Beer Festival RDS 23-25 September

Big Nasty

Just heard that there's going to be a craft and speciality beer festival on in the RDS this September. Details yet to be announced but sounds like it will be a good gig!

Prenderb

Watching with interest - have prior engagements for the other festivals that are on this summer.

Big Nasty

Prenderb wrote: »

Watching with interest - have prior engagements for the other festivals that are on this summer.

Full details should be announced over the next week!

Berty

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Full details should be announced over the next week!

I have subscribed to this thread with great interest. It it's in the main hall then it will be a great event if they can fill it with people.

Big Nasty

Beer Baron wrote: »

I have subscribed to this thread with great interest. It it's in the main hall then it will be a great event if they can fill it with people.

Fcuk off EPM! :pac::pac::pac::pac:

Berty

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Fcuk off EPM! :pac::pac::pac::pac:

Let's not go there. PM's from Moderators, Users, Admins, Super Admins and 1 Developer. :eek:

Big Nasty

Beer Baron wrote: »

Let's not go there. PM's from Moderators, Users, Admins, Super Admins and 1 Developer. :eek:

Some people can't see the funny side of things! Anyhow, as soon as I hear more I'll post.

Antrim_Man

Bookmarked

Bigcheeze

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Just heard that there's going to be a craft and speciality beer festival on in the RDS this September. Details yet to be announced but sounds like it will be a good gig!

Source?

Big Nasty

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Source?

Craft Brewer was telling me but details aint finalised so can't give you any further info just yet. Should be formally announced soon!

BeerNut

Formal announcement is next week, but it's definitely confirmed for these dates in the Industries Hall in the RDS.

Friday September 23 4pm-00:30am
Saturday Sept. 24 Noon-00.30am
Sunday Sept. 25 Noon-6.00pm

It'll be €10 in which gets you a souvenir glass and your first half-pint. Beers thereafter will be €2.50 a half pint, €5 a pint.

Live music, artisan food, separate kids' area with entertainment.

No list of breweries yet, but in addition to the beer there'll be cider and whiskey too.

All details obviously subject to change at this stage.

foghlu

wow thats great news, have to put those dates firmly in my diary!!

faigs

Damn it, will be following the egg chasers in New Zealand!

MANUTD99

ciaran76

Any updates yet lads ?

Was thinking of giving the POD one a miss and only going to this one.

Big Nasty

ciaran76 wrote: »

Any updates yet lads ?

Was thinking of giving the POD one a miss and only going to this one.

Press release due out this afternoon!

BeerNut

ciaran76 wrote: »

Any updates yet lads ?

What is it you want to know?

ciaran76

What breweries will be attending is my major question.

Big Nasty

ciaran76 wrote: »

What breweries will be attending is my major question.

Probably all if not most of these plus some from the UK too:

Franciscan Well
Galway Hooker
Premier International
Carlow Brewing Company
Noreast Beers
Fourcorners
Dungarvan Brewing Company
Bay Brewery
Trouble Brewing
Brew Eyed
Burren Brewery
Dingle Brewing Company
Eight Degrees
White Gypsy
Clanconnell Brewing Company
Hilden Brewery
Inishmacsaint Brewing Company
Metalman Brewing
Whitewater Brewing Company
Grand Cru Beers
Richmond Marketing
Molson Coors

ciaran76

1 more question !

Will we be able to buy take away bottles/cans of beer etc?

Big Nasty

ciaran76 wrote: »

1 more question !

Will we be able to buy take away bottles/cans of beer etc?

You will certainly be able to buy beer on site for consumption on site - not too sure about take away. Not to worry if you can't as there are plenty of good off licences stock the above.

Roughly what area are you in and maybe someone can point you to a good one.

BeerNut

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Probably all if not most of these

Messrs Maguire too.

The website is now live.

ciaran76

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Roughly what area are you in and maybe someone can point you to a good one.

No problem just curious if we could buy some for take away.

I use Drinkstore as my off licence these days or Molloys in Clonsilla so pick up most of what I need between both of these.

Big Nasty

BeerNut wrote: »

Messrs Maguire too.

I didn't do too bad in fairness!

Oh, and I forgot The Porterhouse too.

Corvo

You have made my day telling me about this.

Have any of you ever been?

Bigcheeze

Griffin1988 wrote: »

You have made my day telling me about this.

Have any of you ever been?

It's the first one.

irish_goat

Sent a wee email off about volunteering there. Anyone else doing it?

noby

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Press release due out this afternoon!

