CRAFT BREWERIES
LANE
P
robably the smallest brewery in Ireland, Elbow Lane in Cork recently announced it would be doubling its brewing capacity with matchfunding from Cork City’s Local Enterprise Office. It’s expected the €60,000 investment will help the micro-brewery keep up with existing demand and help develop its distribution within the region. Elbow Lane Brewery is part of the Market Lane Group which also includes Elbow Lane Smokehouse, Market Lane, Goldie, ORSO and Blackrock Castle restaurants. It’s one of the few Irish breweries that strictly adheres to the principles of the ancient German Purity Law, ‘Reinheitsgebot’, meaning only
four ingredients are used – malted barley, hops, yeast and water. “Reinheitsgebot dates back to 1516 and was probably Europe's first consumer protection law. It governed what went into beer at a time when people were throwing nearly anything into it. We follow that law; no additives go into beers at Elbow Lane. The fermentation of the beer is not artificially accelerated, nor is it filtered, so it’s totally natural. We rely on time and gravity sedimentation to allow our beers to settle out,” said Master Brewer Russell Garrett. You won’t find trendy beers containing ingredients like hazelnuts or vanilla at Elbow Lane; quality and taste are paramount, with beers formulated to work with the food offering across the Group’s five restaurants. No enzymes or stabilizers mean a shorter shelf life for Elbow Lane beers. Distribution is kept to roughly 30km from the brewery which, says Russell, helps guarantees quality. “A three month shelf life ensures a high quality beer. So while expanding across the country isn’t something we’re pursuing, we want to sell more beer within that 30km catchment area and the recent investment is allowing that to happen. Here at the brewery we always say, everybody remembers the bad pint they had on a night out, but nobody goes home and talks about the great pint they enjoyed. We go to great measures to ensure we’re the ones selling that great pint.” Products from Elbow Lane launched 10 years ago, while work on the brewery began in 2014. US native Russell has been with the brewery since the beginning and is celebrating 36 years in the industry this year. He got his first taster of brewery life in 1986 working for the original Manhattan Brewing Company in New York. Stints across the US followed, before he moved to Ireland after marrying an Irish woman. “Back in 1998, I was a partner in Franciscan Well; I came over with the equipment from the States, I installed the brewery and I formulated
“Everybody remembers the bad pint they had, but nobody goes home and talks about the great pint they enjoyed. We go to great measures to ensure we're the ones selling that great pint” Russell Garrett, Master Brewer, Elbow Lane
Russell Garrett, Master Brewer, Elbow Lane
14 LIC EN SIN GWOR L D. I E
014_Licensing World_Summer_2022_Elbow Lane_V2.indd 14
15/06/2022 12:48
