BrewDog is, once again, back in the news for Negative Reasons, but coincidentally, we had plans to be at Dublin’s BrewDog over the weekend anyway. And so, rather accidentally, we’ve managed to cover a pub that’s been getting some press coverage…let’s dive in.
Similar to many other extant BrewDog pubs around the world, it’s a large, modern building: lots of exposed beams and concrete. Dublin’s BrewDog has the advantage (or disadvantage) of being something of a trek around the docks: this means there are interesting views of the canal and Poolbeg chimneys from the large windows and expansive deck, but you need to be heading there on purpose; there’s limited casual foot traffic beyond the offices in the immediate area. This can, theoretically, draw a large after-work crowd, but we’ve never found it particularly crowded – but whether that is down to the sprawling layout or a true reflection of its popularity is hard to say.
Inside, the look is straight out of the Craftonia playbook, with very little to give it a local feel from a decorative perspective. There’s an indoor firepit downstairs, with lots of long tables for groups (plus semi-covered outdoor seating at the back), and the upstairs has shuffleboard and a deck. The BrewDog branded house beers tend to be on the ‘it’s fine’ side – more on the other locals and collaborations in a moment – and the food is also in the ‘useful for a wide range of palates and allergy needs’ category without being particularly remarkable.
So far, so generic.
And yet, here’s the unexpected (to us) part: we’ve never had anything but positive experiences here. We used to come more often (back in the pre-workplace culture allegations era) when we lived nearby, for two main reasons: first, during different parts of lockdown, BrewDog could actually open, thanks to their outdoor seating; secondly, they have always been extremely family-friendly, and when we had Smaller Offspring, it was a more important part of the experience.
Nowadays, we are rarely in this part of town, and if we were looking for pre-show drinks, we’d be more likely to hit up Daphni, and yet, there are two other factors that give this particular BrewDog real appeal: the excellent staff, and the guest beers. We’ve never had a visit where the team behind the bar have been anything other than great: always deeply knowledgeable about the beers and beer styles in general, whilst being friendly and helpful. Given the size of the pub, it’s often a spot for events and parties, and they are clearly skilled at keeping those running smoothly and efficiently. And the guest and collaboration beers from the likes of Hope and Four Provinces are very much the sorts of things you won’t generally find elsewhere – on this most recent visit, they were excellent. Granted, we shouldn’t have to get so excited about finding a perfect pale ale on tap, but it’s a vanishingly rare thing these days.
We have no insights into ‘what will happen’ with BrewDog’s uncertain future (though it’s difficult to imagine a space of this size continuing without global private equity money). In our ideal world, this would continue as an independent tap room and community space with the same staff, but we also know that’s highly unlikely. It’s also possible a buyer will swoop in and continue running BrewDog’s portfolio as-is (for good and ill), but as of this writing, it’s all guesswork.
In summary, it’s a pub with a great team (and having worked for a lot of ‘evil multinationals’ like Amazon, we 100% empathize with rarely having the luxury of choosing the ownership/management of your parent company, even if we might choose to spend money elsewhere when possible), a unique-for-Dublin space and some interesting guest beers. While we may be no fans of BrewDog’s leadership, we’ve got our fingers crossed for everyone who works here.
