Discover our 2018 February Pub of the Month!

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Our February Pub of the Month is BRÚ House, Fairview. This lovely, cosmopolitan, emerging part of Dublin was gasping for a new local pub to accommodate the culturally diverse people of Dublin 3 and they have certainly delivered that! Dave and Tomás tell us that there is a rich history to the place, which I think you can still feel in it’s atmosphere.

BRU

Dave O’Hare (Founder) tells us that it has been operating as a Public house in the Fairview area most likely dating back to the beginning of the last century. This was a really famous Dublin pub, especially in the 70s and a little digging online shows that this was the place for all the single ladies at this time! It was run by the Cole family and was mainly in use until around the 1970s when the Barony was built onto it with side entrance on Fairview Avenue, as well as the Grafton Lounge upstairs. The bar is now more open plan and set over two floors. Both are lovely spaces with exposed brick, open fire, secret snug, upstairs terrace and a newly renovated upstairs area. There is a fluidity to the space that allows you to wander and ramble between areas depending on your mood. We love the option of a little break away area for those cosy conversations!

Let’s get to the beer buzz!!!  Naturally, its own beers dominate the bar, but BRÚ also carries some A1 guest beers including selections from key Irish craft brewers, which Rascals are proud to be a part of.  A trailblazer of the booming gastro pub trend, it had a really great burger, delicious steaks and even better prices, to match their impressive lineup of craft beers. The number of bars in Dublin in total without any macro beer whatsoever are relatively few – there is usually some Guinness or Heineken tap somewhere on premises!! So for better or worse (and some times I am sure life would be easier…) they live by the Independent Craft Beer gospel and believe more people will want to try smaller breweries in coming years!! Fingers crossed!!

In relation to the question “Why Rascals?”, Dave tells us that “BRÚ and Rascals have always had a close relationship going way back. The very first batch of ginger porter was brewed in our brewery in Trim and we have always got on well with Cathal and Emma and liked your beers”.

Just like Rascals, part of their philosophy is that they want craft beer to be for everyone! The tasty beers, the decor and great food all add to a really welcoming experience in the pub so they are definitely a success on that point. In fact, when they took over the pub, Vincent, a local came in for his pint of Guinness. He had been coming to the establishment for over 65 years, meaning he was 65 years a Guinness drinker! They propositioned him to try their Stout (shur you might as well chance it) and he loved it. Vincent hasn’t looked back since proving their philosophy is spot on!

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, I urge you to pop in. In fact, they are holding a beer festival over the weekend of March 23rd and 24th, so get out and enjoy some of the best of Irish Craft Beer! We will be bringing our ‘A’ game to this festival as we have a lot of really interesting beers for you to try ; Yankee White IPA, Strawberry Vanilla Shake, ‘Seven’ of the 759 Series – New England IPA, Flanders Red Ale in bottle and our new Bourbon Milkshake Stout!  We will of course bring the Rascals Spin the Wheel so lots of chances to win prizes! Keep an eye on social media for more info about the event.

To finish, hats off to the BRÚ House Fairview team for a wonderful bar. And thanks for supporting local Irish breweries, like us, to do their thang!