On-trade

Urban Brewing opens at CHQ

Over 500 attendees raised a glass to Dublin’s newest craft brewery, bar and restaurant from the Carlow Brewing Company, Urban Brewing, which has made its home in 1,000 square metres of a restored 19th Century bonded warehouse at CHQ in the city’s docklands.

The pub & restaurant with an in-house microbrewery is vast, with room following room in the downstairs cellar. Many beers are available from around the world as well as from The Carlow Brewing Company such as its new Foragers Wife Saison beer.

Carlow Brewing Company’s Chief Executive Seamus O’Hara explained why Urban Brewing is a logical step for the business: “The brewery celebrated a landmark 21st birthday this year and similar to any young adult making their way in the big city, we’re excited, enthusiastic and admittedly a little nervous about our new home-from-home in Dublin!

“Urban Brewing has been a dream of the brewery team for a long time, but we needed to wait for the right space, with the right character and concept before we were comfortable taking such a big step.

“The Urban Brewing venue is something quite unique, the original fixtures and features of the 19th Century warehouse are incredible and that, combined with a full on-site brewery, makes for a very interesting opportunity. The brewing facilities afford the brewing team the freedom to flex their creative muscles; we can brew small experimental and collaborative brews and we’ve already produced small batches that I’m really delighted with.”

Urban Brewing’s food offering provides an opportunity to explore beer and food relationships and combinations through its ‘Taps and Tapas’ and ‘Stack A Restaurant’ sections.  The venue’s two kitchens cater for tapas-style light bites or a full a la carte for dinner service as well as lunch and special events, thus ‘Taps and Tapas’ has a capacity of 170 and ‘Stack A Restaurant’ can accommodate up to 250 at any given time.

The microbrewery, restaurant and bars will offer customers an extensive list of Irish and international craft beers and ciders, wines, spirits and cocktails, along with the range of constantly evolving experimental and collaboration brews.

“The history of the Dublin Docklands is important to Urban Brewing,” continued Seamus on the suitability of the location and what guests to the new venue can expect,

“It has an edge, it’s authentic and it’s an exciting and rapidly-developing area of the city, so we see a lot of parallels. The design of the building is not so much a restoration as a modern continuation of what was here before and we know it’s something that’s going to appeal to our customers. The idea is for people who come to Urban Brewing to have a different experience every time they visit, whether it’s popping in for a freshly-brewed beer and a few bites at the taps and tapas bar and hop garden or for a more substantial meal over a bottle of wine in the Stack A Restaurant. Each area is designed to convey a different atmosphere, yet staying true to an identity that revolves around an urban and fun atmosphere. Guests can finish the night off with a special cocktail or a chilled pint in the Vault Bar or the Mezzanine overlooking George’s Dock.”


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