CRAFT BEER: Julie Christie from Celtic Whiskey in New Street announcing the launch of their new online craft beer shop, craftbeersdelivered.com. Photo: Grigoriy Geniyevskiy

By Michelle Crean

An online craft beer shop, craftbeersdelivered.com, has this week been launched by Celtic Whiskey, Ireland’s leading whiskey experts.

Whilst whiskey might have been their first passion, the team are also equally as passionate about craft beer and the new site will deliver all over Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Creating the time to start up this new venture was difficult - until lockdown came along - and Julie Christie (Head of Marketing), Luke Crowley-Holland (Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder General Manager), James Holohan (Marketing Specialist) and Colm O’Connor (Celtic Whiskey Wholesale Manager), decided to create the new service.

Craft Beers Delivered strives to help customers discover their favourite beers as well as source speciality bottlings and limited editions from craft breweries in Ireland and across the globe. Customers in Ireland, the UK and Europe will be able to purchase popular and one of a kind craft beers from the website and enjoy in the comfort of their own home.

The website will feature an impressive gift selection whereby carefully crafted sets of 6, 12 and 24 have been selected for the beer novice to enthusiast! Beer tastings will also take pride of place, where customers can purchase a rotating 6 pack of unique beers and Craft Beers Delivered will email you the details for a Zoom tasting. The in-depth tastings will run twice a month and include a chat on all things beer, discovering delicious tasting notes and much more!

“For quite some time now, we have been looking to delve further into the craft beer world," owner Ally Alpine, founder of the Celtic Whiskey brand and Craft Beers Delivered, said.

"Since opening the Celtic Whiskey Bar & Larder in 2016, we have taken our interest to a new level and developed strong ties with the craft beer community. We wanted to combine this passion and enthusiasm with an online store, resulting in Craft Beers Delivered, because everyone should get to enjoy great beer!"

In 2017, Irish craft beer consumption had increased by 12.7 percent and in 2018, the Irish craft beer market share was 2.8 percent, up from 2.5 percent a year previous. Production of craft beer also increased by 10.7 percent accounting for 1.9 percent of overall beer production in Ireland which shows great promise for the sector.

See www.craftbeersdelivered.com for more.