Westport, County Mayo - A beer lovers destination?

Well that might be a bit of a stretch but I do remember saying to my wife back in 2012 that while the town of Westport was one of my favorite holiday destinations, there was one thing that it could really use to clinch the deal .... a local brewery or two.  The place already had great scenery, nice pubs, trad music in many of said pubs, plenty of hotels and B&B's to choose from, and the last decade even brought better cuisine to the town as they know have several very good restaurants to choose from.  What more do you want??  Well something other than Guinness and Smithwicks on tap would be a good.  Now they've got it all.

It all started with the opening of West May Brewery in July of 2013.  Then this year a brewery right in the town of Westport itself opened up called The Mescan Brewery.  Their focus seems to be on Belgian styles and I look forward to trying them on my return.  Lastly a new brewery is just opening up near Ballina (further north in County Mayo) called Reel Deel Brewery.  I don't know much about them but hopefully all goes well.

The opening of West Mayo in 2013 worked out perfectly for me as my return visit to Westport with my daughter came in May of 2014.  Now all we needed to happen was for local pubs to offer it on tap.  This also happened with several pubs in Westport now offering West Mayo Beers on tap.  I was able to find their Pale Ale on tap at Cobbler's Bar that is conveniently attached to the Wyatt Hotel that I was staying at.  I was really impressed with the Pale Ale.  It rivaled some of the best Pale Ale's that we have on tap over here in the US and I think it would go really well on cask and hopefully we'll see that in the future.

Also discovered the Pale Ale on tap at Matt Molloy's pub.  I went over there on an early afternoon to try it.  I sometimes avoid Molloy's at night due to the crowds jamming in the place to see the trad music but it's a nice spot in the afternoon to enjoy a pint or three as it is yet another lovely pub in a town full of them.

I also should mention that Cobbler's is trying to become somewhat of a craft beer bar as they served other beers from around Ireland in the bottle such as Dungarvan from Waterford.  They also listed on their chalkboard Blue Moon as American Craft beer.  This gave me a chuckle.  I opted for the very tasty Dungarvan Black Rock Stout.

Another pub I had visited for the first time in 2012 with my wife also jumped on the West Mayo bandwagon called McGing's.  McGing's is up the street a bit just past the clock tower and is also a place where you can enjoy a jazz session and bluegrass music sessions.  We attended one of each that weekend and they were both very good.  McGing's had the Red Ale and Stout on tap from West Mayo.  Again both winners.  We sampled each while listening to some live Jazz.

As I mentioned, there is some great scenery in County Mayo.  We took advantage of the nice weather on the Sunday we were there and drove up to the stunning Achill Island and after touring around found a nice pub on the way back for a late lunch and they also had West Mayo Stout on tap.  The pub is in Newport (just north of Westport) and called The Grainne Uaile

Some token scenic photos of Achill Island:

There's lots of great pubs in Westport overall.  Not all of them are carrying these beers but still worth a visit nevertheless for the atmosphere and hospitality.  I've made it a point to try and visit as many different ones as I can over the years since I'm as much of a pub lover as I am a beer lover.  So here are shots of two of my other favorites but there a many more:

So this beautiful little town on the shores of Clew Bay and in the shadow of Croagh Patrick (St. Patrick's mountain on the shore of Clew Bay) now has quite a bit to offer us beer lovers.  I reckon it won't be too long before I visit again.