Yes, you can get a Guinness at most (all?) Galway Bay pubs nowadays, and that includes The Brew Dock.
It wasn’t always the case, but even compared to other Galway Bay pubs around Dublin, the beer lineup at The Brew Dock can be somewhat hit and miss at present. Some of the taps these days are the usual fine Galway Bay choices – something we’ll return to in a moment, and there are usually a few local guest beers, too, from the likes of Third Barrel and Rascals. But if it’s cheap Eurolagers you’re after, there’s also Veltins and some other macros taking up tap space. In itself, this is, perhaps, not a surprise. This pub is reasonably handy for both Busáras* and Connolly Station, neither of which is overendowed with pleasant places to wait for your bus or train, so it’s not going to be only a craft beer nerd hangout.
But all too often on recent visits, there are multiple taps out of service or perhaps not as fresh as they might be – a real contrast to years gone by when this was a destination for beer nerds for the variety and vibrancy of the beers on offer, both from Galway Bay itself as well as other independent brewers from near and far. And it does seem that Galway Bay are making some especially interesting seasonal, one-off and collaboration beers of late, so it’s a shame that they rarely seem to be highlighted here.
And to be clear, I haven’t had a bad experience here, but the pub does look and feel, well, tired. It’s possibly unfair to compare it to a brand-new Galway Bay pub like Molly’s, which still has its coat of fresh paint, or a stalwart like The Black Sheep which is constantly rotating its beers (including a fairly-frequent weekend cask option again) but it does feel like The Brew Dock could use a bit of a spruce-up.
The area immediately around the pub has a similar issue in terms of needing a tidy-up, so one wonders if it’s something seeping in from outside. But to end on a positive note, all the elements are here to see a return to form – let’s hope it happens in the very near future. In the meantime, there are still some lovely pints and nice snacks to be had – it’s a fine spot to pre-game before an event at 3Arena.
*For my fellow Brutalism nerds, let’s talk about the theatre within Busáras, and how awesome it could have been had it been properly funded and finished…
Where: 1 Amiens St, Mountjoy, Dublin 1
Access from the city centre: Buses 14, 15, 15A, 15B, 27, 151, Luas Red Line, 17-ish minute walk
Food: Standard Galway Bay menu
Sport: Football, rugby
TVs: A few here and there
Music: Lots of GenX faves
Family-friendliness: The usual Galway Bay kids’ menu is on offer
Pub-crawl-ability: Medium – Urban Brewing is nearby, and Dockers and The Wind Jammer are across the Liffey; The Morris Bar isn’t terribly far, either
Local sites of note: Busáras, Connolly Station, EPIC, Custom House, 3Arena, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, IFSC
Haunted: The toilets can be a bit creepy
Other notes: The toilets in question are upstairs and always seem a bit off. Let’s blame infrasound?
Socials: Instagram, Facebook
Although the branding is different, Urban Brewing is an outpost of 
But what I particularly enjoy about Urban Brewing is that each part of the venue feels very different – the outside space is the go-to when the weather is good, but the modern bar in the old building has a lovely look and feel, while the vaults below are great for events – cosy and always beautifully decorated. And as a newer business in an older building, they’ve had the space to get their accessibility figured out in the retrofitting; there are lifts as well as stairs.
This week, it’s another relatively rare visit into the more touristy part of town as we visit 
Kennedy’s is another pub I’ve walked past many times without entering, but I finally had a bit of free time in the area this week, so stopped in for a sneaky daytime glass after visiting the National Gallery. While not nearly as extensive a list of craft beer taps as nearby 
There’s a lovely tiled bar in the basement for live music and events, and this space as well as the terra cotta decoration on the pub’s exterior add unique touches, while the rest of the interior feels a bit more ‘standard Irish pub.’ All told, it’s probably more of a destination for those on literary walking tours than anything else, but it’s nice to find a spot in tourist-land with a few craft beers; it’s not necessarily a given in Dublin.