Story and photos by Julie Carasone
O’Lacy’s Irish Pub has a new house beer.
On Tuesday evening, O’Lacy’s owner Kent Ewell poured the first pint, called “Old Sod”.
Chris Hoffman, a distributor for Eli Fish and bartender for O’Lacy’s, says the idea came from when he noticed how much draft beer is sold at O’Lacy’s.
“I brought up the idea to Jon Mager and Matt Gray, owners of Eli Fish, about getting our brand out there. Then gave the idea to our brewer, a few meetings with Kent and we were able to collaborate on a beer for O’Lacy’s,” says Hoffman.
“I wanted a darker beer going into the winter months, a porter with a light hazelnut tone to it,” says Ewell. “The last time we had a house beer was in 1999 called “Casual Ale” from Custom Brew Crafters
The beer is an Old English style Porter with a hint of hazelnut.
“It’s great that downtown businesses can work together. We have been distributing for 4 months and getting our name out there locally is a huge deal, especially with O’Lacy’s who has a great following and great business,” says Hoffman.
“We thought of different names for the beer, from “Emerald Isle” or “Quiet Man”, but chose “Old Sod”. We wanted to tie the Ireland theme to the beer. Old Sod comes from the saying, “going across the ocean to the old sod,” says Ewell.
Pints will be available, as well as growlers.
You can check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OLACYSIRISHPUB/