What’s so good about taprooms? Fresh beer, for starters

What’s so good about taprooms? Fresh beer, for starters. And the location. You can’t beat drinking something on site, right near the tanks where it was made, and probably served to you by the people who made it.

It's a different kind of drinking experience, believes Matthew Dick, co-founder of Boundary in Belfast. Their brewery is located in an old industrial linen mill, where they host monthly taprooms.

Matthew spent six years in Nevada before returning to Belfast to set up Boundary, a co-operative brewery. Their high-quality brews lean toward more experimental, interesting styles, with alluringly abstract labels made by local artist John Robinson.

Their taproom operates on what’s known as an occasional licence from a pub. But like in the South, it is illegal to conduct off-sales (ie bottles to take home) on site, a big constraint to growth in the craft beer industry. This restriction may be removed, however, when a new liquor Bill goes to vote in the Dáil this month, while similar efforts are under way in the North. “Hopefully that’s something that will change soon,” says Matthew.

On taproom evenings they have up to 17 beers on, their core range and plenty of one-offs and small batch brews. Servings are in thirds, £2 each, and come in lovely stemmed glasses. A pizza truck parks up outside on the night.

To enter, you go through a small opening in the shutter off a courtyard, and when I arrive they’re setting up, stringing up fairy lights, putting out chairs, cleaning glasses. The tanks in the corner, and palettes and boxes piled high against the walls, certainly make for an interesting backdrop.

It’s a pleasingly ramshackle and friendly set-up – though breweries are chilly places, especially if you’re not doing the work, so I keep my coat on while sipping a very delicious peach Saison.

@ITbeerista beerista@irishtimes.com