Irish Craft Beer Festival - March 15-19

KJ · 15-03-2012 3:05pm

So has anybody gone in yet?

stimpson · 15-03-2012 3:19pm

KJ wrote: »

So has anybody gone in yet?

Just been over for a beer and a burger. I had the O'Hara's smoked ale. Not really to my taste, but went down well all the same. A mate had a pint of the PH Chocolate Truffle. He was delighted as it was completely absent in the PH last year.

Very quiet - probably abotu 30-40 punters. But they are still getting setup. I reckon Paddys day will be packed. If the sun comes out it wil be great.

BeerNut · 15-03-2012 3:27pm

Had a swift pint of the Emerald. Not much of it in, apparently, so get it while it's there.

The main bar.

SteeveeDee · 15-03-2012 3:45pm

I am hoping to get there in the next hour so will report back ASAP.:D

No doubt I will have be having a good time though!

I think some people are missing the point of this event.It is simply a festival like any other and any other festival I have ever been to of any kind anywhere in the world,pricing has never been the draw.In fact usually at festivals everything costs more than you would usually find elsewhere.

I was hoping for a few more specials if I'm honest as that would be the real draw for me.

The thing is you can go and sit in the pub and drink most of these beers anytime but this is rare one so why not partake and support the brewers efforts?Your not just paying for the "beer" you are paying for the atmosphere and entertainment also.There are going to be some beer talks and you will no doubt strike up some conversations with the brewers and like minded people.Plus celebrating good beer is always a plus!

So for all those whinging protesters I say "Time gentlemen please"

schemingbohemia · 15-03-2012 4:21pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I don't have to refute it because you are the one making this rather bizzare point that having a choice of all these beers in the one place at the one time is somehow better than being able to drink any of these beers within a few mile radius. But while we are on the subject of choice, L Mulligans has over 100 beers, and not just limited to the Irish breweries. So if it is an issue of choice, the options in this festival aren't as good as they are elsewhere.

If that appeals to you then fine. But it doesn't appeal all that much to me. In any event, it is highly selective to say that you want to choose these particular 20 beers in the one place and deride other places for having a much larger selection of beers, but just not limited to these particular Irish beers.

If you genuinely think I am trolling you can report my posts. I'm simply responding to the issues that you raised, if you don't want to discuss it then don't comment. I would ask you to cut out the comments along the lines of me being deliberately obtuse, confused etc. Perhaps play the ball not the man.

I can't let this go. It's an Irish Craft Beer Festival, the clue is in the title. I want to drink Irish Craft Beer this weekend, I want to have as much choice as possible in the one venue, so I'm going to this.

I never derided other pubs for having a greater selection, I simply pointed out that no other pub in Ireland will have this much selection of Irish Craft Beer on Tap in the one location at the one time, it's factual not an opinion. Similarly I hardly find it a bizarre statement to make that having such a selection in the one place is better than having to go from pub to pub to get the same selection.

Your comments smack to me of typical Irish begrudgery, similar to the gob****e who gave out about the September version for not having foreign beers :rolleyes:

Have you ever been to a beer festival? Have you ever been to a beer festival that you've liked?

John_C · 15-03-2012 4:26pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

If people want to spend their hard earned money on this, when they can get the same thing elsewhere cheaper, because it is marketed as a festival, then that's their business.

+1

I'm absolutely exploding with excitement about this! It's taking all my willpower to not skip out of work early and head in now.

twerg_85 · 15-03-2012 4:41pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Well, if I was a debauched Athenian hell bent on drinking 20 pints in one night without walking the 5 minutes to the next pub, then yes, what you identify is a clear gap in the market.

Hehe, sounds like something from a Terry Pratchett novel.

johnnyskeleton · 15-03-2012 5:49pm

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I can't let this go. It's an Irish Craft Beer Festival, the clue is in the title. I want to drink Irish Craft Beer this weekend, I want to have as much choice as possible in the one venue, so I'm going to this.

I never derided other pubs for having a greater selection, I simply pointed out that no other pub in Ireland will have this much selection of Irish Craft Beer on Tap in the one location at the one time, it's factual not an opinion. Similarly I hardly find it a bizarre statement to make that having such a selection in the one place is better than having to go from pub to pub to get the same selection.

well if you will get a kick out of attending a festival that has, by your own admission, more beers than you can possibly try in the one sitting that's perfectly fine. But please express your views without trying to insult the views of others.

