This week, we are back to a Galway Bay pub – The Beer Temple. Opened in late 2021, it is the bright, Shiny and Chrome conjoined sibling to The Oak, whose dark wood and deep colours we’ve discussed previously. Somewhat ironically, as it’s very much a Craft Beer with a capital Craft pub, you can get a Guinness here – whereas the Guinness Enthusiast story took place mere steps away in The Oak. But given its city centre location, right on the tourist trail, you do get Guinness Amateurs: on more than one occasion, I’ve seen customers take their 3/4 filled pints and begin to walk off, and the patient barstaff have to call them back to tell them that no, they will get full pints, it’s just going to take a moment. While I can’t personally imagine walking off with a partially-filled glass I’d paid something in the neighbourhood of €7 for (still cheaper than many, if not most, pints around Temple Bar), perhaps it’s a tradition somewhere.
I’m drawn to The Beer Temple because they typically have a very interesting list of guest beers from other Irish breweries like Third Barrel, Lineman and Boundary, as well as some of the more unusual Galway Bay beers; my current obsession is I Hear You Like IPA, their cold IPA (is it a ‘real’ style? don't at me, it’s tasty). However, my most recent visit this past weekend was Purely Medicinal – I was incredibly thirsty after running 10K in the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon, in unusual-for-Ireland heat and sun, and desperately needed something isotonic and food so pairing a BRÚ IPA (plus a lot of VitHit Hydrate) with some halloumi fries was the order of the day.
Again, given its city centre location, The Beer Temple does get a lot of tourists, but quite frequently they are there specifically to find new-to-them beers, and on this visit, I ended up in a lovely chat with a few of them, offering tips on other places to go and beers to try, and I also got some great suggestions for their cities in return. I always advise they make sure not to skip The Oak, given that it’s literally on the other side of the wall, and that they can order from either bar, but it seems many do not notice it’s there, despite the two bars sharing a staircase and toilets – so this is part of my justification for having two separate entries – not just do the pubs have different VIBES, but they do seem to end up with different customers. Indeed, I do find I am usually visiting one or the other, rather than both, depending on what I’m in the mood for or what has brought me to this part of town.
And while all 18 taps may not always be on, I love the blackboard above the bar, listing out each beer – it’s a cliché I am always here for, even if Dave and Barbara aren’t necessarily the ones to refer me to it…
Where: The Beer Temple, 1-3 Parliament St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 AN28
Access from the city centre: You are in it – nearly everything touristy is within a 5-10 minute walk
Food: Usual Galway Bay menu
Sport: Not so much
TVs: Nope
Music: Always plenty of bangers on the speakers
Family-friendliness: All Galway Bay pubs are pretty family-friendly, but I would usually head to The Oak if in town with the smaller one
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Temple Bar is right there if you enjoy watching money disappear, or hit up The Lord Edward, The Bull & Castle, The Christchurch Inn, Dudley’s, The Brazen Head or simply walk through to the other side
Local sites of note: Olympia Theatre, Dublin Castle, Dublin City Hall, Chester Beatty Library, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublinia
Haunted: Did the renovation unearth any ghosts? Or are they all up the road at The Lord Edward?
Other notes: Don’t be like me and forget there’s often a Dungarvan tap on The Oak side
A lot clicks into place when you realise that it's run by the same folks as P Macs and The Blackbird. Those of us of a certain age have been trained to avoid that side of the street. Despite almost every bus route in the city stopping opposite, your chances of crossing the road to catch one in time was almost nil. Now that the Luas runs past and the cars have been diverted, the young'uns take advantage of our absence.
On Pub Crawl ability, you're also right in the middle of a Holy Trinity of classic Dublin haunts, The Palace, Bowes and Mulligans (the original “Best Guinness in the World” one, not to be confused with the unrelated modern classic, L Mulligan Grocers)