Time for change

A new brewery named Changing Times has been launched by some of Dublin’s best-known publicans and is being run by well-respected brewer, Shane Long. With the might of these seasoned publicans behind this ambitious venture, it feels like it could be the start of a significant change in the industry

An investment of €1.8m has been ploughed into the new Changing Times Brewery set along the banks of the Royal Canal in Dublin’s Glasnevin. The publican owners, of which there are 12, say it aims to encourage their customers to try some “new, refreshingly Irish” beers. Something about this move feels like the start of a mini revolution of sorts, changing the dynamic between publican and producer and in some ways taking back the reins from the mighty suppliers, whose mercy they have been at for far too long. Changing Times Brewery is backed by the families behind some of Dublin’s best known pubs, as well as Cork publican Benny McCabe and brewer Shane Long, formerly of Franciscan Well Brewery, which he sold to Molson Coors some years ago.
So where did the idea for a publican-owned brewery sprout from and how did they all get involved?
According to Willie Aherne of the Palace Bar on Fleet St in Dublin 1, who is among the founders and currently the chair of the LVA, the project has been going on for two years. “It was November two years ago when we sat down and started talking about this. As all good plans come about, it was over a couple of pints,” he admits. “A few of us would have a good relationship with Shane Long, going back to the days of Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork and we would have given him a leg up and stocked his beer before craft beer exploded. Shane was always very grateful and said he’d never forget us for that so the idea was hatched and it was a combination of looking at our counter and listening to our customers. We said it would be great to be masters of our own destiny so we set the wheels in motion really. We said, “why not, why can’t we?”
The twelve publicans are all equal partners and investors and initially, Changing Times beers will be stocked in just the founding members bars – The Palace, The Long Hall, The Swan, The Bankers, Arthur Maynes in Donnybrook, Devitts, Doheny & Nesbitts, Sheehans, Lemon & Duke, The Bridge 1859, The Blackrock, The Bank, McSorleys, Darkey Kelly’s and The Ferryman. It is expected to be expanded to additional pubs after the initial launch.
“The idea was for a group of us from the family pubs here in Dublin and we would predominantly concentrate on the city centre and initially get it into our own houses and fine tune things, see what we’re doing wrong and what we are doing right and we’ll learn so much in the coming months.
The idea of it being locally brewed a couple of miles from us here along the banks of the Royal Canal in Glasnevin is a source of pride for the publicans involved. “We looked at numerous sites around the city but we had a source and got a bounce of the ball in an industrial estate there and managed to secure a five year lease. We have to make sure it’s a viable business but you never know down the road how it will develop,” says Aherne with a quiet confidence.
“The initial investment is €1.8 million. Shane Long had very good contacts for all the equipment from Germany so we got good favourable terms. The unit we got was at a very favourable cost too. I think between twelve of us it took the pain out of it and it was doable,” says Aherne.

Products to be launched.

For its launch the brewery is producing two products, Daydreamer Lager and After Hours Pale Ale. According to the brewer Shane Long, Daydreamer Lager is light but malty, with a background hoppy character which balances out the grainy sweetness. After Hours Pale Ale, is hazy and light coloured, with a vibrant hop aroma of citrus, pineapple and mango.
Long outlined the process involved in developing these products, “Combining high calibre hops, barley, malt, yeast and more with the insights of our customers, we’ve been able to develop drafts with a great taste that we believe will help change people’s minds and become their regular pint.

The first session

The owners invited the staff from all the pubs to the brewery to taste the product a few days before the launch and it was a big success. “We had a few hundred staff here over two nights. They are feeling the excitement too and they have to be behind it. They’ll be at the coalface,” says Aherne.
Alan Campbell from The Bankers says that every one of the investors were involved in creating the taste profile for the beers and he feels they have created a “sessionable beer”.

“Shane is the brewer but he has brought us along every step of the way,” explains Campbell. “Collectively we told him the taste profile that we wanted – something mainstream. I always judge a beer when I’m behind my bar on whether someone has a second one. If they just have the one, it’s not a sessionable beer. I think that our lager is definitely a sessionable lager.”
When asked what it could be likened to he said, “It’s like one of our main Dutch lagers with a bit more taste profile. That’s my opinion. When you have 12 different personalises with 12 different ideas it takes a while to get it right so we would taste them and say yes we’re nearly there and then Shane hit the nail on the head with this one.”
The question is will it work in a crowded market place and without a huge marketing budget to rival the main players? Campbell is confident that there is a gap in the market for a mainstream Irish lager. “When I go to Spain or to Belgium, I like to drink a local drink, whatever they have on offer. I don’t want to be drinking Irish beer. When Americans or Europeans come over here, there are not too many Irish beers apart from the Guinness of course. My pub would be 70/80% tourists and 99% whiskeys bought are Irish whiskeys because Americans don’t come to Ireland looking for bourbon. They want Irish whiskey. So it’ll be nice to have an Irish alternative [beer] that has a story to go with it,” he says.
“People think we did it so we can control the prices but that wasn’t what was driving it. It was the fact that we didn’t have any Irish mainstream beers that are brewed locally and we wanted to do something different for our customers,” he insists.

Building a brand

The brewery is currently producing 100 kegs a week for the Dublin pubs, but there is capacity to produce up to 250 kegs a week, or over 10,000 a year. They hope to expand their product range in early 2025, as they have another product nearly ready to go. The idea is to build a brand but a very good quality one before expansion.
“We already have other publicans interested in the concept of what we are doing. We’re not going up against the big boys. The price profile will be the same [as other market leading beers] and we’re not interested in undercutting the bigger brands. It’s not cheap beer or cheap ingredients and we have state-of-the-art equipment. Why would we try to cheapen it by selling it cheap. We’re here for the long haul,” says Campbell.
One of the key ingredients to the success of the project thus far is that the publicans are all good friends and socialise together, and Campbell jokes, “Even our wives socialise together. We’ll be like the Kardashians!”
To make space for this new beer, will others be facing the chop we enquired? “Every year there are a few changes on our counters as we are all carrying too many beers. We could have 8/9 lagers on our counters. You look at other countries and you might see two or three taps. We were in Paris last year in a beautiful little bar called Harrys and it had one unbranded tap and we drank that beer like it was going out of fashion,” Aherne recalls fondly.

Too many cooks perhaps?

The main reservation from a project like this would be that there could perhaps be too many bosses. Aherne assures me that they intend to avoid any drama if at all possible. “The idea putting this together was it would be as little drama as possible. We picked good progressive houses and good publicans to be involved. We’ve had to have rules and regulations. We’ll have 4/5 meetings a year. Everyone has had a hand in this and will email Shane with ideas for glassware or the branding etc and he would put it all together and there would be a meeting and we go with the majority all the time. We’re all equal partners. Shane is the manager but we’ve all put the shoulder to the wheel on this.”
Has he enjoyed the process? “My wife says that all I talk about it the brewery! We have ate and drank this over the last two years and it is going to be a rollercoaster over the next few years. It’s something totally new and it’s exciting. It will be great to serve these beers that we have had input into taste, branding etc and see how they are received by the public. We’ll be very excited to see it when it’s on our counter. A new dynamic to our houses.”
“I actually think we are going to make history down the road, says an ebullient Campbell as we finish our chat. “I’m delighted to be part of it. I feel really strongly about it. I really feel like there is a market for it, first in Dublin and in Irish pubs. It will spread very quickly. I’m confident of that. Its good quality Irish beer.