Mayo brewery to launch new beer at Mayo Dark Skies Festival

A local brewery will launch their newest beer at next week’s Mayo Dark Skies Festival.

Craft beer, oysters and dark skies might seem like an unlikely combination, but all three are drawn together in the new Mescan Spéartha Dorcha Oyster Stout (Dark Skies Oyster Stout) launching at the festival next week. 

The launch event, including tastings of Spéartha Dorcha Oyster Stout and Croagh Patrick Seafood oysters, takes place in the Gráinne Úaile, Newport on Wednesday, October 30 at 7.30pm. 

_{Spéartha Dorcha Oyster Stout (Dark Skies Oyster Stout) will be launched at the festival}

Mayo is home to Ireland’s first International Dark Sky Park, showcasing some of the darkest, most pristine skies in the world. Wild Nephin National Park becomes Mayo Dark Sky Park at night. Mescan Brewery is ‘proud’ to support the Mayo Dark Skies project and has developed this unusual stout to complement it. Spéartha Dorcha translates as Dark Skies and the engaging label celebrates the skies and the stars, reflecting the name.

Spéartha Dorcha Oyster Stout really does contain oysters and is infused with fresh oysters from Croagh Patrick Seafoods, resulting in a unique and delicious drink. 

It is dark ruby in colour and medium bodied with notes of malt, chocolate, coffee, plum and prune on the nose and palate, and a subtle hint of the sea. Spéartha Dorcha has a long and balanced finish with a subtle minerality and a touch of bitterness at the end.

Mescan’s latest beer is brewed with water from a spring on the slopes of Croagh Patrick, using traditional stout malts, restrained hopping and then fermented with Belgian yeast. It was matured for months under skies free from light pollution and is a medium five point seven percent alcohol by volume.

Spéartha Dorcha Oyster Stout can be ordered online from the Mescan website and is available to all Mescan stockists.

For more information on the Mayo Dark Skies Festival, see their website.