Irish Craft Beer Consumer Group

guildofevil

Hi All,
An idea has been kicking around in my head for a while and I was wondering what people might think.

CAMRA is one of the most successful consumer pressure groups ever and has a huge amount to preserve cask conditioned ales in Britain. I contacted them a while back, to find out if there is an Irish chapter, or if it would be possible to set one up. They told me that they were a UK organization and do not have anything to do with foreign countries, but if I were to set-up an Irish organization myself, they would be happy to talk to us, giving advice, etc.

Fair enough I thought.

Then I started thinking about CAMRA and how they have an emphasis on cask conditioned ale, which doesn't fit the Irish market anyway, as most people have never even tasted cask conditioned ale here.

What we need is a group with a focus on Irish made craft beer, in whatever form, as opposed to cask beer, which (as much as I like it myself) I doubt will ever be very popular here.

The aim of this organization would be to encourage the Irish public to drink Irish made beer and to publicize which breweries are Irish owned and which are not.

It would also aim to encourage Irish publicans and off-licence owners to stock Irish made beers.

I think setting up a website dedicated to Irish craft beer would be the first step.

Any comments? Anyone want to help?

beardybrewer

That's a pretty lofty task. Is it really feasible given the limited Irish brews out there. If, and one day I hope this happens, Ireland experiences a micro-brew explosion then certainly we'd need an organization to help push their beers out to the country. There is a good Sierra Nevada clone being made in Galway called Hooker. They are available in several pubs in the Claddah and I hope they do well enough to one day try other styles. I could certainly imagine there are pubs elsewhere which would be happy to try alternative beers but I think there needs to be more microbrews to acheive a critical mass to make it happen.

bigears

I guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve. I'll be in Cork for the Oct. Bank Holiday and I was planning on hitting the Franciscan Well brewpub. I have heard there are several other pubs that stock their beer but I don't know which ones. I think a website which does something like list pubs which carry Irish brews would be win/win for breweries, pubs and consumers alike.

Maybe the critical mass doesn't exist yet for a CAMRA style organisation but you could start small and build from there...

noby

I think it's a good idea, in theory, and would lend my support to any such group.
The Mission Statement of such a group would want to be carefully worded, to get the right focus. CAMRA, as you say isn't suited to this country, but there are lots of CAMRA spin offs in other countries, like Holland for instance, and maybe these models would be more suited to here. (I say that, but I can't find a link now).

Defenitley the place to start is a website promoting the outlets that serve Irish microbrews.

Hendrixcat

It's a great idea and badly needed in Ireland, though I am skeptical of how effective it would be. Ireland is a small place with a small population and it seems to me that a far more diverse collection of tastes is required to make it work. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that population is key because the sort of brews we like to drink and perhaps promote are a niche desire and a huge population is required to make the niche group large enough to matter. Every time I'm in the USA or England I'm taken aback by the selection of micro brewed beer and also larger scale top quality beer. I just can't see it working here at the moment. The government don't help by taxing the hell out of alcohol production. English ales here are revoltingly expensive. It actually cost me less to but some Sam Smith Oat stout and IPA in Newport, Rhode Island than here in Dublin. Madness.

guildofevil

I am not proposing trying to start a pressure group like CAMRA, straight away.

I am talking about a starting with a website dedicated to promoting Irish craft beer and taking it from there.

My idea is almost exactly what Bigears suggests. Contact the breweries and get a list of pubs that sell their beers. Put all this on a website, along with any news and events we may come across and see what happens.

In Ireland we are in the ridiculous position of having to choose our pubs with care if we want to drink beer brewer by an Irish company. Ultimately I want to see at least one Irish beer available in every pub, but I will settle for promoting those pubs that do stock Irish beer and hope others will cop on.

Irish drinkers tastes are changing, but it is foreign breweries which are benefiting. How many pubs have new taps on the bar these days? Weiss beer, pils, wit beer, are all making an appearance, while the cooler is sporting a selection of imported bottles. Don't get me wrong, I think that is great and I love many of these beers, but where are the Irish beers?

