McGarglesGate

at

mcgargles

“So what’s this about? I’m honestly bemused. If you don’t like a beer, don’t f**king drink it. What on earth gives this person the motivation to go to the effort of getting this [sticker] printed, going down to the shops and putting this on a basket that I packed by hand and sent out into the world?

…I’d like the person who is doing this this to know that they’ve properly pissed off 7 talented homebrewers and me – as an effort to hurt the livelihood of people who learned their craft over years in their kitchens out of crippling obsession and passion, and it is the most lousy thing I can think of…”

Alex Lawes, Head Brewer, Rye River Brewing Company, Kildare-based makers of McGargles.

Recent Attacks On McGargles (Beoir.org)

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94 thoughts on “McGarglesGate

    1. Vote Rep #1

      Beoir say they are the real deal. So what if they worked in big breweries before this? Are they not ‘real’ unless their beer started out in a shed in the back garden?

    2. Gaius C

      Are you the one doing the stickers?

      So what if they have a background in mainstream brewing. They’ve decided to do something a little different and fair play to them. Hope it works out for them.

      1. ItsOnlyMe

        Ive never heard of McGargles until now, so it’s actually piqued my curiosity as to what its like. Good Job.

  1. the good helen

    some people have nothing better to be doing. Have yo CCTV where you can see who is doing it, that way next time they come into the shop ask them if they would like to try a free sample and when they say yes, (which they will as they are irish), tell them to GO F**K themselves? something I’d do…. Or i’d stick a “D*CK HEAD” sticker on his back as he/she leaves the shop!!

    Best of luck and well done in doing something with your life and trying to make things better for yourself.

  2. I get Jokez

    Lots of room for all booze in my fridge
    (I love the nail + wooden handle wedge bottle opener & the deck of cards they supply with their packaging. Nice touch!)

  3. Sheila

    McGargles beer didn’t impress me. Also, something about the name and packaging makes me think they are trying too hard.

      1. Domestos

        Yeah, snap Sheila. Here’s a follow up further down the beoir page:

        Hi pdb,

        Cheers for your input and there’s no offence taken.

        I’ve addressed the issue of the branding above and it’s been discussed a-lot. I brew the beer however so we can go into that.

        So far my contribution to beers in the Rye River portfolio have been a Berliner Weisse, a Brown Ale and a Double IPA at the Alltech festival just February gone.
        They ‘fared better’ according to you and I’ll take it as a compliment.

        I honestly think a brewery that stops trying to improve their beer is one that should pack it in. Except Drie Fonteinen.

        In the three months since I’ve taken charge we have –
        Moved the all our range to liquid house yeast
        Commissioned a yeast propagation plant
        Extended our malt supply to focus on traditionally floor malted barley
        Secured our next three years of hop supply
        Reduced our filtration on all products
        Eliminated pasteurisation from all products
        Commissioned our own bottling line
        Put our Q&A laboratory in place along with one full time microbiologist
        Adjusted water profiles and grists on all McGargles beers
        Developed two new products due to release this month.

        No other craft brewery in Ireland puts this level of investment into the quality of their beers and a lot has gone on since a few heads dismissed the beers last year.

        I’d hope you get a chance to try the new IPA I’ve thrown into the mix at the RDS this month too and we can hopefully win you over to the beer. Your American friends might like it too.

        Cheers,

        Alex.

        1. timbot

          I appreciate the work you guys put in. I have to say, I like a wide variety of beers and ales and yours doesn’t do it for me. What is it you’re aiming for?

  4. Grouse

    I hope you’re able to get your employees down to more sustainable working hours in the future, Alex.

      1. Grouse

        Whoever made this sticker has insulted every brewer in this plant. We work 60-70 hour weeks, frequently, not because it’s expected of us, but because we live this stuff. Every extra hour is spent working on sourcing better hops, malt and even propagating our own yeast on site.

