In a bid to beat the ever increasing price of a pint, there is a boom in home brew making.
According to a Licensed Vintners Association spokesperson, the past year has been the worst business year on record for the country's publicans. Business is down by ten percent.
The dramatic fall in trade is due to high tax on alcohol as well as supermarkets and off licences selling drink close to cost. There has also been a boom in home beer and wine making.
In fact the home brew as it’s known gets more popular with every budget.
Home brew expert Nicholas Lowry has been making his own beer for 14 years. Only five ingredients are required, hops, sugar, yeast, malt and ordinary water, so it is not an expensive operation.
Nicholas Lowry reckons home brew beer costs about a pound a gallon or 12 and a half pence a pint. Cleanliness is fundamental to good brewing. If the equipment is not spotlessly clean the beer will go sour.
A sample pint is not as clear as Nicholas Lowry would like. While it is drinkable, ideally it should be left to further mature.
It won’t taste quite as good as it would in another week’s time.
The taste test verdict is not hugely encouraging,
It’s beer and that’s about all I can say.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 October 1982. The reporter is Carroll McHugh.
