Brewers Eight Degrees have declared that Mitchelstown’s water supply is the reason for their continued success with international awards.
The brewery run by Cameron Wallace and Scott Baigent have just won World’s Best Pale Amber award for its Sunburnt Irish Red at the 2020 World Beer Awards.
Also, the brewery picked up a gold award for its Citra Single Hop IPA, and bronze for its Full Irish Single Malt IPA and Black Ball Metric Stout.
Speaking to The Avondhu, Cameron revealed the secret to their success – Galtee mountain water.
“The beers do not change but we can improve processes and work on standards, it is a great accolade for the whole team to get.
“Honestly, the biggest influence for us is the location, we are based in Mitchelstown at the foot of the Galtees. There is exceptional access to superb water supplies. It is one of the best water sources in Ireland, possibly in the world.
“There is unusually soft water, absolutely beautiful fresh water, 95% of the ingredients of our beers is the water which is a run off from the Galtees, and that gives a blank canvas for us to work with,” Cam explained.
SANDSTONE & STAFF
The brewer also gave an explanation of why the water is of such high quality and how one part of the area has a better H2O supply than others.
“The water quality on the north side of the town is completely different from the southside. There is very hard water with a lot of calcium in it, but what you get on the southside is what we use.
“The run off through the sandstone is the secret, that’s why the water is the best here,” he explained.
The other secret ingredient for the brewery is the staff, a dedicated team are involved in bringing the product to life.
“There are 12 people, all from within 20 minutes of the site involved and this accolade is because of them – it is a huge team effort.
“They have brewing qualifications, or have furthered their qualifications with speciality brewing diplomas.
“A lot of the brewers have science backgrounds, but there is also learning on the job, learning from their peers. It is amazing how much you can pick up in collaborative brewing,” Cam said.
LOOKING AHEAD
The brewery has also linked up with a parent company under the guidance of Irish Distillers in Midleton and has big plans for the future, as they continue to grow.
“We have a new series coming up ahead of the winter season. We try to take inspiration from our surroundings.
“Scott is a keen paraglider, I have taken a lot from watching him jump off Galteemore, there are so many beautiful little loughs around there.
“So we have this Galteemore porter coming up next month, which is a tribute to the area. It is a camp fire porter, it is a lovely dark porter, smokey coffee flavours to it.”
The World Beer Awards’ judges tasted their way through more than 2,200 entries from over 50 countries this year. The judges blind tasted and scored the entries across three rounds of judging.
Traditionally, all tastings are held in person, but this year the beers were brought to the judges. Black-wrapped and sent across Europe, Asia, Canada and Brazil, the judges tasted the beers at home and connected for each session over Zoom.
Continued success to the local brewery, placing Mitchelstown on the world stage.
