BYO ’s Brewery & Whiskey Adventure in Ireland
Brew Your Own readers including Publisher Brad Ring recently spent a week exploring Ireland’s breweries, distilleries, and scenic countryside. With visits to 15 breweries and distilleries, the group was lucky to experience the incredible beer and whiskey culture of Ireland firsthand during BYO’s Brewery, Distillery, and Hiking Adventure last September. We visited an amazingly broad spectrum of breweries from the multi-media, multi-story Guinness Storehouse in Dublin where the group took a stout pouring workshop, to the small family-owned Ballykilcavan farm brewery where the malting barley grown on-site for 13 generations is now the backbone of beers brewed near the barley fields in restored buildings dating back to the 1700s. All along the way we had the chance to experience that legendary Irish hospitality meeting with friendly local brewers from Ireland’s growing craft beer community happy to share their tips and stories while the group enjoyed sampling their beers and whiskeys.
Plus, each day we also took to the trails for scenic hikes to earn those pints along seaside cliffs and through the beautiful and rugged Irish countryside, putting our rain gear to good use in some classic Irish weather.
From dry stouts to Irish red ales, it was a special chance to enjoy classic beer styles at the source. Plus, all that beer had plenty of great hearty Irish food like fresh fish and chips or stews paired alongside, giving plenty of fuel for hiking to the next stop. It was a treat to try Ireland’s answer to moonshine, called Poitín, at Micil Distillery in Galway, listen to master storyteller and brewer Peter Curtin of Burren Brewery in a pub owned by his family for generations, watching locals play traditional music while drinking local beers in wonderful Dingle pubs, visiting longtime BYO subscriber Gordon Lucey’s 9 White Deer Brewery in County Cork who still has a DIY pilot brew system he built from plans in a past BYO story, and enjoying a whiskey tasting at Jameson. And it was a week made all the more special by sharing it with fellow homebrewers passionate about beer, whiskey, and exploring the incredible cities, countryside, and culture of Ireland.
Our next BYO trip with space available will be to New Zealand for a Hop Harvest and Brewery Adventure March 5 – 13, 2026. Details can be found at byo.com/trip. We hope you can join us on a future beer adventure. Sláinte!