I think the festival comes in fairly badly on the value for money front, and I think I'm entitled to hold that view. Endlessly repeating that there are 20 different Irish beers in one place ie more than I would like to drink in the one sitting, isn't going to change my view on that, nor does it amount to an added attraction to me.

Your comments smack to me of typical Irish begrudgery, similar to the gob****e who gave out about the September version for not having foreign beers :rolleyes:

So wanting good value for money in a beer festival is begrudgery these days? I have gone to other beer festivals, on the basis that the unusual beers on offer would justify the higher price. When it comes to the Irish brewers, I think they are going to have to do something about price for my money.

But that's just me and if others are prepared to pay, then more power to em. Again, I'll probably poke my head in at the free times to try the seasonals, but I don't see the attraction of €10 in and a fiver a pint for oharas just because it is a beer festival.

the beer revolu · 15-03-2012 6:25pm

@ schemingbohemia & johnnyskeleton

I think you've both made your points..........quite a few times.:rolleyes:

adamski8 · 15-03-2012 7:18pm

Its really unfortunate there isn't some beers that are less than a fiver a pint but I can agree with a lot of the pro-festival people are saying. I just say this as personally I like to bring people into the craft beer world and most times I mention it they still say how much is a pint? Its hard to get people to try something new when its just as expensive as the usual's they know. (yes yes its €2.50 a half, people in general don't like to have half's).

Anyway its just a bit of a shame I think, I know its got nothing to do with me and fair play for organizing such an event and they have to make a profit etc etc. Maybe in future an idea would be a €4 pint before 6pm and after €5 with a €5 cover charge. Thats just an idea that sounds better to me. Again I have no idea of the costings etc and can't know unless someone tells me but I'd guess they'd make roughly the same and increase the allure for new people. Or at least some brews are cheaper than others?? some of them could be less than €5

Funnyfakename · 15-03-2012 10:00pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I disagree. All new businesses have to make sacrifices to survive and the benefit of good publicity could outweigh the costs involved.

Could? Or the costs that are going uncovered will be something for the receiver to ponder?

Aside from that, I think that it's unreasonable to expect small producers to sell beer cheaper than the equivalent from Heineken or Diageo. I'd be surprised if you can find many examples of a craft producer of anything (bread, cheese, coffee etc.) undercutting their multi-national rivals.

The price that's being charged for entry into the festival and the price charged for the beer compares favourably with any similar festival from the "big boys". If your happier in ATG, The Black Sheep, or L. Mulligan without the cover charge then that's fair enough, it's nice to have choice.

BaZmO* · 15-03-2012 10:08pm

Funnyfakename wrote: »

Aside from that, I think that it's unreasonable to expect small producers to sell beer cheaper than the equivalent from Heineken or Diageo. I'd be surprised if you can find many examples of a craft producer of anything (bread, cheese, coffee etc.) undercutting their multi-national rivals.

I think the reason why people keep mentioning that the cost is too much when compared to the Macros is because they think it scares away the average Heino/Guinness drinker from trying the craft beer in the first place.

But tbh I think price shouldn't be main attraction to trying craft beer, and Irish craft beer in particular. For me the attraction should be taste, variety, quality, and a biggy (obvious one for me) is the fact that it's Irish.

Big Nasty · 15-03-2012 10:32pm

Any micro beer costs at least four times more to produce than a mass produced beer. If you're getting a craft beer that is exceptionally better than a main stream beer for close to the same price you've little to be complaining about.

BaZmO* · 15-03-2012 10:36pm

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Any micro beer costs at least four times more to produce than a mass produced beer. If you're getting a craft beer that is exceptionally better than a main stream beer for close to the same price you've little to be complaining about.

That's the thing, people should be complaining that they're not getting a pint of Heineken or Guinness for €2 a pint.

Big Nasty · 15-03-2012 10:58pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

That's the thing, people should be complaining that they're not getting a pint of Heineken or Guinness for €2 a pint.

Most definitely, and it's not the publicans fault either. A keg of beer from Diageo / Heineken costs the publican cq. €140, or €1.60 a pint to BUY excluding VAT yet breweries can afford to sell cans / bottles of beer to the multiples for significantly less than that per unit. Tesco, etc retail a unit for €1 or less. That discussion may be better suited to another thread though.

Dyr · 16-03-2012 1:32am

tbh before having attended i would have said Johnnyskeleton has a chip on his shoulder and an axe to grind but having attended tonight I can say that he was bang on the money.

