EP-178 Phil Tavey of Grand Cru Beers

Today’s guest sit at the intersection of so many aspects of Irish craft
beer. He’s an importer of American brands like Lagunitas. He’s a
distributor of Ireland’s domestic craft brands like Galway Bay. He’s also
the country’s first, and perhaps only official Beer Sommelier. So his
perspective accounts for the curation, sales, distribution, and education
of craft beer in a small country that’s recently flipped a switch in terms
of its interests, with many people now drinking small craft, trendy beers
like New England IPA alongside traditional beers like Guinness and Murphys.
And in a market with incredibly entrenched brands as Ireland has, that
sudden new interest has a major uphill battle to fight to gain awareness
and shelf and tap handle space in the country’s on and off-license
establishments, better known in the US as on and off premises - namely
bars, restaurants, and liquor store and bottles shops. As of yet, there
really isn’t a taproom model to speak of, with very few exceptions.

So to get a crash course on the many factors influencing Irish craft beer
right now, for better and worse, I sat down with Phil Tavey of Grand Cru
beers. We posted up at a bar called Sine é in Dublin who’s tap lists were a
perfect representation of the state of things, running the gamut from
Guinness to Galway Bay and a host of other small brewery offerings.

This is Phil Tavey of Grand Cru Beers, listen in.