Zingibeer: Dublin Spice
Dublin's other perfect pint
I learned a lot on my trip to Dublin last weekend.
I learned that I can travel by plane now without a thousand rituals and a meltdown. I can just walk on board and sit down. I even slept.
I learned that time moves differently in the Irish National Gallery. Three hours passed like ten glorious minutes, as my skin absorbed the colours and brushstrokes. I learned I miss art galleries with an aching heart.
I learned while I stared at the beauty of St Stephen’s Green’s icy pond that while I live in the middle of the Lancashire countryside, I am starved of picturesque, landscaped green spaces. I learned that herons sit in trees and watch you watch them.
I learned that in Dublin, incredibly dressed manikins step out of Quality Street tins in immaculate shop window displays, metallic material folded, twisted, and wrapped like sweets.
I also learned that Guinness is not the only fruit. Sure, of course I drank my fair share and then some of Dublin-brewed Guinness. How could I not? But I was introduced to something truly revolutionary that might have changed my perspective on Dublin forever. Have you ever tried Zingibeer?
Brewed in Smithfield, on the north side of the Liffey, by a father and daughter team, Zingibeer is a fully-fermented ginger beer. Unlike the other famous pint around town, it’s totally clear. You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d been handed a pint of soda water with a wedge of lime in it. Rather than a beer with ginger beer added to it, Zingibeer is made as you would make it at home, if you’d ever tried, with a yeast mother and plenty of sugar. Once fermented, botanicals and lemon juice is added. That’s it.
It tastes like the warming ginger of a good hot toddy, like a spoonful of what Mary Poppins gives you when you come in from the rain, like a Masterchef contestant has had a go at making stem ginger fizzy cola bottles. It tastes elegant, like the way I wish Porsecco actually tasted—aromatic and just-sweet-enough and a little bit fiery. Moreish. And it’s served on draft so you can get a really satisfying gulp of it in one go, allowing your whole chest to light up with the peppery, golden glow.
I swear I didn’t believe it was alcoholic until I was dancing my arse off at a CMAT gig later in the evening. Zingibeer facilitated the most authentically Dublin experience I think I’ve ever had.
Other Stuff
Fascinated by the phrase “the reassertion of the hand” in regards to the encroachment of AI into the fashion world and designers’ retaliation, coined by Laird Borrelli-Persson for Vogue
Sorry to link even peripherally to the British Museum, that warehouse of stolen goods, but this Ancient Egyptian tablet is too good not to share. It’s an attendance sheet for workers, and one of the most common reasons for worker absence was to brew beer
The green hill and blue sky of Windows XP is a real place, and it’s in Sonoma County, California
NY based artist and photographer Female Pentimento morphs nature into sci-fi into folklore into gothic imagery to create images that are often transcendent and sometimes unnerving and even scary. I couldn’t love it all more.
Moving and incredibly personal writing by Adam Wells about his connection to Strongbow, and the person he loved who drank it too.
My Stuff
Let me tell you a story. This week on the Pellicle podcast I read my Burger Van piece aloud.
I joined Beerlonging for their latest podcast episode, and talked about all sorts, from getting into beer writing, to running and then closing Corto.
Hwaet! zine has come back from the printers and is being sent out right now. I have a piece about witchcraft, women’s work, brewsters, alewives, and beer in it and you can buy a copy here.
My PROCESS series continues apace, you can read an excerpt of the latest story, about fizzy pop, here.
I’ve set up the chat function on Substack so that we can send ideas to each other and talk about things I’ve mentioned in the newsletters. Sometimes these will be paid subscriber only, and sometimes they will be available to all. Also, comments for each newsletter are now open to paid subs too as a little perk. Don’t hate me, a girl’s gotta eat.
