Cans, Clicks and Climbs

The last few weeks have been difficult, unprecedented and worrying. And a whole load of other things. It’s not a lovely time at all. I hope you have been able to keep safe and well.

Gareth and I went on furlough as soon as the lockdown came in, to take stock of the situation and plan our next steps. Now we’re back to work, washing our hands frequently, and social distancing in the brewery. It’s nice to have a degree of normality again.

So back to the headline…

Cans.

We have three new IPAs out this week in 440ml cans:

Poetic Justice 6.5% - dry hopped with juicy Mosaic, Sabro and Galaxy.

Graffiti Limbo 6.5% - dry hopped with Citra goodness and a dank Columbus edge.

Divided Years 7.3% - dry hopped with fruity Galaxy, Mosaic and Sabro.

We’re really pleased with these beers and we hope you’ll enjoy them too. They’re available to buy in our online Shop, as well as from some great local off sales later this week.

Clicks.

While I was sat getting a lovely tan on furlough, Gareth was working away building us an online retail site and getting the initial orders shipped.

You know Gareth is a fantastic brewer – most of our beers that you’ve drunk over the last 18 months have been brewed by him, and I believe they’re the best beers we’ve made – but his interweb and design skills have really come to the fore recently. We simply wouldn’t be in the position we are now without him. He is a legend.

Now, working with our colleagues at the Old Ship Inn, Warrenpoint, along with our friends at Deli-Lites, we can ship beer from the brewery to your door in a chilled van. It’s a safe, contact-free way to stock up on lovely independent beer. Click on over to our Shop to buy our new cans, as well as your favourite bottles. Many of you already have, and to you we offer our most heartfelt thanks for your support.

Climbs.

Our new IPAs are named after climbing routes on Lower Cove, Slieve Beg and Buzzards Roost, deep in the Mournes. We miss the mountains. But we know they’ll still be there for us when lockdown finally ends.

In the meantime, we want to bring the mountains to you through our package artwork. Yet another talent that Gareth has and rarely shouts about is his photography. Even Barra Best used one of his snaps on the evening weather slot, that’s how good he is. You can see it for yourself on the Hoops & Staves bottle label, and on our new cans.

Gareth will also be digging into his archives so that all our new releases in can and bottle for the foreseeable future can carry a great shot of the Mournes. Whether you’re missing them like us, or this is the first time you’ve ever come across the Mourne Mountains (where have you been?!), you can immerse yourself in their beauty and maybe, just for a moment, imagine you’re there.

We will be “ramping up” production (to coin a phrase) over the coming weeks so please stay tuned for more fresh beer releases.

What’s most important in all of this is that we all come out the other side safe and well. Beer is by no means the most important thing in life, even at the best of times, but we strongly believe that if we can bring a moment of pleasure to someone in these difficult, unprecedented and worrying times then it’s worth doing what we do.

What the other side will look like, who knows? But in the meantime, if you can, please stay home and stay safe.