I’ve always wanted to write that! For those of you who are not from the UK and Ireland, Alistair Cooke was a journalist who did a wonderful set of broadcasts which illustrated life in the USA. They started in 1946, initially for 13 installments, yet went on to run for 58 years! I hope my trip to the USA means our beers run that long there!
Strangford Lough Brewing Company was always going to export beer! With only 4 Million people in Ireland and 1.2 Million in Northern Ireland, many of them non drinkers for religious reasons, the majority of our beer was always going to leave our shores. The USA with its fine Irish heritage seemed the place to start our journey.
My journey to the USA this month once again illustrated to me the vastness and variety of the USA. I couldn’t have picked more diverse places than Miami, Las Vegas, Kansas City and Chicago. The temperature varied from -20 to +80, the accent changed, the scenery was different. The pace of life varied, yet I kept meeting people who love Ireland and wanted to talk about it. It always helps when you have a supply of beer with you!
My thanks to American and Southwest Airlines who transported me and my beer over 6 flights without breaking any bottles, amazingly even the taste was unaltered. It was still as good as when we left Ireland when we tried it at the Weston Brewing Company in Missouri; ask Corry, one of the owners. he liked it! By the way if you are ever in or around Weston take a trip to the Weston Brewery they have some great facilities, good beer and I’m told, superb music. Most of all they are very friendly people!
On my journeys I met the folk who will become SLBC in Nevada, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. It is great to see our dream start to be realised and our excitement shared by those who have joined us in the great quest of bringing our beer to America. The restaurant that served 114 beers just outside Kansas City was a real experience. I think our beers will be top of the list for good taste, but you’d expect me to say that!
February promises to be even more exciting than January has been as the first SLBC finishing plant will open in Pullman, Washington. Linda and Jeff Greene will be finishing our first beer in the USA and will be supplying some of the other parts of our network. George Thompson our Master Brewer is on site this week installing the majority of the tanks required in the unit. I’m hoping photos will follow.
With a new and exciting beer planned for March and some exciting Saint Patrick’s days events, first quarter 2009 looks like a time to remember. Check back to this blog for more information about our journeys. The adventures of George the Brewer and Bob the Numbers (not the builder) who are both in the USA as I write this will follow shortly.
Sorry to have missed you when you hit Las Vegas!! My mother’s family was from County Cork, and was named Quinn, cousins to the well-known. We have relatives in Carrickmacross and Dublin, the well-known Ryans. If you ever get back here, of course I will treat you to dinner and hoist a few with you!
OK now, WHERE do I get the beer in Las Vegas?
Best regards,
Steve Romeo
Las Vegas
Tony Davies is the Managing Director of Strangford Lough Brewing Company.