10 bills in and 5 euros a pint. When i asked about half pints I was pretty much told to f**k off. Forget about 30 beers, there's was 20 on the display and half the ones I asked for were not available so, in reality you were looking at 10-15 in brews in total. All served in plastic glasses by people who couldn't be arsed. I bought four pints of dark arts in total only one of which had ANY head on it, the rest were black with a white scum around the edge. When i pointed this out to the guy who served them he just shrugged. If this had been guinness he would have been told very emphatically what he could do with those pints.

Bought two pints of howling gale, one of which had a head and tasted decent, the other had no head and was totally bland. Both pulled from the same keg which had just been tapped. I might as well had dragged my mate to a festival to drink fizzy pish. The only saving grace was the white gypsy.

Oh and a special mention for the bouncers who were kicking everyone out at bang on 11:30 despite most people having just got fresh pints in.

So over priced, piss poor and to be avoided. Whoever organised it can go and swivel as far as I'm concerned :mad:

Martyn1989 · 16-03-2012 2:22am

Bambi wrote: »

tbh before having attended i would have said Johnnyskeleton has a chip on his shoulder and an axe to grind but having attended tonight I can say that he was bang on the money.

10 bills in and 5 euros a pint. When i asked about half pints I was pretty much told to f**k off. Forget about 30 beers, there's was 20 on the display and half the ones I asked for were not available so, in reality you were looking at 10-15 in brews in total. All served in plastic glasses by people who couldn't be arsed. I bought four pints of dark arts in total only one of which had ANY head on it, the rest were black with a white scum around the edge. When i pointed this out to the guy who served them he just shrugged. If this had been guinness he would have been told very emphatically what he could do with those pints.

Bought two pints of howling gale, one of which had a head and tasted decent, the other had no head and was totally bland. Both pulled from the same keg which had just been tapped. I might as well had dragged my mate to a festival to drink fizzy pish. The only saving grace was the white gypsy.

Oh and a special mention for the bouncers who were kicking everyone out at bang on 11:30 despite most people having just got fresh pints in.

So over priced, piss poor and to be avoided. Whoever organised it can go and swivel as far as I'm concerned :mad:

Is this staffed by some events group or the brewers and brewers staff themselves?

Infairness dark arts never pulls with a large head, no point comparing it with guinness as guinness is on nitrogen.

Also a keg just being tapped makes no difference on modern beer dispense systems, first and last taste the same.

Sounds awful though...... may give it a miss on a Monday TBH

Focalbhach · 16-03-2012 4:15am

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Any micro beer costs at least four times more to produce than a mass produced beer. If you're getting a craft beer that is exceptionally better than a main stream beer for close to the same price you've little to be complaining about.

BaZmO* wrote: »

That's the thing, people should be complaining that they're not getting a pint of Heineken or Guinness for €2 a pint.

The issue isn't the price of the pints - I won't speak for anyone else, but I'm happy to pay for decent beer. The issue is the largeish cover charge for the festival, the plastic glasses, and etc. I get that the organisers feel that these things are necessary. That's fine. I just don't see the value in it.

This evening, I had some cask Twisted Hop and other tasty beers in the Black Sheep. I'm happy out.

SteeveeDee · 16-03-2012 8:06am

WOW....gotta say I am mega disappointed in the festival.

Bambi was right there.I just had a sleep on it and I reckon I had a pretty awful day/eve yesterday at the fest.I was hoping for something of worth if not great however it sorely disappointed me.

Almost half the beers I ordered were either gone or not tapped yet (this was what was said to me) yet some mates of mine who arrived later happened to get some of the "gone" beers later in the night.go figure.

I along with my girlfriend asked for halves and were rudely told "no halves" as I presume it was busy and the staff lacked the get go to act accordingly.I asked for a taste of one of the beers but was refused.Upon complaining to the bartender he accused me of being petty.I was furious and demanded that I and my girlfriend (who paid 10 in) leave..I subsequently got the tenner entry back after causing some stir in which the bouncers behaved appallingly.
I defo felt like I and my girlfriend were being judged by appearance by most staff at the fest.

This was a bad if not the worst night I have ever had in my life out in Dublin and will not be attending again or advising anyone to visit.

Terrible service,terrible organisation and terrible people abound in the form of officialdom...NO THANKS!

BaZmO* · 16-03-2012 9:38am

Ouch. Not sounding good. But that said, I betcha the weekend becomes a commercial success due to the location and the weekend that's in it.