    1. Annie

      Yeah I thought the same. Disgruntled people generally don’t go to all the trouble of searching for, purchasing and then selecting the same typeface in the same point size.

      1. Annie

        unless of course they’re making fake cease and desist letters to send to a guy in Waterford

  5. Talismania!

    The copy of the brand on the sticker is a little too perfect, it’s either a stunt or someone really, really has an axe to grind.

    1. Caroline

      An unemployed graphic designer? With a crippling beer snobbery and penchant for passive aggression?

      Good luck finding one of those mate.

  6. Willie Banjo

    ….And it was from this small incident that the Great Hipster Civil War began, setting bearded brother against bearded brother in nations around the globe.

  7. JogOn

    A marketing stunt? Possibly… If they thought ‘McGargles’ was a good name they might well think a stunt like this is a good idea.

  8. Mikeyfex

    I like Hilden’s Belfast Blonde at the moment. That will change. I’ll keep ye posted. I’d still like them without my beard.

  9. Joe the Lion

    I don’t really like this beer or its branding but there’s a lot worse out there.

    Unless this is a desperate attention-seeking stunt

  10. John

    i quite like the bear. its pretty sad that someone would go to all that trouble. given the effort and the pointed language i would guess ex employee. re the logo it is fairly easy to copy the logo from a website and print the stickers from a standard home computer and the language is far too aggressive so it is unlikely to be a stunt. Hopefully CCTV will help the Gardaí get them for vandalism.

    1. Mario Balotelli

      Guinness – a solid, 3 out of 5, but hideously over-rated in this country because it had nothing to compete with for years beyond Bud Ice and Coors Light and other nonsense. There’s far better than Guinness available now. Keep your beer money local rather than giving it to Diagio.

      1. Mani

        There really isn’t anything to beat a pint of guinness, in draught form anyway. Plenty of better bottled stout alright.

      2. Continuity Jay-Z

        Wrong on all counts. Guinness as a drink should be separated from Diageo, the baby eating monsters.

        it is simply the best beer ever conceived. Any other opinion is just hipster wibble.

      3. dereviled

        Guiness was like mother’s milk when it was warmer, but it was an inconsistent product, the quality would deteriorate with the distance from barrel to tap and even in the course of an evening as the bar heated up with the crowd. And anywhere off the island it was just awful.
        So then they changed the recipe and introduced ‘cold flow’ and whatnot to provide a consistent product wherever you went.

        1. Clampers Outside!

          We served Guinness pint bottles from the shelf in Tigh Neachtains Galway when I worked there in 92/93, not sure they still do…. anyway, I was told of pre-cool Guinness… in the 50s/60s at about 4.30pm the bar man would line up 10 or 15 pints of Guinness along the counter. Drawn from a barrel under it, room temp, they’d be sitting there for five minutes or more before the guys came off their shift down the road at the Claddagh Minerals bottling plant,
          Guinness accounted for between 50% to 60% of all till receipts every night in that place when there.

          1. dereviled

            Under-the-counter barrels…
            *Homer Simpson drooling sounds
            Unfortunately these were in the unfancy pubs before unfancy was cool : (

      4. Spaghetti Hoop

        Yes, and no.
        A good Guinness is a treat that cannot be matched.
        And I did the Murphy while in Cork – more cream, less taste.
        For beer-drinkers wanting that extra hop, wheat and fruity tastes and maybe wanting to screw the big conglomerates…fine. Yizz are keeping the small brewers going.
        The fact that Diagio are going all craft-beer-y with their advertising is amusing – obviously losing market share.

  11. Atticus

    There are loads of reasons why the beer nerds think they’re not “craft” enough but to go to this level of c***iness is just sad.

  12. DrinkaLidl

    Are Rye Water brewing Lidl’s “Irish Craft Beer”?
    Their bottles mention a different company in Kilcock, but how many breweries might there be in this small town?
    I can see why some people in the trade might dislike competitors who deal with the discounters. There’s no need for such vandalism though. Why not just spell it out and spread the word?

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