“Before that, we were doing it by feel or reacting, we’d know maybe a month in advance what orders we’d have. Speaking of incorporating Lean into Rascals Brewing, Cathal said “For Lean, we got a mentor, who sat down with us and looked at what we were doing in the brewery and how we were managing our sales and predicting our production schedule. The lean approach helps businesses increase performance and competitiveness. Lean for Business increases the efficiency of the Rascals Brewing brewing process. With the Lean for Business approach from Local Enterprise Office, they were able to do just that.

With the move to Inchicore, Cathal and the team looked at ways to further improve the operation. Later, help came in the form of grants and Springboard employees, which were equally integral in launching the Rascals brand. Cathal attended a start your own business course, which helped with the creation of a business plan. The Rascals Brewing journey was aided with the help of Local Enterprise Office. It also has a strong presence in the local community, being a favourite haunt for many of the surrounding residents. Customers come from all over Ireland, and indeed the world, to try some of the famous concoctions on offer. Rascals Brewing has gone from strength to strength since moving, opening up a taproom/restaurant on-site. After many successes, they were able to upgrade to their current facility in Inchicore, on the edge of Dublin 8. “The prize for one of those competitions was to get a commercial batch made, which was great because we had a business plan put together and we were in the process of buying second hand equipment from Galway Bay brewery, so that was a bit of a springboard into the market for us,” he explained.Ĭathal and his wife Emma set up a brewery in an industrial warehouse in Rathcoole. We moved home, continued home brewing and won a few competitions for home brewing,” said Cathal. We saw an opportunity to do something similar in Ireland.

“There were loads of smaller breweries operating at that time. Not just for beer aficionados, the business aims to help the average punter expand their palette. Rascals Brewing is all about innovating and putting a twist on traditional beers. Having spent some time in New Zealand, Cathal and his wife were inspired by the many microbreweries in operation and believed that there was space for a similar operation in Ireland. Throughout its journey, Rascals Brewing has relied on its Local Enterprise Office, most recently by applying Lean for Business principles to its operations. Rascals Brewing owner and founder Cathal O’Donoghue set up the award-winning brewery in 2014. “A NUMBER OF months after you implement these changes you’ll be wondering why you did it the old way.”

Little rascals then and now