett scavenges oxygen in the beer, keeping the hop profile fresher and brighter for longer; we’re miles away from a sweaty barnyard animal slumbering on a horse blanket with a half eaten roasted pineapple in his mouth. About the name Arguably the greatest Irish literary work of the twenty first century was written by a Limerickman reared by Cork. City of Bohane by Kevin Barry tells a story of gang warfare in a fictional town many years in the future. This Bohane is a rough spot; the only employment is in meat processing or brewing: “Bohane builds bacon and Bohane builds beer”. In this dystopia we’re back to drinking a narrow range of beers but there’s still brewing happening. (By the way, we didn’t just nick the name; we’ve been in contact with Kevin and he’s happy for us to use it!) Short description: 100% Brett IPA. Style: Brett IPA. Unfined and unfiltered, fermented and aged in stainless. Hops: Citra, Amarillo. Malt: Irish pale ale malt, CaraPils, wheat malt, oat malt. Strength: 8.3% ABV Bitterness: 65 IBUs Tasting notes Colour/appearance: Hazy golden yellow, like a Bohane sunrise. Low carbonation. Aroma: An immediate note of fresh, juicy Citra with an undertone of spicy funk. Flavour: Upfront luscious sweet fruit, predominately ripe peaches, while it rolls around in the mouth, returning to that spiky spice, predominately cloves and allspice, underpinned with a salty liquorice
Read More →We like our fruit-infused sour beers at Eight Degrees, we do, and we like to brew these low ABV beverages especially for the glorious Irish summer. (However short – or long! – it may be.) For our Summer 2018 Berliner Weisse, inspired by what’s growing in the cottage garden, we’re bringing the flavours of tart raspberry and fragrant elderflower to our favourite mixed grain, mixed fermentation, low ABV, sour beer. With a grain base that comprises of 50% malted barley and 50% wheat, we use ale yeast, combined with lacto bacteria, to sour the beer. It’s a fun beer, a sweet and sour summer treat, brewed especially for your next garden party. Short description: Infused with raspberry and elderflower. Style: Berliner Weisse Hops: Saaz, plus raspberry and elderflowers. Malt: Irish lager malt, malted wheat. Strength: 3.7% ABV Bitterness: 6 IBUs Tasting notes Colour/appearance: blush pink in the glass, a little cloudy with a voluminous head. Aroma: aromatic top notes of musky, floral elderflower blossoms with a backdrop of sweet red fruit. Flavour: fresh tart raspberry dominates this light bodied beer with a distinctive sweet, heady elderflower presence. It’s a well balanced, thirst quenching, summer refresher. Aftertaste: a slight hint of biscuity malt in the finish. Food pairings What are you eating outside in the garden? Serve this deliciously tart, low ABV beer in champagne flutes and see how well it works with all kinds of summertime food. It will cut through the richness of maple-glazed halloumi cheese kebabs or dukkah-spiced chicken drumsticks, play nicely with lamb koftas and enhance the herbs in big bowls of tabbouleh salad. Try it alongside a platter of Irish strawberries, ripe tomatoes and Toonsbridge burrata for a memorable pairing. Serve with a bowl of ripe summer fruit for a simple ending to a meal. If you’ve got your own homemade elderflower cordial, add to taste then freeze in ice pop containers
Read More →We just got a press release in from the lovely people at ABVFest in Belfast that we thought we should share with you. Pick up the beer and come along to the festival – it’s one of our favourites and it’s always a treat to visit Belfast. 