Irish owned breweries produce beers to suit most tastes. All I want is for Irish owned breweries to get a fair chance at selling to the public. They can't do that if their beers aren't in the pubs.

noby

...having to choose our pubs with care if we want to drink beer brewer by an Irish company

I understand what you're saying, but you'll be banging your head against a brick wall trying to convince people that Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish are not Irish. With any group/website, the focus would have to be on 'Irish Craft beers'.

As I told you a couple of weeks ago, Séan, a local, but well-known, restaurant here only stocks Carlow beers, as it's the nearest thing to a local beer. This kind of practise should be highlighted and applauded.

bigears

I think it's a good idea, in theory, and would lend my support to any such group.

As would I - I neglected to mention that in my response. I would have to presume the breweries would be more than willing to cooperate.

RDM_83

bigears wrote:

II was planning on hitting the Franciscan Well brewpub. I have heard there are several other pubs that stock their beer but I don't know which ones....

I think The Gingerman pub in dublin stocks three of their beers, its on Fenian street which is behind Trinity college-there's a hell of a hangover of their red ale who ever makes it but it is cheap (2.80/3 euro a pint)

bigears

RDM, it's their beer alright. Shouldn't be too much of a hangover from it as it's not chock full of chemicals. Still, if you drink enough the alcohol will get you regardless. Funnily enough the Gingerman don't stock FW's best beer which is the hoppy Purgatory Pale Ale.

guildofevil

I like their stout too.

Mind you, I had the cask conditioned version of it a couple of years back and it was SO much nicer.

noby

I hoped to get to the Franciscan Well for the bank holiday saturday, but it's not looking likely at the moment.
It's been so long I can't recall their pale ale. I'm well over-due a visit.

freedgull

I am totally behind an info website. I have a little bit of web design work on the old C.V. if anyone needs a hand...

Was actually thinking of emailing Dunnes Customer Service the other day. Having seen the carlow beers in Tesco, I assumed Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt would have some Good Irish and maybe English craft beers but they had nothing but the usual suspects...

That said - I'm no angel in I've never been Mssr Maguires - What are the beers like. Somehow missed the fact that it was a brewpub until I read the recent New York Times article...

noby

Some interesting reading:
I thought there was an english version of the PINT website.

EBCU
PINT
POS

I'm assuming this is the kind of thing we are talking about here?

guildofevil

Noby: Yeah, that sort of thing. Just a website to begin with but you never know where it might lead.

Freedgull: I just might take you up on that offer. I have just bought the domain irishcraftbeer.com and will be setting it up shortly. I am in IT myself and can do most of the set-up stuff, but my web design skills run to a rusty bit of basic HTML, so someone with a clue how to do up a site that doesn't make people want to throw up would be good.

noby

I have just bought the domain irishcraftbeer.com

You're not one to hang about, are you?

Let me know if you need a hand gathering info, although I presume a mail to each brewery will do a lot of the work. My web design skills are pretty non-existant (although my sister does it), but I'd like to help, just not sure how.

Ceddy

guildofevil wrote:

What we need is a group with a focus on Irish made craft beer, in whatever form, as opposed to cask beer, which (as much as I like it myself) I doubt will ever be very popular here.

Excellent idea guildofevil, I hope that this really takes off. You have my support on this and would like to become a member when the Group is up and running.

Ceddy

There is a Camra branch in Northern Ireland :

http://www.camrani.org.uk/

you will also find details of the up and coming Belfast Beer festival on the 16-18 Nov in Ulster Hall Belfast

kenmc

Super Idea, and will be glad to be able to help in any way I can. Once I get back to Ireland that is. I noticed that Craft Beers are big in NZ, with the Craft Breweries being pointed to by Tourist Info signposts etc. Might be something worth looking at also, getting the breweries to do tours if they don't already, and getting the AA whatever to signpost them. Just a thought - seems to work well in NZ
K

dereko1969

guildofevil - would be very interested in this. one thing that would definitely help as a start would be to get some of the hilden and whitewater brewery cask ales from northern ireland into some pubs down here and it would be great to see pubs in dublin serving the galway hooker, biddy early and franciscan well beers. that was one of the disappointing things about the dublin brewing company closing down - they got their beers into a number of pubs such as the cobblestones and dice bar. it's disappointing that the porterhouse don't seem to stock the carlow beers a collegiate approach from all the brewers would help.

guildofevil

I love cask conditioned ales, but most Irish people think of them as a strange English tradition of drinking flat warm beer.

