Pauric Brennan got in touch recently about his new film The Crafty Irish. He tells the story of some of our brilliant Irish breweries. Or rather, he lets them tell their own stories, in their own words. As I’m not a film critic I’m going to borrow something from a cinema classic:
The Good
The style is very relaxed and the chats seem quite natural and unscripted. Given that I know all of the subjects on one level or another I can say with a fair amount of certainty that this is close as you’ll get at the moment to having a cup of coffee or indeed a pint with these brewers. Speaking of which, I should tell you who’s involved.
You have the legendary Richard from Black Donkey in Roscommon. The lads Barry, Brian and Rich from O Brother in Wicklow. Paddy from 12 Acres in Laois and David from Ballykilcavan, also in Laois. Actually, they’re all legends.
There’s plenty of humour along the way and this helps to leaven the reality of the brewing game, which is very much a labour of love.
The Bad and the Ugly
On International Women’s Day I feel like I should mention that there are no women featured. And there are women working hard in the Irish brewing industry. They’re definitely in the minority, but still. And lads, it has to be said, none of you are going to win any beauty contests!
If you want to check out the film you can rent it now here: https://gumroad.com/l/thecraftyirish
And there are a lot of worse ways to spend a wet spring evening. So, line it up and crack open a lovely Irish craft beer. Sláinte!
*I was sent a link to the film for review purposes.*
