Yep! Very confusing! Our Pub of the Month for May is NOT a pub! Whaaaat?!?! It is THE ITALIAN QUARTER on Bloom St on the quays. As you would expect you can find amazing cocktails and beautiful wines in these eateries BUT what you might not know is that you can also find some really fine and unusual Italian craft beers as well as some carefully chosen local brews – including yours truly! Well, who knew! Apparently all the Italians in Dublin – that’s who! But the secret is out now lads.

The Italian Quarter was built in conjunction with Dublin City Council in the early 2000s as part of the Millennium walk project, the site was previously two empty antique stores, with no passage through it. The work was completed in 2003, and the same year they opened the first of their wine bars – Enoteca delle Langhe, followed by Cafe Cagliostro and the Taverna.

Mick Wallace fell in love with Italian Culture, wine and food, when he spent a month traveling up and down the country in a Hi-Ace during the 1990 World Cup. When he built his first apartment complex and the lane, the idea was to replicate the Italian Piazza, with its wine bars, restaurants and cafes, on the North side of Dublin. They imported much of their food and all of the wines directly from Italy to make it really feel authentic. We love their attitude to how and where they source there products from, including their craft beers and we are delighted to fit into their ethos with our Yankee White IPA pouring well on tap! Andreas of the Taverna sums it up with “We don’t sell Coca-Cola”.

And we can’t chat about The Italian Quarter and not mention the artist John Byrne’s incrediable mural! Commissioned by Mick, the spirit behind the mural is one that celebrated the diversity of culture that exists in Dublin. The people in it were chosen by the artist off the streets of Dublin and represented a healthy mix of social classes, ethnic backgrounds, and religious beliefs – being brought together by food and wine, and a little bit of football.

Also, if you haven’t heard, THE ITALIAN QUARTER have a ‘Spritzeria’ event every Friday and Saturday evening from 6pm. The whole area transforms in a mini food, drink and music festival with craft beers, wines, Aperol spritzers, nibbles and that Italian fun energy. They have invited us along on Saturday May 26th, where will we have our lit up mini bar outside (all decked out) and will be serving our Yankee White IPA. For the beer geeks, we will also be using this event to LAUNCH our newest and long awaited beer – FIVE NEW ENGLAND PALE ALE of the THE 759 SERIES. And as usual will be bringing our SPIN THE WHEEL for a chance to win beers and prizes.

See you all there!