Keegans Irish Pub

Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale

2012-02-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Kilkenny is the fourth member of the Guinness family of beers. It is often described as "Smithwics with less hops and a creamy head". Kilkenny is 4.3% alcohol by volume and contains 129 calories in a 20 oz. pour.

The head comes from the nitrogenated pour, the same as Guinness Stout and it is brewed at the Smithwicks brewery in Kilkenny, Ireland. Not widely distributed in the United States it is available at most Irish Pubs.

Smithwick's Irish Ale

2012-02-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

We've covered the best known beers from Guinness, Guinness Stout and Harp Lager. The third member of the family is Smithwick's Irish Ale. It is actually a classic Irish Red Ale and is definitely Ireland's favorite ale.

The beer was first brewed by John Smithwick and Richard Cole in 1710 at the medieval Franciscan Abbey in Kilkenny and is still brewed there today. The abbey itself started brewing beer hundreds of years earlier and is Ireland's oldest active brewery.

Smithwick's is deep red color with a hint of roasted coffee in the flavor profile. it weighs in at 4.5% alcohol by volume. It came to the United States about six years ago and quickly became a big seller at Irish pubs.

HARP LAGER

2012-01-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

Harp Lager is one of the four beers in the Guinness family, the others being Guinness, Smithwicks and Kilkenney. Harp was first brewed in 1960 at the Great Northern Brewery in Dundalk, Ireland. The Harp sold in the United States is brewed at the Labatt's Brewery in Canada.

Harp is described as a classic Irish Pale lager. It is golden in color and measures 5% alcohol by volume. A pint contains 152 calories. It is a mainstay at pubs in the US but not widely available in other establishments.

Guinness Stout

2012-01-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

There is no subject more near & dear to the heart of a Publican than Guinness Stout. The "black", which is really ruby red in color, is the hallmark product of any good pub.

Sir Arthur Guinness purchased the St. James Gate brewery in 1759 and signed a 9000 year lease at just 45 Irish Pounds per year. He first brewed the famous stout in 1778 after a load of barley was accidentally scorched in a fire. Rather than dump it, he brewed it and gave birth to the legendary Guinness Stout.

All the Guinness sold in the United States comes from the St. James Gate brewery in Dublin and the water comes from the nearby Wicklow Mountains: not from the River Liffey. The strain of yeast used to brew Guinness originated in Egypt.

Many people hold the misconception that Guinness is a heavy beer but in fact it has only 125 calories in 12 ounces, about the same as skim milk and less than orange juice. Most pale-colored lagers have about 150 calories in 12 ounces. Guinness alcohol by volume is 4.2%.

A perfectly poured pint contains 75% nitrogen and 25% carbon dioxide and is poured at 42.8 degrees.

Women's Christmas

2012-01-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

Women's Christmas is a day of celebration at the end of the Christmas season when the women get to relax and enjoy their friends. It is popular in Ireland, especially in and around Cork. To be exact it is celebrated on January 6, the Twelfth Day of Christmas and the feast of the Epiphany.

The celebration, in Irish is Nollaig na mBan and is also known as Little Christmas.

A typical celebration takes place in a pub where the women enjoy a libation and food and exchange small gifts. The men are encouraged to stay home and tend to the housework.

Keegan's Pub introduced the tradition to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis - St. Paul in 2009 when Sheri O'Meara brought the idea to Terry and Virginia Keegan. Sheri and the Celtic Music group Locklin Road performed for the celebration that year and every year since.

This year, Keegan's is celebrating Women's Christmas on Sunday, January 8 at 1 pm.

Irish Sesiun Music

2012-01-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to Irish Sesiun Music one Sunday night in 2002 when David and Suzanne Rhees came in to Keegans and asked if we ever have sesiuns. I had no idea what they were talking about but invited them to have a seat and play, if they wished. They did and it was wonderful. The next week they brought a few fellow musicians and our Sunday night sesiun has grown and prospered ever since. By the way, "Sesiun" is Irish for "Session"

An Irish sesiun is a gathering of musicians who play TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC. You won't hear Danny Boy or McNamara's Band. The tunes - not songs - are all learned by ear and passed on from musician to musician and generation to generation. It is not at all uncommon for the musicians who play at Keegans to travel around the country and around the world playing in sesiuns wherever they go and picking up new tunes.

The instruments usually found at a sesiun are the fiddle, button box, flute, guitar, tin whistle, and bodhran (a drum-like hand-held instrument). Other instruments, like the Celtic Harp, are occasionally present.

A true traditional Irish sesion is self-governed by unwritten rules many of which I have learned just by observing:

1. No sheet music is allowed
2. Only one bodhran should play at a time
3. Nobody should play too loud
4. The lead is passed around the sesiun from player to player
5. Players always defer preferred seating and the lead to a "known" or senior player when he or she arrives
6. Tunes are led by a player in a "set" consisting of three tunes each played through three times

There are many more "rules" I have not yet identified because I have never played in a sesiun.

The Twin Cities is blessed with a large number of very talented Irish musicians who play at the pubs on various nights of the week. We also have The Center For Irish Music in St. Paul which fosters learning of Irish Music for all ages and skill levels.

Go to the following link for a sample of a recent sesiun at Keegan's Pubhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7suN-9bIfxY

New Year in Ireland

2011-12-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, the Irish see New Year’s Eve as the occasion to prepare for the New Year by cleaning house and stocking up on essentials. December 31, is usually a work day but many Irish take a vacation day to travel, visit the beaches, etc. In fact, a cold swim in the Irish Sea or Atlantic Ocean is not uncommon.

For good luck, at midnight some Irish enter the house through the front door and leave through the back door.

Some families remember those who passed during the year by setting a place for them at the dinner table then leaving the door unlocked.