Press release should be going out later in the week. Some promo shots taken today.

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Probably all if not most of these plus some from the UK too:

No UK breweries. It is the All-Ireland beer fest after all. All Irish microbreweries have been invited to attend. I presume most, if not all will be there. Along with some Irish whisky and cider.

ciaran76 wrote: »

1 more question !

Will we be able to buy take away bottles/cans of beer etc?

I don't know, but I can find out.

irish_goat wrote: »

Sent a wee email off about volunteering there. Anyone else doing it?

Yes!

Big Nasty

noby wrote: »

No UK breweries. It is the All-Ireland beer fest after all. All Irish microbreweries have been invited to attend. I presume most, if not all will be there. Along with some Irish whisky and cider.

Personally I think the exclusion of UK / US and any other Craft Brewers is a mistake. Many of the UK Craft Brewers have had a big influence on the sector here and I'm sure have helped Irish Brewers develop and grow their business through their own experiences.

In many if not most other countries local brewries are hugely important but here it's all main stream. Your avareage publican doesn't even know what craft or speciality beers are. The more breweries and speciality beer importers and distributors exhibit at this the better. There is so much more out there than main stream beers.

noby

This is a festival of Irish craft beer producers. It's about showcasing the beers that are brewed on this island (to the general public, and not just specifically to publicans).
Other beer festivals cater for imported beers too.

Big Nasty

noby wrote: »

This is a festival of Irish craft beer producers. It's about showcasing the beers that are brewed on this island (to the general public, and not just specifically to publicans).
Other beer festivals cater for imported beers too.

I'm not knocking the concept, I applaud it but any hall in the RDS is gonna be hard to fill with what, a dozen craft brewers on the whole island? Consumers know more about craft and speciality beers than publicans at this stage. Independent off licences have been stocking craft and speciality beers more over the last five or so years because the can't compete with the multiples, it's about time publicans started doing the same.

For this to be an event that continues to grow year by year there should be as many craft and speciality beer brewers, importers and distributors there as possible. That's just my opinion.

BeerNut

MCMLXXV wrote: »

a dozen craft brewers on the whole island?

19, plus a couple of cider producers and likely two whiskey stands. Plus food, music etc.

MCMLXXV wrote: »

it's about time publicans started doing the same.

Too right. The fact that they'll be inviting the publicans along to a pre-festival trade session is a brilliant idea, I think. I don't think it's been done before.

Berty

BeerNut wrote: »

Too right. The fact that they'll be inviting the publicans along to a pre-festival trade session is a brilliant idea, I think. I don't think it's been done before.

That is a fantastic idea. There needs to be a surge in the general market and being able to talk to brewers/salespeople prior to the thirsty "great unwashed" will be a godsend.

schemingbohemia

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Personally I think the exclusion of UK / US and any other Craft Brewers is a mistake. Many of the UK Craft Brewers have had a big influence on the sector here and I'm sure have helped Irish Brewers develop and grow their business through their own experiences.

In many if not most other countries local brewries are hugely important but here it's all main stream. Your avareage publican doesn't even know what craft or speciality beers are. The more breweries and speciality beer importers and distributors exhibit at this the better. There is so much more out there than main stream beers.

This festival is about promoting Irish Craft Beers, nothing else, why should it seek to promote other Countries' beers? As pointed out other beer festivals do that already.

It's a sadly Irish thing to knock something even before it starts for not doing something that it isn't seeking to do!

Big Nasty

schemingbohemia wrote: »

It's a sadly Irish thing to knock something even before it starts for not doing something that it isn't seeking to do!

I'm not knocking it - I think the whole event is a fantastic idea and one I'm looking forward to as I've already stated. However I don't think it should be exclusive to Irish Beers / Ciders / Whiskeys only. That is just my opinion.

LaBaguette

Their site is kind of awful, especially the "Brewers" flash page that looks like an animated gif displaying one name at a time, for 5 seconds. Hats off to the photo of the Hooker coaster

That aside, I'm really looking forward to this. Including cider was nice as well !

adamski8

does anyone think €5 a pint is a bit steep at these things? doesnt encourage one to try a new beer. Plus that annoying florin BS.

BeerNut

adamski8 wrote: »

doesnt encourage one to try a new beer.

Neither does drinking pints. I don't think you'll get a half in many pubs for €2.50.

irish_goat

Encouraging people to drink half pints is all the better. The hope would be that instead of having say 5 pints, they try 10 different half pints.

