The later in the day it gets, the more goes on – orders, deliveries, phone calls, emails, texts, tweets and a request for a fax number that heralds a bout of nostalgia for long lost commodore 64 days.

Which is why we’ve taken to the dark side of brewing – brewing at night time. Or at least early morning brewing. And you know what? Its fantastic. Almost zen-like quietness and absorption. As a small brewery starting up, there aren’t enough hours in the day for a two man operation to get round to everything. The way we figure, nothing should distract us from the brewing cycle so…

Our brew days start early – The mash could easily start at 3 or 4 in the morning with pre-brew preparation going on since 2am. Aside from the sleep interruption, there’s something becalming about being able to focus on what’s important. Generally by 7am as most people are brewing their tea or coffee, we’re well on our way to brewing beer. The sparge will have already begun and the kettle elements will be turning on to begin heating the wort. By 11am, we’re probably organising the whirlpool and cold break and getting the yeast ready for pitching.

Blackguard – From Grain to Glass

It mightn’t work for every brewery but it works for us at the moment as we grow. There’s no Zzzz inducing news bulletin on the hour every hour and no repetitive adverts to wade through. Some stations even pump out a truly bangin’ array of uninterrupted tunes on their play list during the twilight hours. Did we mention zen-like?

One thing we did notice however is sometimes you lose track of time. Whilst sparging and having a tea break, we’d often start answering some emails from people meaning those who hadn’t turned off their instant notifications were getting 4 and 5am pings on their phone notifying them of a new mail. Still though, at least they know Munster Brewery were thinking of them….

1. Clean as you go. Sounds simple but if you dirty it, clean it!

2. Make delicious beer. Above all else.

3. Early starts. The smaller the brewery, the longer the hours. On the plus side, you get to see kick ass sunrises. Who doesn’t like to see the sun rise, right?

4. Only the best ingredients will do.

5. Don’t buy foot gloves from China – they’re too small for our clown sized feet.

6. Don’t hover over an open tank with any of the following; phone, keys, biros, pens, screwdrivers, wrenches or any sort of nuts or bolts. What can fall in, will fall in.

7. Hydrometers. They break. Have spares.

8. Batteries. They run out. Have spares.

9. The taste test you set 30 minutes aside for usually takes two hours. Just sayin’.

10. Music. A constant battleground. Make sure you’re in charge and damn the nagging naysayers. Your musical tastes are absolutely friggin flawless.

11. You get A LOT of emails asking for beer labels from collectors on the other side of the world. Make somebody’s day.

12. Breweries are a combo of tedious record keeping, frustrating accounts and a lot of physical grunt work. If you’re not prepared for it, you won’t like it. If you don’t believe in it, forget it.

13. When someone says ‘Call the plumber’ it means, ‘you fix it.’

14. It’s only a matter of time until the pump gives out. Pray it’s not on brew day.

15. Temperature control will become an obsession.

16. Things will  go wrong – labels, boxes, packaging, supplies, hops, malt, licences, paperwork, water, electricity, gas. Just get on with it.

17. Be yourself. It shows in your beer.

18. They’ll be a hundred and one things you could do. The only one that matters is the one you’re at. Do it right.

19. Don’t underestimate the ability of government agencies to bury you in paperwork. Their sole existence is based on you filling in forms. Fill them you will.

20. Follow your heart. Your head will follow.

21. Never compromise.

Stand L120 is where it’s all happening. We’ll be part of the Taste Cork stand and the aroma of delicious beer will guide you the rest of the way.

The Cork Local Enterprise Board are the geniuses bringing us along and we’re already brewing for the show. You see, twelve months ago, getting to Birmingham for one of the largest Food and Drink shows in the UK was a pipe dream, a little dot on a map hung on our wall, part of a thousand other dots that we had to tackle if we were to get off the ground.

One year later and that dot was getting a lot bigger and a lot closer and figuring out how to make it happen was looming large. So when the local Cork Enterprise Board offered us the opportunity to go, damned we’ll be if we passed it up. All of a sudden we’re planning our trip and brewing extra beer.

We are are super excited about this. Bringing our beer to the UK and spreading our mission just got a whole lot more real. The UK is streets ahead of Ireland in terms of understanding what craft beer is all about. It’s not craft for the sake of being craft – unless you happen to be a mega commercial brewery buying up little craft breweries in the hope of fooling the people some more into buying overpriced chemical laden beers brewed made by accountants.

It’s craft because it’s brewed by people, not robots. It’s craft because the people behind it brew it for the beer, for the taste, to push boundaries and explore a thousand variations of every recipe to find the perfect one for them. We’re excited to bring our take on that to Birmingham and we’ll be rocking in on the 18th – 20th April.

