It's one of Ireland's largest gatherings of top tier Irish food & drink producers, so it's always great to be down at Bord Bia Bloom in the Phoenix Park. This year, the Bloom team there engaged with Irishbeer.ie and Beár Bia to highlight pairings made with breweries and food makers who would all be at Bloom. Produced over two episodes, our first saw us pair Irish beers with Irish seafoods, and for our second, we looked at something more sweet and savoury!

To supply us with beers and plenty of Donegal banter for the day, we were joined by Sean McCarthy, Sales Manager of Kinnegar Brewing. Letterkenny. He filled us in not just on the whole range of great beers they craft there but also on the company's 15-year history. With nationwide distribution and a selection of tours available, Kinnegar's beers are enjoyed both on site and all over Ireland. One particular item from the brewery that is increasingly doing better and better for them is their "Lowtide lPA", which is a 1% ABV low-alcohol brew. It has the full flavour and texture of a standard IPA but without the boozy bite.

It was the perfect accompaniment to the O'Neills Dry Cure Bacon bap that we had to pair it with. To talk us through this company's great philosophy of only making the most natural, traditional bacon products was their founder, Pat O'Neill from Enniscorthy, Wexford. After already working in the bacon business for 13 years, Pat was inspired by the growing customer demand for additive-free foods and established his brand with the aim of making the finest dry-cured bacon with no phosphates or added water to bulk it out. It was a formula for success that has served him well. We enjoyed a bap made with his excellent bacon and his equally tasty bacon jam.

Alongside the Lowtide IPA, the bacon jam's sweet umami taste balanced beautifully with the hoppy bitterness of the beer.

The second pairing was definitely one for the more sweet-toothed among us! Our next guest was Daniel Linehan, who, alongside his wife Georgia Quealy, founded Bon Chocolatiers out of necessity during COVID. Both are highly trained Michelin-level chefs, and when their respective places of work closed during lockdown, they focused their energy and creativity elsewhere to handcraft ultra premium chocolates. They have since gone on to pick up multiple awards and were a huge hit at Bloom this year. When we asked Daniel to consider the best chocolate from his range to pair with Kinnegar's Black Rabbit - black lager, he instantly knew what to pick up. To bring out the rich coffee and dark malty notes of the beer, he opted for Bon Chocolatiers' Dark "Truly Dark" range. It comes in four flavours that include raspberry and caramelised cacao. Both the beer and the chocolates are incredible on their own - but when enjoyed together, this is a sublime Irish food & drink pairing and something that is very easy to seek out.

We hope you enjoy this second part of our Bloom Special for 2025!

Thanks,

Dee & Oisín

Kickstarting things off for 2025, the first two episodes of this new season will highlight beer and food producers who are exhibiting at one of Ireland's largest festivals, Bord Bia Bloom at Phoenix Park. With a little help from IrishBeer.ie, they
decided to first see which of the participating beers would work best paired
with fish and seafood. The results are delicious!

EPISODE 1
If you’re going to be sampling some of Ireland’s best seafood, the setting is
key. Thankfully, the good folk over at Kish Fish Café in Howth very kindly
allowed us to record in their office. With views right out onto the Irish Sea,
it was the ideal location, and they were the perfect hosts!

Managing Director Tadhg O'Meara told us all about how the Kish Fish business started in Dublin’s city centre, and they’ve successfully expanded to become vital
wholesalers and operators of their fantastic seafood cafe on Howth pier.
After settling in, Kian Louet-Feisser from Carlingford Oysters joined the
table and got shucking! He shared details of how his family started the
business in the 70s and now ships their marvellous molluscs worldwide.

With his operation just down the road in Kilbarrack, Wim De Jongh from
Hope Brewery didn’t have as far to travel and he brought with him the ideal
beer to match with those oysters. His “Overboard Witbier” was quite literally
designed to pair with seafood. It's wheat beer and malt base provided a
creamy texture but it was the addition of orange peel and juniper berries in
the brew that really bounced beautifully off the salinity of the oysters.

Our second pairing began with another amazing Irish family business - Mag
Kirwan from Goatsbridge Trout made the journey from Kilkenny. She
proudly told us all about how it all started in the 1960s, servicing local
restaurants, to now being a beloved nationwide product available in multiple
supermarkets.

Their whiskey-dill-infused rainbow trout was her choice for
a beer pairing, and it was sublime with Irish Pale Ale from O’Haras. This
was brought down by Sergiu Leu from the brewery’s sales team and he got
into how O’Haras (also known as Carlow Brewing) got started nearly 30
years ago by owner Seamus O’Hara. Over those three decades, they have
very steadily managed to build up a brilliant portfolio as well as excellent
international distribution. The dry hopping technique they employ for this
ale gives it a long, zesty finish, which cuts through the soft smoke and spice
of the fish.

Both of these pairings can be enjoyed at Bord Bia Bloom, which runs from
May 29th - June 2nd in Phoenix Park.

Stay tuned for our second Bord Bia Bloom episode coming in two weeks as we delve into what types of beers can be paired alongside some sweeter, more dessert-type dishes!