I'm guessing that this particular festival is designed as a bit of a “cash-in” event, especially when you compare it to the one in the RDS which was brilliant, real relaxed and chilled and lots of brewers with lots of new beers.
There’s a reduced amount of brewers, and more importantly, a reduced amount of beers this year, so I reckon even the brewers have seen it for what it is. I’ll still head down to today, but early enough so I can get out before it gets messy.

emmet the rover · 16-03-2012 10:42am

i was there last night had a good time and it seemd so did others around me

char grilled hot dogs and burgers great slection of beers whats not to like

sure i would have prob done a few things diffrent but i am glad i went and if their is any white gypsy emerald left get some its a great beer to start on not to hoppy goes down easy and is made with 100% irish malt and hops the only one so far to do this so fair play .

the choc truffle stout was delish. dessert in a glass(albeit plastic) although you would only want one

finially got some galway hooker a very nice drink i must say

n97 mini · 16-03-2012 10:46am

If you want the biggest selection of Irish craft beers in town, you won't get it at this festival. As others have said the selection isn't the biggest and at any given time several were off. I would imagine you'd do better and cheaper in the Bull & Castle or Against The Grain.

I was really disappointed to be handed a pint of Dark Arts by a member of the bar staff that was 50% head. When I didn't take it he poured another one, again 50% head. Another member of staff came to his rescue. But he really shouldn't have attempted to give me those in the first place.

Food is too expensive too, at €6 for a burger between two buns (admittedly it's a chunky burger tho)

I got in before 7pm, so I didn't have to pay admission, but I would find it difficult to pay €10 knowing what I know now.

It's not all bad tho. The atmosphere is good and the music was pretty good and not too loud.

Killgore Trout · 16-03-2012 12:11pm

Took a peek last night (free before 7). Only had one beer - a Franciscan well purgatory, which was good, but a bit disappointing in a plastic glass.

People looked to be enjoying it and the venue looked OK - I'll be back again this evening before 7.

But €10 entry to drink out of plastic glasses just stinks - maybe €10 is justifiable if it includes a burger or a free pint, but on it's own? (Oktoberfest charged a cover after 10PM iirc and that included a wurst and potatoes, and they had real glasses)

irish_goat · 16-03-2012 12:26pm

I helped out a few hours yesterday (paid with beer and hotdogs) and can empathise with some of the problems mentioned. The barstaff first of all aren't responsible for changing kegs so if something ran out we had to wait on someone else to change it and had no idea of knowing if there was more kegs available.

Some of the staff also don't seem to know much about the beer or how it should be served. I asked one girl who couldn't seem to pour a pint if she worked in a bar before and she said she had but not in one "with so many taps". As if that should affect her ability to pour a proper pint.

The majority of the staff plus the brewers were decent enough though. Getting there early is definitely recommended as I was able to spend a lot more time chatting about the beer and offering tasters when it wasn't busy(before 5pm-ish).

Half pints were available so I'm not sure who was refusing to serve them (or why).

ronano · 16-03-2012 12:42pm

How much are half pints?

irish_goat · 16-03-2012 12:44pm

€5 a pint
€3 a half

AMC2007 · 16-03-2012 12:46pm

I'm gonna stick with the Fran Well's beerfest in Cork for Easter, it's always been epic craic whenever I go down for it. They have every beer in the country there pretty much, and tis the brewers themselves working the stalls so I get to pester them on how to make my own homebrew better!

And it's free in, so tis handy to bring the lads in for a "quick one" (that turns into staying for 5 hours :P)

16-03-2012 12:58pm

Make sure you try Carrig beer lads, friend is part of the setup.

adamski8 · 16-03-2012 2:16pm

they have announced that from today onward you get a free pint with your €10 admission now! obvious reaction to poor reviews.

twerg_85 · 16-03-2012 2:26pm

Popped in before 7 last night.

Had a Chocolate stout which was delish - dark choc mousse, in both taste and texture. First sip had very strong chocolate taste and I thought I wouldn't like it (only previous experience was Youngs choc stout which I din't like), but it was really nice. As someone said, 1 was enough though

Had a Purgatory pale ale. Seemed a little fizzy at first, then settled down. Was going to say I didn't think it was great, fairly blandish, but then I realised I don't actually like Pale Ales (e.g. bought 2 bottle of timothy taylor landlord and am giving away the second one. It's IPA I love but I always mix them up).

Anyway, Purgatory was more palatable to me than other pale ales, but that might mean pale ale fans don't like it. dunno, not an expert.

Will pop in again today before 7 for a pint. Wouldn't pay a tenner in unless there were a lot of special brews, but the choc stout was deffo worth a fiver and more !

F.

Irish Craft Beer Festival - March 15-19

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