Cork: A beer lovers haven in Southern Ireland
It was pretty much one year ago today that we were leaving the small town of Skibbereen, in the heart of South-Western Ireland, and making our way towards the city of Cork.
After arriving in Cork we could finally breathe a sigh of relief, it was nice to be back in a city after travelling around the Western coast of Ireland.
As soon as we arrived at our Airbnb, I had to ask John, our host, where I could get a decent craft beer in Cork. A month of drinking nothing but Murphy's Irish Stout was getting to me.
Luckily for me, Cork is host to a brilliant range of brewpubs and craft beer bars. He was particularly fond of the Franciscan Well Brewery and with good reason.
The brewpub is tucked away under an archway just outside of the city centre, built on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery and Well.
The pub itself is the quintessential craft beer brewpub, offering a range of their own beers that are brewed on site, along with guest beers, a range of whisky and gin, and the mandatory pizzeria.
You can have a pint of the Rebel Red IPA or the Friar Weisse whilst listening to some "Foot-Stompin' Blues" on a Monday night, or some Traditional Irish Story Telling on a Wednesday night.
After wetting our tastebuds at the Franciscan Well, it was well worth the short walk back into the Old Town in the city centre to the family-owned Rising Sons Brewery, which again, offers their own beers brewed on site, guest beers, and a pizzeria, what else?
Rising Sons' offerings are a bit more varied, hosting their core range which includes the brilliant Mi Daza stout and the multi-award winning Sunbeam Lager, as well as a few of their rotating small-batch beers.
The place is absolutely heaving on a Saturday night and it's clear to see that the locals love having breweries here that focus on producing brilliant beers using traditional Irish brewing methods.
Irish craft beer is definitely pushing forward and Cork City is well worth a visit for anybody who wants to try beers that are a little different to what they may be used to.