19 June 2018 – Exciting news from Team ABVFest – this year, we’re releasing our #ABV18 beer in advance of the festival! ‘Hoop du Jour’, a 4% session IPA is available for you to buy in bottle and on draught in bars and off licences across Northern Ireland. It’s become an annual tradition to collaborate with friends of the festival and brew a special ABVFest beer. Earlier this year, we headed on a road trip to Mitchelstown, County Cork to spend some quality time with longtime pals of ABVFest, Eight Degrees Brewing. Brewed with Irish pale ale malt, Enigma, Amarillo and Denali hops, ‘Hoop du Jour’ is the end delicious result – a sessionable IPA, silky and full-bodied with rich red fruit flavours. As with all our previous festival beers, it’s a one-off brew and won’t hang around for long! We reckoned it would see you through the summer while we wait for the great doors of Carlisle Memorial Church to open once again on 31 August and 01 September. If you haven’t got your tickets sorted yet, be quick – Whole Shebang weekend passes are almost sold out and if you’re looking to enjoy the Saturday evening session, it’s our fastest selling ticket at the moment. Visit ABVFest.com to buy your tickets today and keep up to date with #ABV18 news and information on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. • Hoop du Jour is out for delivery today to The Wodworkers, Belfast; Neill Wine, Groomsport; Wineworks, Newtownards; The Errigle, Belfast; The Anchor Bar, Newcastle;
Read More →When the good folk at ABVFest got in contact with us to talk about doing a collab brew for the 2018 festival, we didn’t hesitate. We’ve been going to this fabulous, little – in the best kind of way – festival since it started. Held in the Carlisle Memorial Church in Belfast, it’s always been a brilliant opportunity to meet and learn from other brewers, discover new beers and breweries and catch up with friends. This year’s #ABVFest18 takes place on Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 September 2018 and tickets are available at www.abvfest.com. Don’t miss it! Short description: Session IPA Style: Session IPA Hops: Denali, Enigma, Amarillo. Malt: Irish pale ale malt, CaraPils, oat malt, lactose. Strength: 4% ABV Bitterness: 37 IBUs Tasting notes Colour/appearance: very light golden straw. Aroma: dank resinous hop aroma. Flavour: silky and full-bodied with rich red fruit flavours that are particularly redolent of raspberry and redcurrant. Aftertaste: bitter pine in the finish that doesn’t hang around. Launch Date: Summer 2018. Serving temperature: 8 degrees Celsius Availability: bottles and kegs. Get social: #HoopduJourIPA Read more: ABVFEST BEER ON SALE NOW!
Read More →Eight Degrees Brewing, in association with Galty Valley Catering, is bringing the best of local food to the brewery to pair with our naturally adventurous beers. On Friday 22 June, at 7pm, we’ll be opening our doors and welcoming guests to our first Long Day Long Table Dinner. To celebrate the summer solstice, which falls between 20 and 22 June, we’ve put together an elegant set menu that will be presented in the atmospheric surroundings of our newly operational #MauritiustoMitchelstown brewery. Five courses have been carefully designed by Galty Valley’s Mary, based around producers like Ballinwillan House, The Apple Farm, Hanley’s Butchers, Kildinan Farm, Gubbeen Smokehouse, Crowe’s Farm and Macroom Buffalo Farm. We will talk you through each course, paired with one of our beers, each carefully chosen to enhance the other. It promises to be a wonderful night of beer, food and company. Come join us! Tickets, which are €60 for a five course set menu paired with our beers, are available through Eventbrite. As this is a one-off, no-choice set menu, we regret that we cannot cater for any dietary issues.
Read More →Our beer had a long way to travel – making it through snowstorms, snow storms, delayed shipping schedules and a dockers’ strike! – but it made it to Australia in the nick of time for this week’s Pint of Origin Ireland event at The Fifth Province in our Aussie’s hometown of Melbourne. Good Beer Week is the biggest craft beer event in the Southern Hemisphere and the Full Irish IPA, Sunburnt Irish Red, Knockmealdown Irish Stout and Howling Gale Ale are pouring for the festival, which runs until 20 May. Eight Degrees beers will also be front and centre at the Artisan Ireland at this weekend’s GABS – Melbourne Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular, where Rhizome Beverages will be manning the taps.
