Craft beers go from strength to strength

STARTED only to keep a manufacturing license, and running on formulae sketched out on napkins, the monks of craft beer in the Franciscan Well Brewery must have had divine inspiration.

In the past week, the brewery was bought by Molson Coors in a multimillion-euro deal, but for its first six years of operation, one of the owners, Shane Long, wasn’t sure if they would make it.

Two days after the sale, Mr Long is sitting in the bar getting the final specifications ready for the machinery the investment will bring.