Where: Three Locks Square, 4, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, D02 E5R7
Access from the city centre: Buses C1/C2/C3/C4, 47, 56A, 77A; 30ish minute walk
Food: Pizza, burgers, salads, bowls: lots of veggie and vegan options, too
Sport: Lots of sport
TVs: Screens inside and even outside on the patios and terrace
Music: Varies, depends on the time of day
Family-friendliness: Very welcoming to families
Pub-crawl-ability: Medium – The local ‘Spoons (The South Strand) is the nearest spot, Daphni and Dockers are quite close, but otherwise, it’s a bit of a further trip to the pubs of Ringsend or spots like The Wind Jammer
Local sites of note: Grand Canal Dock, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
Haunted: Only by alleged corporate malfeasance
Other notes: One of a very few fully-accessible spots in Dublin, with useful toilets and a lift
Socials: Facebook, Instagram
We admit we are stretching the boundaries of the blog this week, as our profiled location is neither a pub, nor, in any meaningful way in Dublin. The clue, indeed, is in the name: we headed a long way out of town to visit 
First, though, the practicalities and context: it’s a good 90+ minutes on the bus (or train and bus) from Dublin city centre out to the industrial estate that houses Wicklow Wolf’s production brewery and taproom. The occasion in this instance was a 
Once there, we got the usual friendly brewery tour, made a little more in-depth and interesting as we could skip over a lot of the basics that one might get on a more general brewery tour for The Normals (which they absolutely do – the tour after ours was a knees-up for a local women’s rugby team). Instead, we could get some fairly obscure technical questions answered, and go deep on the merits of the brewhouse and the sustainability efforts of the brewery. And then it was on to the tasting, at one of the smaller, private bars that overlooks the brewing floor – your fair scribe was thrilled to see Locavore 2025, a fresh-hopped ESB still on tap (it appeared in cans around town just before the holidays, and as one of a very few bitters available in Ireland, it’s always most welcome to see), but trying the core range of Wicklow Wolf beers was more instructive than expected. We must confess that in general, we don’t gravitate toward Wicklow Wolf’s core range when we see it around town, but the massive difference in quality on-site more than suggested that we’re often not getting it in the best shape elsewhere. Now, to be clear, it’s never been off, but it does make one wish that more pubs looked after their independent lines as lovingly as they do their Diageo and Heineken ones – the beer here was all top-notch.
And beyond a great day out, with some really lovely beers, what was our biggest takeaway?
Another unusual feature of this pub is that 
In any event, the food, drink selection (minus the absent Full Sail, on this occasion) and service are all on point; we’re still disappointed with recent visits to 
Welcome to 2026!
Staying on 
Inside, it can be absolutely packed at this time of year, both with decorations (similar to 
But The Hole in the Wall is a pub for life, not just for Christmas – there are also running and cycling clubs based here, and it’s a handy spot if you happen to be on this side of the Phoenix Park (though you’d have 
We’ve not always been fair to 
The first point in its favour – for us, anyway – is its support for local independent beer: there are multiple 
While it’s true that when in this general direction we are more often to be found at 
While 
And it is, perhaps, fitting that Neary’s is a pub that attracts this kind of lore; its beautifully-maintained interior hearkens back to the 1880s – well, at least in the main bar downstairs – while upstairs, it’s a slightly more updated restaurant feel, but still elegantly understated. The 
As regular readers know, we are always on the lookout for 
While the ‘since 1793’ date is a little shaky, given the current building’s construction 
So, ghosts aside, what is the pub like? Well…most definitely not creepy. If anything, it’s a bit too polished to feel at all like a liminal space. There are several very different sections of the pub with their own character, but none are especially dark or gloomy. The front is much more ‘pubby’ and the rear more of a restaurant or hotel bar vibe (the many large TV screens are part of what gives that impression), though it’s worth knowing that the back bar is where the sole local-craft-beer representative is; there’s a Rye River tap if you know where to look. Indeed, the food was very good – a step up from a lot of pub food, though the enormous portions are perhaps created more for tourists than locals. There’s also the usual Guinness – and Murphy’s – plus some Warsteiner.
There’s a covered outdoor space too, more 
The 1884 is so called after 
And like many pubs in the more suburban parts of Dublin, it’s absolutely enormous inside – indeed, somewhat barn-like. But it’s all very tidy, and there’s plenty of space to spread out. There are much-appreciated coat hooks under the bar, which really should be standard everywhere, but here we are. Only a few years ago, this pub was known as Grainger’s, and it had, well, a 
And while the beer selection is mostly the usual Guinness-and-Heineken-and-so-so-much-Rockshore (despite being listed as a stockist of Hope, brewed just a bit further north), there is also the lesser-spotted Kilkenny, which has been popping up here and there of late, and it’s a nice alternative. The real hidden gem of The 1884, though, is the enormous 
While it does have a theoretically reasonably interesting drinks lineup, like its fellow Bodytonic-managed bar, 
It is, of course, entirely possible that it’s simply aiming for a younger/cooler demographic, which is fair enough…though it does beg the question as to why there’s a mural of Peter Fonda on one side of the building…it’s not something that resonates with GenXers like us…are the younger Millennials into Easy Rider? We’ve been told it’s a ‘no’ from Gen Z: ‘…it’s no Taxi Driver.’