Galway Hooker Brewery is an independent artisan west of Ireland brewery, dedicated to the production of high-quality, natural and full-flavoured beers. Their beers have received numerous awards, including being twice named as Ireland’s Best Beer by Beoir.org, an Irish beer consumer group.
Originally established in Roscommon, they are now based near Galway city and have installed a new brewery where they host regular tours and tastings. The brewery was established in 2006 by first cousins, Aidan Murphy and Ronan Brennan. Aidan has over 10 years’ experience in the brewing industry and has worked in several breweries around the world as well as holding a master’s degree in Brewing and Distilling. Galway Hooker was the first microbrewery to produce a pale ale in Ireland and it is available on draught and in bottles nationwide.
Their passion for real beer and their boredom with insipid, mass-produced yellow fizz (otherwise known as lager) inspired them to start a brewery and produce an original and great-tasting alternative for the Irish market. The beer is produced using traditional brewing techniques using only four natural ingredients: malt, hops, yeast and water - and nothing else. Through Galway Hooker, they aim to celebrate diversity, individuality and creativity.
If you’re wondering where the name comes from, in 2006 they ran a website competition in which the public were asked to name their flagship beer. Out of the thousands of nominations received, Galway Hooker was eventually selected. Thus the brewery is named after the Galway Hooker - a much-loved traditional wooden boat with distinctive red sails, designed for transporting cargo around Galway Bay and Connemara in turbulent and shallow seas.
In 2014 its bottled IPA was awarded a gold medal (in the beer category) at the Irish Food Awards (Blas na hEireann). In addition to their original flagship pale ale, the brewery also now produces a stout, a dark larger and an India Pale Ale as well as seasonal beers.
Scheduled tours of the brewery take place on a regular basis. Contact the brewery or check their website for details.
