Craft Metropolis is a craft beer bottle shop and taproom based in South East London. Like many bars, breweries and bottleshops across the UK, they’ve had to navigate their way through a crazy time thanks to lockdown over the last 12 months. Founder, Oli Meade was kind enough to take some time to tell us about how the pandemic has affected them.
We used to love going to rock nights, punk gigs, hanging out with friends and sharing beers… then 2020 happened. A year where bars, pubs, clubs and gigs became a distant memory.
As someone who’s been living alone and working from home for almost a year now, Twitch has been a revelation. Most people think of Twitch as a place to watch hardcore gamers flex their kill/death ratios or whatever, but there’s so much more to it. You can find people just chatting, singing, dancing, exercising… you name it, someone’s probably doing it live on Twitch.
One weekend last year we randomly found Gemma DJ-ing her regular Saturday rock night on Twitch and it brought so many memories flooding back of how we used to spend weekends in ‘real life’. She’s also built up a really friendly and inclusive community in the chat. The social interaction, good vibes and banging tunes have gone a long way towards keeping us sane during lockdown.
Rascals Brewing Co speak our language… beer and pizza. Last year, they built Dublin’s first (and only) Taproom and Pizza Restaurant, in Inchicore, Dublin 8.
Let’s rewind; these Rascals have been brewing for years. Husband and wife team, Cathal O’Donoghue and Emma Devlin met while living in New Zealand – Cathal was working in pharmaceutical manufacturing, while Emma was employed in environmental science. They started home-brewing as a hobby. Fast-forward to 2014; Rascals was officially founded and now, they have a 3,000 litre brewery producing some of Ireland’s best and most innovative beers.
YellowBelly are one of the top craft breweries in Ireland. Based in Wexford, they brew up a wide range of styles – their core range features their award-winning Citra Pale Ale, Castaway (Passionfruit Sour), Kellerbier (Helles) and Hopped in Space IPA – but they also brew seasonals, one-off specials and regular collaborations with their beer world buddies.
We’re big fans of YellowBelly; not just because their beer is awesome but because they’ve got their own unique style. Their artwork stands out and their creativity resonates with us, so we were dead excited when YellowBelly’s Sales Manager, Danny Trappe, was kind enough to spare some time to have a chat with us!
The whole world is familiar with the black stuff, but there’s a chance you haven’t heard of Guinness’ Open Gate Brewery. Based in Dublin at the same location as the Guinness Storehouse, the Open Gate is the Guinness brewers’ licence to be creative.
Although there’s been an experimental brewery at St. James’s Gate for over a hundred years, the Open Gate taproom only opened to the public in late 2015. Most of the experimental beers are exclusively available in the taproom, although some of the most successful have made their way into bars, restaurants and off-licences across the UK including Citra IPA and Hop House 13.
We were really excited to have a chat with the General Manager of the Open Gate, Padraig Fox to discuss all things beer, food and the third annual Guinness x Meatopia which takes place at the Open Gate Brewery, 5th-7th July 2019.
craftandslice.com 
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