Our feature on Ireland's new microbreweries back in February concentrated on the extraordinary explosion of brewing in all parts of the country, but of course the truth of the matter is that things have never been as good for beer drinkers as they are now, and not just because of our own brewers. The steady infiltration into our bars and wine shops of high quality imported beers has been going on for some years now, and typical of the small companies which specialise in bringing in good beers from the continent is Greg McElherron's company, Noreast Hyper Wines.
As well as distributing the beers of the Dublin Brewing Company further afield, McElherron also imports Warsteiner Pilsner and the Erdinger range of beers, four different varieties of weissbier - dark, with fine yeast, alcohol-free, and crystal clear. One area Greg McElherron is actively pursuing is the suitability of these beers to accompany food, so they are not merely available in many restaurants, but are even available in some restaurants on draught. "We have found great success in this area, with outlets like Magee's Bistro in Carlingford offering well-presented, natural and preservative-free beers to accompany Sheila Keiro's fine food," writes Greg, and indeed I can think of many modern Irish cooks, whose style of cooking is multi-cultural, whose food would match perfectly the Warsteiners and Erdingers. The beers are also available in pubs and through major chains such as Dunnes, Tesco and Supervalu.