Come say hello. Let’s talk Beer.

We loaded up on bottles, packed them into a van and headed off to the rebel city. We’d a few posters, some leaflets about ourselves. And a branded t-shirt.

We needn’t have worried. We were drunk dry of Blackguard. It’s easy drinking, smooth and lightly hopped character went down well with the unseasonal sunshine over the Easter bank holiday weekend. 12 Towers got a great reception, challenging the perceptions of Irish Red Ales. Firbolg was drunk and drunk again. We were blown away.

Brewfest opened on Wednesday evening. We restocked on Friday. And again on Saturday. What little we’d left we hauled up on Sunday. Rather sheepishly, we had to tell Brewfest we were thirsty ourselves and had no beer. They were gracious.

The comments, texts and emails were so worthwhile. A real vote of confidence that we’ve chosen the right approach – brewing beers that are are natural, time aged and chemical free. Beers we want to drink ourselves. Beers we love ourselves. Our marketing might not be super snazzy but damit, our beer is.

Brewfest was a great gig. The crowds thronged the place each night showing the demand for craft beer. No longer bland boring beer marketed with slick advertising, but real honest beer you can swear by.

We won’t forget Brewfest Cork in a hurry. We had such a good time. The staff and organisers of it deserve a clap on the back.

Up next for us is Killarney Beer Fest. We’re brewing extra already.

– Hauling 25kg bags of malt over the shoulder
– Mashing in with your custom paddle
– Smelling the aroma of a brimming mashtun, packed with flavourful malts
– Weighing out the hops in precise quantities
– Being mesmerised by floating hops and steaming aromas from the kettle
– Having a mashtun you empty by hand
– Ringing the local farmers to collect the spent grain for the pigs
– Hugging the fermenters as yeasties work their magic
– Knowing its an art form to pick the right moment to bottle
– Spending 10 hour days with friends bottling manually
– Popping open bottles to test conditioning and carbonation
– Satisfaction knowing now is the time to send your beer to the market
– Feeling like you know your beer better than any machine
– Wondering if you qualify for a degree in cleaning
– Using only natural ingredients
– Giving the beer time until perfection
– Not charging a premium price for watery swill
– Knowing how to strip, clean and assemble every piece of machinery. Personally.
– Not pretending your beer is carted around by shire horses
– Being brave enough to call it like it is
– Dumping batches you’re not happy with
– When bars and off licences have your work, home and mobile numbers – Just so you don’t miss an order.
– Investing everything you earn back into your craft
– Being in awe of the people that drink your beer
– Being an expert in plumbing, electrics and repairs
– Knowing the people at the bars and off licences that support you
– Buying as much as you can locally
– Refusing to cut corners for profit
– Swearing some day you’ll buy a pallet truck
– Wishing you’d studied graphic design, video production and accounting in some past life
– Not knowing where tax havens are
– when a new tank is a BIG deal
– Dealing with sales along with brewing, cleaning and plumbing. In the same day.
– Praying today is the day the pump won’t fail
– Knowing that brewing is damn hard work but loving it anyway
– Tasting your beers before breakfast so the palate is clean
– Walking in and seeing 100 parts you built yourself
– Feeling guilty for missing family life so much
– Losing count of the tiny variations of the same recipe until YUP!  That’s the ONE.

Stretched along 3 miles of beach, holiday makers flock here during the summer. In winter, the stormchasers brave the 20 foot high waves as they crash over the local park.

This place drips with history going back centuries. Hangings, floggings and rebellions roll seamlessly into one throughout the ages.

This is a place where an easterly wind means you should probably think about sandbags at your front door before the floods hit. Where placenames such as Cromwell’s Arch, The Diving Rocks, Town Walls and Slob Bank don’t raise an eyebrow.

That Place? Youghal.

Continues below image

We’re pretty proud to come from here. But it really isn’t the beaches or the history or the scenery that make Youghal what it is. That comes from the people. It’s the ingrained sense of community. More local groups and clubs than you can shake a stick at. Festivals throughout the year. Cafes, pubs and restaurants buzzing with the sound of craic and stories. The hum of conversation as cyclists, walkers and runners whiz by. Even the quiet nod from the stranger as you pass by.

We’re proud we come from Youghal. We think we have one of the hidden treasures of the country tucked away out of sight. This is our way of putting our hometown on bottles that will be sent countrywide. Its our way of marketing our town all over Ireland. We want YOU to name that beer! The biggest rule is the name must be related to Youghal.

