Ireland: Week 2

Do these pants make my butt look touristy? Part II

Yesterday, in the company of Kristen and Kate, I went on two distinctly Irish tours.

The first being a tour of the most popular and best selling Irish beer.

Guinness!

The first thing you notice when walking up to the factory besides the number of signs with the word Guinness on them, is the awful smell. Apparently the most popular beer in Ireland is also the smelliest.

First started in 1759 by a man by the name of Arthur Guinness, “the black stuff” is a thick stout that is made with the combination of roasted barley, water from the Wicklow Mountains, hops, and yeast.

The barley is what gives the beer its starch and sugar while the process of roasting it produces the rich, dark color. Arthur, while not being the first to use roasted barley in his brewing, capitalized on the method, making it his own. The barley is then added to water.

The water comes from the Wicklow Mountains for its purity and “softness”. Some claim that it comes from the river Liffey, located across the street from the plant, but that would be gross.

Next come the hops. Present in many beer, hops give it a distinct flavor and aroma.

Finally the yeast is added which consumes the sugar to make alcohol and CO2. The yeast used is so important to the brew that some is kept locked up in the case of something happening to the main supply.

The man:

The beer:

The water:

(its behind us)

The tour was a 10 euro self guided walk up many floors showing the history and making of the beer.

We even got to sample some of the fresh (or so they claimed) Guinness:

The word is “Tasting”:

One pretty cool section was the floor dedicated to advertising, many of which had pretty cool retro artwork.

The propaganda:

Did you know that the Guinness Book of World Records is the same Guinness? I didnt…dont judge.

Finally the tour ends at the gravity bar which gives a beautiful 360 degree view of Dublin and a free pint! sort of.

Kristen and Kate:

It was a good time but I was a little diappointed to find that we dont actually get a tour of the plant itself. But more like a walk around the vistors center. But it was fun.

Other pictures:

The next tour we took was of the old Jamison Distillery which happens to be the most popular Irish whiskey.

This tour was less interesting but just as intoxicating. HAR HAR HAR.

Mr. & Mrs. Jamison:

Apparently the whiskey is TRIPLE distilled which means that it is smoother, unlike scotch which is double and american which is single.

Two of three ye old stills:

Steam powered grain p0n3r or grinder:

Mixing the barley with water to make the stuff:

The real thing would have been a LOT bigger

After the whiskey is made it is left to sit for about 5 years in wooden barrels giving it the dark reddish color and woody taste:

This dude is making them, or would be if he didnt spend all his time tending to his totally sweet mustache.

The final product:

Tastes like doo doo.

OK im done. It was fun.

Tired of writing. BYE!

February 10, 2008 Posted by Will S | Uncategorized | | 2 Comments | Edit

Do these pants make my butt look touristy?

I went to check out the Book of Kells today. That was pretty sweet. For those of you who are asking yourself “What is the Book of Kolls and why do I care?” it is time for a history lesson. And it spelled “Kells”, go back to school.

If I recall correctly the Book of Kells is considered by many to be the most striking manuscript ever produced in the Anglo-Saxon world. Once thought to be lost, the book is a splendidly illuminated version of the Gospels. Leading Kells scholars now believe that the book originated on the island of Iona in Scotland, where followers of St. Colomba lived until the island came under siege in the early-to-mid 9th century forcing them to flee. After being chased around for a while they decided that Iona was a shitty place anyways and left the island in search of a place free of Viking siegery.

After searching many days for a sea captain worthy enough for their travels they found their man. Standing at a modest 3′ 4″ with an unruly mane of a beard and skin as wrinkled and tough as a leather book, Thomas O’Brien’s only drawback as a sea captain was the fact that he was forced to sit atop the holy manuscript in order to see over wheel of his vessel. With high hopes they set sail in search of land as far from Iona as possible. After a few hours on the open waters of the Atlantic they decided that they didnt like sea travel very much and Ireland was good enough. Kells, County Meath is where they ended up, bringing the 680 page book with them.*

The following are two pictures I found on the internet of said book which was rebound into four manuscripts in 1953 for convenience. Cameras were not aloud in the exhibit.

More interesting than the Book of Kells was the Long Hall of the Trinity College Library. The hall is 213 ft long and 42 ft wide with over 200,000 works. The books rest on aged shelves that lead up to an impressive arched ceiling. Given the age of many of the titles, visiters are only aloud to look from beyond some pretty classy green rope.

All in all the experience was pretty cool. After leaving the library I walked around the court yard of Trinity to take a few pictures.

Apparently there is a superstition that if first year Trinity Students walk through arches of this tower they will fail all their exams.

Some dude.

Some Bikes

Trinity Court yard from the outside

After I left Trinity I walked around for a bit to take some more pictures. I went into a coffee shop and found these pretty sweet silverware made from wood instead of plastic. More envrinmentally friendly than plastic and wont bend when you use it like spudware. Good stuff. (Dont act like you arent totally glad I shared this information and totally sweet picture with you)