Galway Hooker is a brand of Irish Pale Ale

Pale ale

Pale ale is a beer which uses a warm fermentation and predominantly pale malt. It is one of the world's major beer styles.The higher proportion of pale malts results in a lighter colour. The term "pale ale" was being applied around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with coke, which resulted in a...

, brewed by a microbrewery in Roscommon

Roscommon

Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It was created by two cousins, Aidan Murphy and Ronan Brennan, in 2006 and their name of the beer was decided by a public competition to choose a name.

The beer is made similar to traditional Pale Ales such as that brewed by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in the USA, but has an added taste of caramel similar to an Irish red beer. It is made from mainly pearl and crystal malt and Saaz

Saaz hops

Saaz is a "noble" variety of hops.It was named after the Czech city of Žatec . This hop is used extensively in Bohemia to flavor beer styles such as the Czech pilsener.Saaz hops accounted for more than 2/3 of total 2009 hop production in the Czech Republic....

 and cascade hops. It has a bitterness of 35 IBUs and is 4.4% alcohol by volume.

It is currently only available in pubs in Ireland and can be found in Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, Dublin, Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

 and Roscommon

Roscommon

Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...

. It was originally only available kegged on draught, but bottling of the beer began in June 2011.

Brewery

Hooker Brewery is on the site of the now-defunct Emerald Brewery just outside Roscommon town. Hooker bought the building and equipment previously used by Emerald.

Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale is the brewery's flagship product and is brewed in 650 litre batches. The brewery has also trialled two other styles of beer in Galway City, a dark wheat beer

Wheat beer

Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat. Wheat beers often also contain a significant proportion of malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented...

 and, more recently, a pilsner.

Awards

• 2007 - Named "Best in Ireland" by the Bridgestone Irish Food Guide
• 2007 - Winner in the Irish Craft Brewers Award for Best Beer
• 2009 - Winner in the Irish Craft Brewers Award for Beer of the Year
• 2010 - Runner-Up in the Irish Craft Brewers Award for Beer of the Year