DELANEY'S has gone designer. The Irish pub chain has put its money where its name is to serve the first beer in Hong Kong to carry the name of the bar it is served in.
To be launched next month, Delaney's Irish Ale heralds a new twist in the territory's premium beer market, which is only just waking up to its first boutique brew. The new ale comes just the way the Irish are drinking it - cold.
Described as a good session beer, the ale is not meant to knock Guinness off its pedestal nor is it the cheap version of a name brand.
'Guinness is like a meal,' says Delaney's director of operations, Clayton Parker. 'You can't drink four or five in a night.' Four or five of their Irish Ales, on the other hand, should slip down smoothly in a single session. 'It will also give lager drinkers an excuse to try something else,' Parker says.
As much as 60 per cent the beer Delaney's sells is Guinness and the Irish Ale is aimed at the other 40 per cent of its market. The ale was created, Parker says, to go with the Delaney's lifestyle. 'Delaney's is a real drinkers' bar. It's important to give people something different. This has its own identity, and gives the pub much more character.' The ale also already has its set of converts - 12 regulars who were included in the selection process.
'It's irrelevant what we want to sell,' Parker says. 'It's what people want to buy.' So they asked the people who they hope will eventually be buying the new product to tell the pub what they wanted.
