Yes, it's cheating a bit, since we just visited a new-to-us cask ale spot last week in Harty's Bar, but with our current work travel schedule (where we had some decent, if not amazing, cask ale in London after meetings), needs must!
And while Harty's Bar is one of the very few consistent non-Wetherspoons spots to get cask on any night of the week…well, we like to highlight the locally-owned options over the ‘Spoons choices. And so, you also have The Porterhouse Temple Bar – indeed, the only Porterhouse location still trading under that name, as its sister bar Tapped changed its spots some time ago – but the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that Untappd (no relation) shows a cask option at Tapped. As you may have guessed, that single beer engine is the one at Harty's Bar. So, all in all, possibly a bit confusing for the visitor to Dublin, but honestly, this is very much par for the course for us locals.
But that's not all!
The Black Sheep also has a most-weekends cask offering; keep an eye on their Instagram stories for the latest news there. Like Harty's Bar, it's often from Brehon Brewhouse, but there are also consistent visits from West Kerry Brewery and others. And there are frequently up to two cask choices at JR Mahon's, although they are rarely cheap. These are typically from Hopkins & Hopkins, who also brew their house beers from their spot in Smithfield.
And what about those Wetherspoons options?
Well, they often get Brehon Brewhouse cask ales as well, but more frequently, it’s your ‘standard ‘Spoons‘ real ale lineup, with the likes of Hobgoblin or Old Peculier. So while it’s not so different from what you might find in a pub in, say, Luton, well, at least the carpet is different.
And we still hold out hope that a cask option will, in the fullness of time, return to Underdog…we’ll all just need to keep bugging Paddy about it.
You have your orders…
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