One and done

In the plague of closures that seems to be ripping through Irish brewing at the moment, Hopfully's was especially poignant. I've watched the plucky Brazilians from their contract brewing beginnings at Craftworks, through their gypsy phase, the re-commissioning of Brendan Dobbin's first-generation Porterhouse kit, the move to Waterford and the eventual takeover of Metalman's premises down there. I visited late last year, and the 2024 winter specials were especially good. Meanwhile they appeared to be making excellent inroads to the city's pubs as the local beer. So it was a sad surprise a few months ago to hear that they had once again ceased as a standalone production brewery.

But, not being Irish, it wasn't an Irish goodbye, and they appear to have left us with a final commemorative beer: One For the Road. They're finishing as they largely went along, with a hazy pale ale. It's 5.2% ABV and fashionably pale. It's unfashionably clean too, my murk-sense detected none of the common flaws. Instead, there's an initial soft and creamy fruit effect, like an apricot-flavoured Petits Filous. I don't know how you make Riwaka do that, but it is all-Riwaka, and very soon the taste switches from soft stonefruit to a spicy mineral bitterness, sparking with flinty zinc and hot ozone. Yum. There's a pithy citrus on the fadeout, and a pleasant cuddly warmth. It's complex but not busy, and I had most of the glass emptied in a couple of thirsty swallows. I'll buy more, if there is any.

I'm told that production of the Hopfully core range will continue at another Munster microbrewery, and there have even been a couple of new specials following this one. It's still a shame to see the Waterford site go -- that city's drinks industry seems to be on a run of bad luck. And I'd like the brewery closures to stop soon, please.