The 12 Pubs of Christmas

It’s winter. Darkness descends upon the city around 4:00 p.m. The wind is blowing so hard, parents have to hold on tightly to their children lest they be carried out to sea. The rain comes and goes without warning and nary an umbrella can withstand its ferocity.

 

Yet, the city is ablaze in the warm glow of festivity. Colourful lights adorn every major street and most businesses have at the very least, a wreath or makeshift tree. Crowds of shoppers, merrymakers, and students walk forward, heads bent into the wind, laughing in the face of winter.

The good people of Dublin will not be held captive in their homes by the gloom of December. They venture out in search of warmth, light, and a bit of craic. And the place that has loads of all three is the pub.

The 12 Pubs of Christmas crawl is a bit of an annoying tradition that sprung up in the last few years. A group of boisterous youngsters (usually students and/or tourists) or work colleagues don their gaudiest Christmas sweater and head out to drink themselves stupid on 12 full pints in 12 different pubs. As you can imagine, a drunk obnoxious group decked out in Santa costumes can be a buzzkill for the nice couple trying to have a quiet post-cinema pint. Some pubs have banned these groups while others embrace the extra income. It has become such a staple of the season that suggested routes can be found on many visitor websites.

So why would a middle-aged group of two decide to partake in these shenanigans? See paragraph 1 and 3!

We made our own route and some rules. The pubs must serve good craft beer, there had to be a long walk between pubs, we could only drink a small glass at each, and we had to have some snacks and water. Unfortunately, we forgot about the last and most important rule of hydration as my head could attest to the following day.

1.       Alfie Byrne’s. A Galway Bay pub (there are at least 4 in the city, including my favourite , the Black Sheep). Beer: Maybe Next Monday, a citrus beer reminiscent of a Belgian Gueze.

 

2.       Anseo. Grungy bar where I’d expect to see punk music loving, anti-establishment, formerly rebellious teens. We were there early so saw a group of middle-aged ladies on a trip from North England. Beer: Scraggy Bay IPA. Meh.

 

 

3.       Against the Grain. Another Galway Bay pub, but a bit grimier and smellier than the others. Beer: Barcelona Padrino Porter. Chocolate and vanilla flavours. Yum!

 

 

4.       P-Macs. In Dublin 2 where the rich and beautiful people of the city like to hang out. Not a Christmas jumper to be seen in this place. Beer: Lindeman Kriek. One of my all time faves.

 

 

5.       Crowbar. In Temple Bar. It’s dark, moody, and full of oversized sofas and armchairs. During the day they have an amazing vegetarian menu. Beer: Scottish bottled beer called Birds and Bees. Kinda lager-y.

 

6.       The Meeting House. Behind Pinxto’s in Temple Bar. It’s a knock off of Pinxto’s (which is a Spanish tapas restaurant); you can choose 9 for 54 euro though most people just seemed to be drinking. Beer: They didn’t have any good beer, so in a moment of inspiration, S ordered us a Porn Star martini (some kind of flavoured vodka and passion fruit juice) and a Mai Tai, which tasted just a like a mojito. Not very strong which was a good thing.

 

7.       Porterhouse. 4 storey place in Temple Bar. They have their own line of craft beers that are quite good. It’s a touristy place so always some live Irish music that wasn’t too loud on this occasion. Beer: 80 Signal Stout. Just the right balance of bitter and sweet. Yum.

8.       Sine (pronounced shinnay). A live music venue for hipsters who want something less quaint than the usual hipster pub. Beer: Duvel (Belgian beer)

9.       The Boar’s Head. A cosy, local old man’s pub on Capel Street. Good place to sit by a fire and watch a match. Some guy grabbed my ass as I left, which hasn’t been my usual experience there. Beer: Guinness, the original craft beer.

10.   Panti Bar. Gay pub where you’ll meet people of all ages many of whom like to strike up a conversation. I’ve had more chats with strangers at this pub than any other. Beer: They have their own craft beer called, Panti Bar beer.

11.   The Black Sheep. My second home. Beer: O Brother-Joe Coffee.

12.   The Bier House. Our other local. A real cosy place with a fireplace, nice chairs next to windows for people-watching. The only pub I’ve ever seen that has beef jerky as a bar snack. Beer: Rascal’s Ginger Port. Imagine Ginger Ale + a dark bitter port. My favourite beer at the moment.

The night finished with a bag of chips and watching a little stand-up comedy on youtube and long, long blissful sleep. I think 12 pubs was too much for this old lady, but I really enjoyed the variety and having a long, invigorating walk in the wind in between the glasses.