Jameson Caskmates Brings Whiskey And Stout Together

To start at the beginning, Ireland has undergone a beer revival in the sense of smaller, independent breweries getting established that provide a wider range of choices for drinkers long familiar with homegrown brews and macro imports.

“For a country that drinks an awful lot, there has not been a big array of selection, specifically around beer,” said Caulfield. “So it’s nice to see the selection. It’s nice to see there’s an increase of beers coming from smaller brands and the Irish seem to have taken to them in a very strong fashion.”

Patrick Caulfield thinks Caskmates will help increase diversity among Ireland's craft beer selection.

Founded in 1998, Franciscan Well is one of the recent start-ups that have enjoyed success producing a range of German and Irish styles using barley sourced in Ireland and the U.K. plus hops sourced from Germany, the Czech Republic, England and the U.S. The original brewpub sits on the site of a former Franciscan monastery whose well was said to produce water with curative powers.

Long, who went to college in England to study hotel management, returned to Cork from managing one of the largest Irish clubs in London to take up craft brewing. With an investment partner, he opened Franciscan Well and began serving beers made from his own recipes. At the time, Long’s brewpub was one of 11 craft start-ups in Ireland and became one of three to survive. The country now has over 60 microbreweries.

 After 14 years of operation and quite a few beer awards, Franciscan Well was sold in 2012 to Molson Coors U.K. & Ireland to facilitate expansion and greater export opportunities. The brewery recently moved to a new 50,000 square foot facility in the heart of Cork, where the capacity is over 100,000 barrels. At this year’s World Beer Awards, Franciscan Well took home six medals.

In 2013, Quinn, the Master of Whiskey Science at Jameson, met with Long in a Cork pub while in the company of Master Distiller Brian Nation. Over drinks, Long suggested brewing a stout strong enough to benefit from aging in a Jameson Original barrel. Thus, Premium Stout Aged in Jameson Irish Whiskey Barrel Casks was born. It went on to win a Gold Medal in the summer of 2013 at the International Beer Challenge in the Specialty category.