On The Town:Brewers and connoisseurs of beer and cider talked about the business of brewing - flavour, fermentation, kegging, malting and pressing - at the launch of Beer and Cider in Ireland: the Complete Guide, by Iorwerth Griffiths, in Dublin this week.
"There's been a massive growth in small breweries in the last 10 years," said Seán O'Keeffe, of Liberties Press.
"One hundred years ago, there was a small brewery in every town in Ireland.
Ireland is going back to where it was," said Griffiths.
Wilhelm Rost, who moved to Scariff in Co Clare in 1986, started making Johnny Jump Up cider not long after leaving northern Bavaria in Germany. "It was a side-effect of seeing the apples lying on the ground, rotting - and being from a farming background, you don't like to see waste," he said.
Gerry Forrest, of Árainn Mhór, Co Donegal, started making ale three years ago. Bán "tastes fresh, bubbly - it's quite foamy, it's a very light beer", he explained, adding that Rua "is more nutty and strong and it's a slightly bitter ale".
Peter Mosley, head brewer at the Porterhouse Brewing Company, said its full range goes from a light, American-style chilled lager to "the more traditional, hugely aromatic, rich, full-bodied, Wrasslers 4X stout".
Another brewer, David Llewellyn, of Lusk, Co Dublin, who began producing Double L cider eight years ago, was also present. Trevor Sargent TD, the Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, launched the book.
• Beer and Cider in Ireland: the Complete Guide, by Iorwerth Griffiths, is published by Liberties Press