3/16 - Everything except Guinness

For our first ride on the On and Off bus, we went to the upstairs seating and got under the canopy that covered half of the seats, which are the best seats on the bus. We learned that Temple Bar is the name of a whole area, not just a bar. But we wanted to see the actual bar so we got off and walked to Temple Bar.

It was crowded but possible to walk through. And there was a lot to walk through. There were several small rooms with seating, and at least one other full bar besides the main one.

We got something to drink and stayed awhile. Many of the staff here were not Irish. They seemed to be Middle Eastern and were very friendly but didn’t know any of the local information or history that an Irish person would have. But they did know "Guinness" so we were OK.

When we got back on the On and Off it was crowded so we had to go up top again, which was less attractive now that it was sprinkling. But it wasn’t pouring down and I wanted to take photos so much that I stood in the uncovered section. Christ Church is really beautiful, and there's a lot of it. 

Our next stop was the Teeling Brewery. Time for a tour.

Our guide was informative and easy to understand, but I've been to breweries before so I didn't listen. 

I just took pictures of what I found interesting. Like the open vat that was fermenting as we watched, sending up little tiny bubbles into a white froth. 

John Teeling walked through and spoke with folks for a few minutes. 

The big stills are named after John Teeling's granddaughters. 

I did hear our guide say that this is the first distillery in Dublin since 1976. And if there is more malt in a whiskey, the "warm glow" will travel further down your throat and into your chest. Malt makes it oily and that coats your throat. 

Six years is the usual age for your average whiskey. He said that their whiskey is not aged in town anymore. In 1875 there was a fire in the building and rivers of whiskey ran through the town. Some people drank it but by then it was mixed with a bunch of stuff you shouldn't drink, and 13 people died. So now they age the whiskey out of town. They do, however, have a few barrels here, including a couple of special ones. One is 1st first barrel made at this site and the other is a barrel set aside for a great-granddaughter. 

He talked about the angel's share, which is the 2% they lose to evaporation. And the fact that people started putting whiskey in barrels to hide it from police. Now they use Jack Daniels barrels. Bourbon cannot reuse a barrel but whiskey doesn't mind. And apparently about 60% of their flavor comes from the barrel. 

It really was a good tour and I'd recommend it. And along with the free samples at the end, we found a recipe for an apple/spirit drink that was really good. Now, what to buy?

The next place we wanted to go to today was at the Guinness Experience. It was a big enough deal that I decided that needed its own entry.

The last time we got on the On and Off we had to sit upstairs and outside the canopy. Unfortunate, because it was pretty wet by then. The tour guy told us that this tour was in German. He looked like he was saying it as a joke so we laughed, then he started to give the tour in German! So we passed some interesting looking building without getting a lot of info. We did recognize the Capital Building, though.

We walked around a bit looking for a place to eat. We didn’t want to spend a long time on dinner because we didn’t want to walk back to the hotel in the dark. So we went to SoMo’s where we had bacon cheeseburgers, chips (thick cut fries in a little metal basket) and soda. It was good but the restaurant was still too cold; it took a long time to warm up that night.