1016206 Brewdog

So this posting is out-of-order, due to the pub not having a published licence number yet resulting in me missing it when sorting my records to schedule posts. This happened between the Rathmines pubs and the Dun Laoghaire pubs; not that it really matters.

Brewdog have been announcing their intention to open a pub in Dublin for probably half a decade, and announced in 2015 that they were "actively hunting" for a location. The Scottish based breweries products have been easily available here for even longer than that, and they appear to have picked up quite a number of shareholders in Ireland over the time - for probity, I'm going to reveal that I have a single share, purchased with the intent that I would likely make the cost back in shareholder discounts in their UK pubs when over for gigs or football.

The location for their Dublin premises became known in early 2019 when planning permission went in to modify the usage of the large structure known as the Quarterdeck in to a single pub unit plus microbrewery - something they had stated that Dublin would have due to its status as an "Outpost". This building is the main entertainment/recreation block of the Capital Dock development, which takes over a currently awkward to access peninsula between Grand Canal Dock, the River Dodder and River Liffey - although there are a number of new bridges proposed that will significantly improve access.

Planning was received, eventually in the case of the brewery due to various concerns including odours. Odours of brewing, in Dublin, being something we've never ever ever smelled before of course...

The pub eventually opened in mid December, with many people online quite shocked by its off-the-scale price list. The beer price list is not on the website (wisely, I'd say) but the food menu is. A burger and chips can come to 19.75; for instance. Pints of their own beers generally clock in north of  €7, dearer than nearly any other pub serving them in the city. But the location is likely very expensive to run (the rent is nearly a quarter of a million alone) and some staff would cost them well above the average rate for their roles for Dublin due to the companies various positive employment practices (living wage, pensions and benefits). Wetherspoons is cheap for reasons, remember.

If you've ever been to a Brewdog, you'll know what to expect here. except probably the scale. I've been to the vast Canary Wharf branch - probably the most comparable in terms of location actually - and I think this is bigger again, even with some floor space lost to the brewkit. The standard industrial inspired design language is used throughout.

What you may not have experienced in other branches is how awful some Irish dog owners are. Brewdog allow dogs in their pubs - the name might have indicated something there, surely? - and Irish law changed a few years ago to explicitly allow this if the premises wished, after some high profile cases, including MVP and Pantibar being told to stop serving food or remove dogs from the premises.

So while it was always common down the country, its only recently that city dwellers have found pubs willing to let dogs in, and it seems that some basic etiquette just isn't understood by some owners.

The two dogs present during my visit were a yappy little one that wouldn't shut up - and an owner that didn't care; and a stinking larger dog with owners that seemed to have little care for it, or the law for that matter. The pub has extensive outdoor areas where the feckless owners of dogs that are disrupting other customers could go; but instead I just left entirely.

I'll likely be back - I can see the pub from my office after all. But they need to address the pricing, even a little bit, and they need to bring in some ground rules for dogs. A shouting, stinking customer would be thrown out, so there is no reason to allow owners of dogs with the same issues inside.

The dog owners are the problem here, of course - I've been to a number of pubs with many dogs not causing any trouble at all because the owners wouldn't have them there if they were. My previous writeup is an obvious example; but S0368 The Blue Light is another