To enter, email your entry along with your name and contact details to info@munsterbrewery.com or text to 087 9878171. You can also enter on our Facebook Page

In return, the winning entry will receive a holiday voucher worth €100 plus the first case of Youghal’s new beer!

The Rules? You must be over 18. The name must be related to Youghal. By entering, you relinquish all claims, ownerships and rights to the name worldwide. Closing date is 19th August, 2014. The decision on winning entry is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Our first two beers are lagers which probably goes against the common sense of other new breweries who are apt to launch with ales. Ales ferment at a warmer temperature than lagers and are more forgiving with the fermentation process. Lagers require cold temperatures to ferment – anything down to zero celsius and thus are that bit more expensive to produce, never mind the initial outlay in cooling equipment.

Never ones to do things the easy way, we’ve decided to take the plunge and go for lagers. It’s what we’re used to having brewed many in the past. Scaling the recipes and volumes up to the scale of commercial production has been exciting if a bit nerve wrecking at times. We’re producing two lagers, both which will be naturally carbonated and bottle conditioned. The designs for the labels are just about finished and are due to be sent to the HSE for approval early next week. After that it’s off to the printers. We’ll post full details of the beer soon.

We finished hooking up the (manual) bottling machine to a filling tank so we’re just about ready to roll. The labeling machine has been ordered (here’s hoping to straight labels on the bottles – ah the problems of startups!) and should be here in the next few days. If you come aross a crooked label, relish it as one of the rare first beers from Munster Brewery. Heck, stick it in storage and watch it appreciate in value!  But all in all, we’re on the home straight with our first batch of beer. Barring unforeseen explosions or broken bones, our beer should be out around the end of January. Yah!

Boxes should be the first port of call. There is the obvious gazillion times checking that the number of bottles you want in a box actually fit into the box. Get a sample and physically stuff them in there! We’re doing 500ml bottles and putting twelve in a box. You may want to check with your (soon to be) retailers what size of bottle they prefer. Some bars grumble if the bottle is too big for their shelves, which is understandable if they are having to hold your stock where they normally slice the lemons. Life is made of such problems.

Single walled boxes should suffice but check on weights within the box. One single walled box on its own is fine, when you have twenty of them stacked high, boxes buckling and collapsing is something you don’t want to come across when you come in the next morning. Dividers in the box give extra strength but add to the cost of overall packaging. Think about how long your bottles will be boxed. The distance and handling they must undergo to reach the point of sale should be considered. Sending your boxes to Australia is slightly different to delivering a box to the local pub. Volume will also be a factor – if you have a distributer, they may be taking pallets of boxes which could be moved around their warehouse so extra handling – tougher box.

If your sending boxes away on a pallet, you will need to wrap them. Get huge rolls of clingfilm.

Custom printing on boxes is a nice touch. An alternative is printed packaging tape with your name and logo (get a packing tape gun – it’s just easier!)

If your tracing system tracks boxes, remember to get a decent size stamp.

Lead times (the time from when you order boxes to when you receive them) vary. Check with your supplier to avoid head scratching when your boxes haven’t shown up in a week. Lead times of 2-3 weeks are not uncommon so like everything else in the brewery, plan ahead.

Finally, brewing produces steam which produces moisture. If your extraction / ventilation system doesn’t extract all the steam, consider where or how you store your boxes. Once soggy, they are no more use than wet socks.

But the one thing that has gnawed at me in setting up the brewery is the manufacturer’s licence. At a time when the agenda in the country is one of growth, jobs and getting the economy moving again it seems those foolhardy souls looking to try something in the manufacture of alcohol must first hand over five hundred smackaroos for the privilege of starting out.

That’s a substantial sum for a startup business. And it produces nothing of value to the consumer (at least for water rates you get water, for commercial rates you get footpaths etc etc). For the manufacturer’s licence you get nada. Zilch. Jack diddly squat. It’s a tax in its purest form and blanket levied regardless of the size of the brewery, whether it’s a startup or not.

For all the government talk about ‘getting the economy going’ it would seem to us, having gone through the process, that there is a world of difference between the hot air from the government benches and the plethora of taxes levied on anything that moves. If there is one positive move they could make to encourage start-ups in the craft brewing sphere, surely removing/reducing the five hundred euro manufacturer’s licence would be solid first step, even for the first year?

Ideally, the tax would be proportional to the size of the brewery. Full scale millions of pints per year? Sure, that’ll be five hundred please. Producing 50 pints a week for the family pub in rural Ireland? That will be one euro please.