It’s finally here!
Yes, it’s been a long ‘two weeks’ since Dublin beer nerds were told The Christchurch would be opening, but at long last, it’s in business. There’s still a bit of work to be done – the kitchen isn’t yet up and running, and there are a few bits and pieces still being put in place – but the beers are pouring. Most are from Third Barrel, the local brewery who have taken over the pub, but like its predecessors in this spot, both The Christchurch Inn and The Beer Market, it’s not a taproom as such. This is both in terms of vibe – still very pubby – as well as on paper, For Reasons. There has been much recent attention on the licensing laws in the North, where Lidl has opened a pub to circumvent some of those restrictions, but it’s far from a ‘solved’ issue closer to home.
And while it’s a different situation here, it’s still effectively impossible for a brewery to simply open a taproom; there’s a good recent discussion of the local state of play with Friend of the Blog Sarah (now ex-of Rye River Brewing, and off to new adventures) and Galway Bay Brewing’s Marco on First Draught, the excellent new beer podcast from Elizabeth Townsend of Keroo Brewing. And so The Christchurch is a pub owned by Third Barrel that happens to pour (mostly) Third Barrel beer – just as Rascals is (mostly) Rascals, and Fidelity is (mostly) Whiplash.
So while there may not be an enormous range of breweries on tap, the selection of beers the Third Barrel crew spun up for launch is a good summery selection (barring the imperial brown – perhaps we’ll check back in on that one when it’s not so hot out): a range of IPAs (not just hazy!) and lagers, a nitro red and a stout, plus some of the usual core range like BOOM and Shut Up Juice, mixed in with a few guest taps.
Most importantly, though, much of the Underdog crew turned out for the soft launch; the gang was very much back together to support the new venture, and to cheer the return of Maura behind the bar. There’s been more than a lick of paint applied to the place, and the new colours are dark and soothing around the main bar, with more splashes of brighter hues toward the front upstairs and downstairs spaces – the always-odd layout remains, but it does seem a much better use of the space than in previous incarnations. A good time was had by all. For the near term, The Christchurch will be open Wednesday-Sunday, so plan accordingly – we’ll update this bit when the kitchen opens.
Finally (for now), calling one the new beers ‘Two More Weeks!‘ is absolute perfection. Well played. We’ll be back!
Where: 13 High St, Merchants Quay, Dublin 8, D08 K09
Access from the city centre: Buses 27, 77A, 150, 151, 11-ish minute walk
Food: Coming soon
Sport: Nah
TVs: Only the beer lineup onscreen at the moment
Music: Chill background tunes
Family-friendliness: Fine to pop in after Dublinia during the usual hours
Pub-crawl-ability: High – The Lord Edward, The Bull & Castle, Thomas Read’s/The Oak are all more or less in one direction, with The Thomas House, Guinness Open Gate, Swift, Lynott’s and other Liberties spots; The Brazen Head is also a short walk away
Haunted: Collaborative ghost story, anyone?
Local sites of note: Christchurch Cathedral, Dublinia, St Audoen’s Church, Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, Vicar Street, Olympia Theatre
Other notes: One of a very few Dublin venues on Untappd
Socials: Instagram
BrewDog is, once again, back 
Inside, the look is straight out of 
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 
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.
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?
For anyone used to a reasonably trendy brewery taproom, the recent glow-up at the Open Gate hits all the marks – sleek-looking taps, photography-friendly spaces and industrial chic, though you do now get a better view of the brewing operations behind the glass wall. That said, this isn’t the sort of spot you’ll find 30 rotating taps; it’s still your core Guinness range, with a few more 
Perhaps my favourite thing about the Open Gate, however, is less about the beer and pretzels – though I love the Dublin Porter, and would happily drink it much more frequently were it available elsewhere around town – it’s the sign. Rather than the more common neon chalk or paint-pen listing of what’s on tap, there’s an old-school, railway station-style flipboard that resets periodically, and it is incredibly satisfying to watch and listen to. And despite being someone who once spent far too long each week in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, I miss 