Got a reply from bruce@makeithappen.ca about volunteering, apparently I'm the first to apply and he'll be sending out all the details in August. Looking forward to this now.

Big Nasty

BeerNut wrote: »

Neither does drinking pints. I don't think you'll get a half in many pubs for €2.50.

More like €2.70 / €2.80

adamski8

just would have thought they would have drinks cheaper than in the pubs. What is the main point for the brewers at these things, to make a buck or introduce people to their beer?

adamski8

ill be going anyway and will enjoy it but i guarantee when i mention this to all my friends the first thing they'll ask/expect is cheap pints (not the binge drinking types) and then ill tell them its a fiver a pint and a tener in! then why would they go to a big hall with no seats when they could go down the local for cheaper.
i thought we want to encourage new people to craft beer!

BeerNut

adamski8 wrote: »

then why would they go to a big hall with no seats when they could go down the local for cheaper.

If they don't want to go, or reckon it'll be bad value, they shouldn't go. That's really all there is to that. If enough people stay away because it's bad value then perhaps the prices will come down the following year. Or, more likely, the event won't be economically viable and won't happen at all.

adamski8 wrote: »

i thought we want to encourage new people to craft beer!

When you organise your festival you can set prices the way you want. Until then it isn't a "we" situation.

Big Nasty

adamski8 wrote: »

What is the main point for the brewers at these things, to make a buck or introduce people to their beer?

A bit of both I would have thought - they have to pay for their stands to ya know!

MANUTD99

adamski8 wrote: »

does anyone think €5 a pint is a bit steep at these things? doesnt encourage one to try a new beer. Plus that annoying florin BS.

I have to say I agree with this to a certain extent. I thought I would be at this event with bells on as I really love Irish Craft Beer. I'll probably still go as it will be a good day out I'm sure but why is the beer so so expensive. Is Porterhouse gonna charge €5 for a pint of red when I know I can get it in The Porterhouse for €4.20. Why am I going to be charged an extra .80 cent

I WOULD love nothing more than Irish Craft Beer taking it to the man. I have been a big supporter and really enjoy what the decent folk of Irish brewers have been brewing. The last couple of years so many new beers have came out it has been amazing.

But lets not beat around the bush. €5 is too expensive for a pint. I was at a Leinster Final in Croke Park last weekend and could get a pint for €4.50.

This festival should be about Irish Craft Breweries making a claim for their deserved place on the Irish drinking scene and not making a profit. This is their chance and in my opinion they are charging a little bit more than what should be..

Big Nasty

Hold on a second there - mass produced beer costs about €7/8 per 50L keg to produce and is sold to publicans for the guts of €150 a pop. Craft beers, due to the infinitely smaller volume, cost approx €35 a keg to produce so €5 is damn good value!

MANUTD99

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Hold on a second there - mass produced beer costs about €7/8 per 50L keg to produce and is sold to publicans for the guts of €150 a pop. Craft beers, due to the infinitely smaller volume, cost approx €35 a keg to produce so €5 is damn good value!

Is the Festival about making money or creating awareness for craft brewers. €5 or €4.50 a pint, these guys are gonna make a profit regardless if that's all they are concerned about

Big Nasty

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Is the Festival about making money or creating awareness for craft brewers. €5 or €4.50 a pint, these guys are gonna make a profit regardless.

Of course it's about creating awareness but nobody is there to break even either - although some may not. How much do you think a stand is in the RDS? Have you any idea how many pints you would have to sell to cover that?

Bigcheeze

MANUTD99 wrote: »

Is the Festival about making money or creating awareness for craft brewers. €5 or €4.50 a pint, these guys are gonna make a profit regardless if that's all they are concerned about

Its not all theyre concerned about. They're invariably passionate about making great beer. If you were interested in getting rich, opening a craft brewery would be well down the list. Craft beer will never compete on price. Not much point in attracting people who choose their drinks based on how much it costs to get pissed.

MANUTD99

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Of course it's about creating awareness but nobody is there to break even either - although some may not. How much do you think a stand is in the RDS? Have you any idea how many pints you would have to sell to cover that?

I've no idea to be honest mate about the costs of setting up a stall but I can imagine the brewers are being overcharged for this aswell.From what I've heard though there is somewhere in the region of 19 brewers that will attend. The indoor area of the RDS is quite quite big from what I remeber so I doubt there was bidding wars going on for stall space with brewers.


€5 is still to expensive for a pint

Big Nasty

MANUTD99 wrote: »

€5 is still to expensive for a pint

How much do you think is fair?