Read More →Well, a lot’s been happening. We’ve sold Eight Degrees Brewing to Irish Distillers, Ireland’s leading supplier of spirits and wines and producer of the world’s most well-known and successful Irish whiskeys. We’re excited about this deal, which will see us providing a long-term beer supply to support the continued growth of Jameson Caskmates while Irish Distillers will support our continued innovation and experimentation in the craft beer sector. When we set up the brewery in 2010, it was with the idea of brewing naturally adventurous, great tasting beers that were more exciting and innovative than anything else in the market. Becoming part of the Irish Distillers family means that we have the long-term capabilities to continue on this mission as well as being part of the very exciting Jameson Caskmates story. We’re looking forward to working with Tommy and the team in Midleton while continuing to create new and exciting beers for our customers. Together with all our employees, we will continue to work at Eight Degrees. Scott and Cam
Read More →Coming in cans this week, it’s our Seisíun IPA! It’s a crisp and refreshing beer with lots of aromatic hops, all packed into a sessionable 4.5% ABV. From the label: Woven deep into the fabric of Irish society and tradition is the seisiún, an informal coming together of people in a pub – over a beer – to play music, tell stories and enjoy each other’s company. For the best kind of seisiún, you need a low-alcohol beer, something that has lots of flavour but is not too high in ABV. Our Seisiún IPA, a sessionable India Pale Ale, takes lots of aromatic hops and packs them into a crisp and refreshing beer that’s just 4.5% ABV. Grab a can and enjoy the craic. Tasting notes: Seisiún IPA
Read More →When we got the call from Irish Craft Beers about sending beer to Beirut last year we immediately said YES – and started arguing about who should go there on a hypothetical trade trip. When that opportunity became a reality, for St Patrick’s Day, there was even more squabbling. The Kiwi – just about – won that battle and we headed to Lebanon with the lads from Irish Craft Beers, and several other Irish drinks producers for a weekend of showcasing the incredible beverages that Ireland produces, celebrating links between Ireland and Lebanon, developing friendships and learning that there were some members of the party that knew all 57(ish) verses of The Rattlin’ Bog. We brought beer to the table, as did Antrim brewery Hillstown Brewery and fellow Corkonians Blacks of Kinsale. There was gin from Blacks, Waterford’s Blackwater Distillery and Ballyvolane House’s Bertha’s Revenge. Irish whiskey came from Northern Irish Echlinville Distillery and Co Clare-based whiskey bonders Chapel Gate Irish Whiskey. In short, everything you might need for the St Patrick’s Day to end all St Patrick’s Days. We did work, at events in Backroom Beirut, Fattal Group, Golden Star, EddéYard and Kalani Beach Resort, as St Patrick’s stretched over three riotous days and nights. There was singing. There was dancing- a Siege of Ennis, the likes of which Lebanon has (fortunately) never seen before – and there was almightly craic. Thanks to Liam and Shane at Ireland Craft Beers for inviting us along and a huge thank you to Paul Choueiry, GM of Botella at Fattal Group for organising everything in Lebanon. We’ve already signed up for St Patrick’s Day 2019…
Read More →Our Seisiún IPA shows that a beer doesn’t need a high ABV to have lots of flavour. Initially brewed so that the brew crew could have a low-alcohol sipper at beer festivals, this sessionable IPA has transcended its origins to become one of our most popular beers. We’ve taken lots of aromatic hops and packed them into a crisp and refreshing beer that comes in at just 4.5% ABV. You may have formerly known this beer as Summer Days Seisiún IPA; we decided to rename it so that it’s not just tied to those two weeks of sunshine in August. Short description: soft bitterness and fresh lime zest Style: session India Pale Ale Hops: Simcoe, Amarillo, Mandarina Bavaria and Citra. Malt: two row base Irish malt, Carapils. Strength: 4.5% ABV Bitterness: 44 IBUs Tasting notes Colour/appearance: bright yellow in the glass with a frothy white head. Aroma: fresh hoppy citrus with light malt notes. Flavour: fresh lime zest on the palate with a crisp hop bitterness. Medium light malt body with a clean and dry finish. Aftertaste: refreshing bitterness, inviting you to take another sip. Food pairings: lots of flavour and low alcohol make this a perfect beer to serve over a period of time at a party, relaxed gathering or – as we’ve tested! – beer festival. An ideal pairing is pizza, particularly anything that includes the fabulous chorizo or salami from Gubbeen Smokehouse, as the beer crisply cuts through all that meaty, cheesy gorgeousness with each sip. On the lighter side, try this Seisiún IPA with a St Tola goat cheese and fresh beetroot salad, tossed in a ginger and lime dressing, and see how the hop bitterness complements the citrus. It’s also a great match with pub grub like burgers or fish and chips. Serving temperature: 8 degrees
Read More →There’s a wind from the East and it’s bringing some changes – as of next week, some of our gorgeous beer is going to be available in cans. We know that a lot of our customers are into outdoor activities like camping, mountaineering, music festivals and kayaking, and that cans work well in these environments. We’ve definitely seen an increased demand for cans in recent times and, despite our ongoing love for the 330ml bottle (and those gorgeous 750ml bottles), are – ta da! – putting three of our beers into 440ml cans. First off is our latest limited edition beer, Neon Velvet FPA, a kiwifruit and lime-infused pale ale, which will only be available on draught or in cans. We will also be packaging two long-standing favourites into cans: watch out for our multi-award winning Full Irish Single Malt IPA and Citra Single Hop IPA in shiny new cans. We also decided to go with a new design for the new format so watch out for these bright, fun and vibrant labels. The plan is to release them into the wild next week (from Wednesday 7 March) so they should be available at a your friendly local off licence very soon. We’re very excited and we’re really looking forward to hearing what YOU think. Please do let us know! Get social: #EightDegreesCans
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