Trouble Brewing (brewery)
Irish brewery known for Bitcoin acceptance and open-source brewing control.
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Trouble Brewing is a brewery in Kill, County Kildare, Ireland, founded in 2009 by Paul O'Connor, Stephen Clinch, and Thomas Prior. It produces a number of high end ales, IPAs, stouts, and lagers, and distributes throughout Ireland and in several EU countries. The brewery was present at the Bord Bía Bloom Festival in 2011 and, since June 2011, has been the first brewery in Ireland to accept payment in Bitcoin.
Lore & Background
Trouble Brewing was established in 2009 by Paul O'Connor, Stephen Clinch, and Thomas Prior in Kill, County Kildare. The brewery produces a range of high end ales, IPAs, stouts, and lagers, including the Deception Golden Ale (4.3% ABV), Dark Arts Porter (4.4% ABV), and Sabotage IPA, which was launched on 31 January 2013. Seasonal offerings include Pumpkin Brew, a pumpkin-spiced beer for Halloween, and Spelt Saison, a special-edition cask beer based on a recipe chosen in the 2012 'Troublemaker' home brewing competition. The brewery also released a Galaxy Pale Ale (4.5% ABV).
The brewery's control system is built on Arduino hardware, and the brewing software is shared under an open-source Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence. This technical openness complements the brewery's early adoption of Bitcoin payments, which began in June 2011, making it the first brewery in Ireland to do so. Trouble Brewing appeared at the Bord Bía Bloom Festival in 2011.
Reader's Guide
Trouble Brewing holds a distinctive place in Irish brewing for its early adoption of Bitcoin payments in June 2011, a move that marked it as the first brewery in Ireland to accept the cryptocurrency. This decision, along with its presence at the Bord Bía Bloom Festival in 2011, helped raise the brewery's profile during its early years. The brewery's commitment to open-source principles is evident in its brewing control system, which uses Arduino hardware and software released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence, allowing others to replicate or adapt the technology. This combination of technological transparency and financial innovation sets Trouble Brewing apart from many traditional breweries.
Its product range includes core beers such as Deception Golden Ale, Dark Arts Porter, and Sabotage IPA, as well as seasonal and special-edition brews like Pumpkin Brew and Spelt Saison, the latter originating from a home brewing competition. The brewery distributes throughout Ireland and into several EU countries, indicating a reach beyond its local base in Kill, County Kildare. The founders—Paul O'Connor, Stephen Clinch, and Thomas Prior—established the brewery in 2009, and its ongoing operations reflect a blend of craft brewing and forward-looking business practices.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Trouble Brewing (brewery) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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