They are also a lot of trouble for the publican. You need a proper cellar and you need to know how to deal with casks, which is a skill in itself. Most publicans in Ireland wouldn't know a soft spile if you stuck it in their eye.

Also remember that, even in optimal conditions, a cask will go off after about two weeks on the pump, so you would want to be sure of selling it quickly enough that you don't end up loosing money.

I heard a rumour (unconfirmed) that Messrs. Maguires brew cask conditioned ale, which they export to the UK for sale on the guest pump market, but they don't have a hand pump in their own pub.

I'm not sure why the porterhouse don't sell Carlow beers.

Yes, they are in competition and there is more profit in selling their own beers than someone else's, which is why both the Porterhouse and the Franciscan Well only have their own beers on tap, in their own pubs, but they both have a selection of premium priced bottles, which the Carlow brewing company beers could sit among.

I have started a website, as a first step, if you are interested. www.irishcraftbeer.com

It's still very much in it's infancy, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

oblivious

The porterhouse did an Irish stout festival a good number of years ago, it was great to taste all the different craft stout in Ireland and I think there could have been up to eight of then. I am not sure if they still do it, but it would give people an opportunity to taste Irish craft beer.

bigears

Franciscan Well have an Irish Beer Festival every Easter where they carry a range of Irish craft beers.

dereko1969

just noticed the winter ales festival is on in manchester next week
http://www.winterales.uku.co.uk/ and lo and behold in the irish beers on draught they have messers maguire cardens wild ale and plain stout, i'd never heard of the first one and didn't think they were serving any of their beers through the hand pump anymore, hopefully they'll reconsider and let us try these beers here they way they're intended to be drunk! i haven't been in there in a while so maybe they've reopened the hand pump upstairs.

Ambrewco

I believe there is a groupalready in place called The Brewers and Malsters Guild of Ireland which promotes and lobbys for Craft Beer in this country

guildofevil

The Brewers and Maltsters Guild of Ireland is an industry body, not a consumer group.

jancav

would love to see your ideas come to fruition - it is impossible to get decent beer in pubs outside of Dublin, and when I am in Dublin I will be heading straight for the Ginger Man!

happy_acid_face

I aplaud your enthusiasm! This is a truely great idea. I'm with you if you need any info or help with web construction!

Saruman

guildofevil wrote: »

Hi All,
An idea has been kicking around in my head for a while and I was wondering what people might think.

CAMRA is one of the most successful consumer pressure groups ever and has a huge amount to preserve cask conditioned ales in Britain. I contacted them a while back, to find out if there is an Irish chapter, or if it would be possible to set one up. They told me that they were a UK organization and do not have anything to do with foreign countries, but if I were to set-up an Irish organization myself, they would be happy to talk to us, giving advice, etc.

Fair enough I thought.

Then I started thinking about CAMRA and how they have an emphasis on cask conditioned ale, which doesn't fit the Irish market anyway, as most people have never even tasted cask conditioned ale here.

What we need is a group with a focus on Irish made craft beer, in whatever form, as opposed to cask beer, which (as much as I like it myself) I doubt will ever be very popular here.

The aim of this organization would be to encourage the Irish public to drink Irish made beer and to publicize which breweries are Irish owned and which are not.

It would also aim to encourage Irish publicans and off-licence owners to stock Irish made beers.

I think setting up a website dedicated to Irish craft beer would be the first step.

Any comments? Anyone want to help?

Wow, I just stumbled across this 9 year old thread on google. Who would have thought that 4 years later, we saw our version of CAMRA emerge (at their behest) and 9 years later, we have 63ish breweries on the island and about a thousand pubs serving Irish craft beer?

And Ireland, through Beoir, is represented in Europe along with over 200,000 other members across 13 countries as part of the European Beer Consumers' Union! A union that celebrates its 25th birthday this year.

How things have changed in the last decade.

schemingbohemia

Funny to see my old username there!

oblivious

Its turns out that Irish craft beer is not a fad :P