Unmarried people often place mistletoe under their pillow to help them dream of their future wives or husbands.

A couple of Irish toasts are:

“May we be alive at this time next year” and “In the new year, may hour right hand always be stretched out in friendship but never in want”

Boxing Day

2011-12-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

Today, December 26, is Boxing Day. A largely British celebration when wealthier Brits give boxes (gifts) to their servants. In Ireland, December 26 is celebrated as St. Stephens Day or the Day of the Wren. St. Stephen is believed to be the first Christian martyr.

There are several interpretations surrounding the significance of the wren but the one I like best is story that a wren began pecking bread crumbs from a drum head, awakening viking invaders and saving them from a surprise attack from the Irish. Dead wrens are especially popular with the Irish on this day.

Answers to Christmas Trivia

2011-12-24T06:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Trivia Answers

1 Advent

2 Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s German Husband – Tree in Windsor Castle in 1841

3 Boxing Day

4 Caesar Augustus

5 France about 1300

6 Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans

7 Coursers

8 Druids (Celts)

9 Epiphany

10 One who delivers the news

11 Holy Day

12 Holly

13 Bowing Down in reverence

14 Lye-Fish

15 A wooden trough for feeding cattle & horses

16 Christmas or Christmas Carol

17 Franklin Pierce

18 Shrub

19 Mexico

20 Caribou

21 A toast or expression of good will.

22 Ireland

23 To guide Mary and Joseph

24 Greek

25 Yule

Have a Merry Christmas

Christmas trivia

2011-12-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

The following 25 questions were asked at Keegan's Pub last night. The winner had 15 correct. How many can you answer? We will post the correct answers soon.

1. What Christmas related event starts on the Sunday nearest St. Andrews Day?

2. Who is responsible for the Christmas tree becoming popular in England?

3. What “day” is celebrated in England and Canada on December 26^th?

4. Who decreed that all men should be taxed, each in his own city, causing Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem?

5. Christmas Carols originated in what country?

6. Who abolished Christmas Carols in England in the mid 1600’s?

7. In the poem “A Visit from St. Nick”, Clement Moore refers to the team of reindeer as what?

8. Decorating with evergreens, ivy and holly started with what ancient pagan cult in England and Europe?

9. The twelfth day of Christmas is celebrated as what feast?

10. What is a Herald Angel?

11. The word “Holiday” is derived from what two words?

12. What Christmas related decoration bears its fruit in the winter?

13. In the song, “Away in the Manger” the cattle are “lowing: What does that mean?

14. Lutefisk translates into English as what?

15. What is a manger?

16. What does “Noel” mean?

17. Which US President was the first to have a Christmas tree in the White House? Hint: 1856

18. What type of plant is a Poinsettia?

19. Poinsettias are native to what country?

20. A Reindeer is called what in North America?

21. The word “wassail” means what?

22. The custom of placing candles in the window began in what country?

23. What was the purpose for window candles?

24. The “X” in Xmas stands for Christ in what alphabet?

25. The Vikings gave what name to the season of the winter solstice?

More about Ugly Christmas Sweaters

2011-12-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

From our friends at the Irish Gazette we learned that the "Awful Christmas Sweaters" phenomon started in Ireland with "aunties, grandmothers and relatives handing over the most ugly sweaters as presents for Christmas".

Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties

2011-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

Once considered to be "tacky" Ugly Christmas Sweaters are now the theme of Holiday Parties. The ugly sweater at a Christmas Party serves the same function as a costume on Halloween: it allows the person to step outside himself and not be concerned with his appearance.

So popular is the Ugly Sweater Party that it has it's own website, UglyChristmasSweaterParty.com. Second-hand clothing outlets like Goodwill and Ragstock are common sources for these highly prized treasures.

Keegan's Pub in Northeast Minneapolis holds an annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Night. This year is will be held on Saturday. December 17.

Whiskey

2011-12-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

What is "aqua vitae" you ask? It is the "water of life" first produced by monks in Ireland for medicinal purposes. Historians credit the first distillation anywhere for the seventh through the fifteenth century. The word "whiskey" derives from the Gaelic "water of life" putting an end to the Scots claim to be the originators of this most enjoyable of refreshments.

Scotch Whiskey has a distinctive smokey or peaty smell and flavor because the grain is roasted over open flame imparting the smell and taste to the grain and thus to the finished distilled product. Irish, Canadian and American whiskeys roast the grain in an enclosed process thus keeping the smoke away from infusing the grain.

Irish Whiskey is distilled three times giving it a softer taste than Scotch or American whiskey. Each distillation process eliminates impurities which are a contributor to the dreaded hang-over.

Bourbon is actually a whiskey but to be called bourbon is must be distilled in Kentucky.

The distilled whiskey is actually clear until it is aged in fired oak barrels. The ageing is what gives whiskey its color and much or its flavor.

The perfect pint

2011-12-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

Pouring the perfect pint of Guinness is both art and science. Start with a clean dry 20 oz. glass. Pour the beer at a 45 degree angle down the inside of the glass, never letting the spout touch the beer. Pour to about 80% full then let the glass rest for two to three minutes.

Finish the pour pushing the tap handle back, releasing the familiar hiss of the beer coming through at exactly the correct pressure. Present the glass, logo toward the customer, and admire the cascading effect of the nitrogenated pour.

Prerequisites for the perfect poor are the right conditions of cleanliness, temperature and pressure. Guinness should be poured between 38 and 42 degrees, through clean beer lines. The gas mixture should be 75% nitrogen and 25% Carbon Dioxide.

Generally speaking, Irish pubs and establishments that pour a lot of Guinness do it correctly. Bars that simply sell Guinness rarely do it right.