Irish Craft Beer Festival - St.Patrick's Week

oblivious

Beer specials for the Festival so far UPDATE

Independent Brewing:
Pale ale casked hopped with Citra (cask)
Festival IPA (Keg)

8 Degrees
Enigma Pale ale, new OZ hop

Station Works Brewery

irish blond ale (cask)
irish brown ale(cask)
irish stout(cask)


White hag

Searbh Rua Imperial Sour Red,
White Sow w/coffee rocket,
IPA through a hop rocket...


Porterhouse
chocolate stout

Trouble Brewing

A single cask of our Triple IPA, 11% ABV- Mandarina Bavaria, Amarillo, Equinox and Vic Secret hops
Fresh Vietnow IPA, Dry-hopped with US Comet hops
Fallen Idol, 6.3% American Dark Ale, hopped with Chinook, Citra and Vic Secret
First in a series of 'SMaSH' beers, Pale Ale with Concerto malt and Centennial hops, 4.8%.
Wandering Star, 5.3% blonde ale, brewed with Golden Promise malt, hopped with Summer and Huell Melon

Ronan|Raven

Won some tickets from the Porterhouse. Which was nice. Looking forward to trying their Chocolate Truffle Stout, never had it the last time it was out.

oblivious

Hi all

Here is a map l knocked up for the festival (Hall 1), as its not in the same location as September,

Celly Smunt

Was there last night, very nice beers around and in general the reps are very nice too and know their stuff.

The festival itself is a bit lacking, a bit too big to have any sort of atmosphere in it. Perhaps it will be a little bit busier today due to the rugby though I wouldn't fancy watching it on that screen.

gandalf

Was there this afternoon and there was a good crowd there. Good selection of beers and all I tried went down very well.

I preferred this layout to the one last September with plenty of space for people to sit, eat, drink and talk with the big screen at the end of the hall and not the middle of it. Shame the rugby result went the wrong way.

BMJD

I'm heading over to this later, really looking forward to this since there are so many new brewers that I haven't had a chance to try out so far.

L1011

Worth going to - prices a lot more reasonable than I expected. Near every stand would fill your glass, if you used the provided one, to the top rather than the fill line at that.

I did want to take the whiskey glass (looks like a Glencairn or a clone) but its actually fairly required to take the beer glass, as a lot of stands had few or no plastic glasses left.

BMJD

Good times, the White Hag Coffee Stout was amazing!

Brockagh

BMJD wrote: »

Good times, the White Hag Coffee Stout was amazing!

I liked that too. And there was another coffee stout by Kinnegar? that was very nice. Did not seem like a trade show. A good event. Could have had more whiskey exhibitors...

BeerNut

L1011 wrote: »

Near every stand would fill your glass, if you used the provided one, to the top rather than the fill line at that.

The fill line is a third-pint so unless the beer is over 7% they're supposed to fill it.

BMJD

Brockagh wrote: »

I liked that too. And there was another coffee stout by Kinnegar? that was very nice. Did not seem like a trade show. A good event. Could have had more whiskey exhibitors...

Yes, Cup and Saucer, I wasn't mad about it tbh. It had a hard act to follow the White Hag one to be fair.

schemingbohemia

Brockagh wrote: »

I liked that too. And there was another coffee stout by Kinnegar? that was very nice. Did not seem like a trade show. A good event. Could have had more whiskey exhibitors...

It wasn't a trade show, it was for the punters. I really enjoyed it, was quiet enough yesterday afternoon. Music was good, not too loud, no problems getting beers, lots of seats. I reckon if it had been in last year's venue it would have felt full.

Favourites were Beoir #2, O'Brother's Bonita and the White Hag coffee randalled Milk Chocolate Stout.

Ravelleman

The highlight for me was Beoir #2 - a worthy successor to the original.

Saruman

Glad you all liked it. I served the last Beoir#2 last night and it could possibly be the last in the country unless some pubs still haven't tapped their kegs yet.

Now to decide on Beoir#3

matrim

Saruman wrote: »

Glad you all liked it. I served the last Beoir#2 last night and it could possibly be the last in the country unless some pubs still haven't tapped their kegs yet.

Now to decide on Beoir#3

Baggot St Wines mentioned having about 50L left for growler fills yesterday. Was hoping to pick some up later

Ryath

Saruman wrote: »

Glad you all liked it. I served the last Beoir#2 last night and it could possibly be the last in the country unless some pubs still haven't tapped their kegs yet.

Now to decide on Beoir#3

Twas very good, first and last beer of night for me and the only one I had twice. Really liked White Hags Coffee rocket. Wasn't mad about the Porterhouse Chocolate stout bit to sweet but I had drank a few IPA before it. Black Donkeys Buck It was another memorable one lot of flavour for 4.8%

Liked the bigger hall with the extra seating but the smaller hall did have a bit more atmosphere.

Saruman

Ryath wrote: »

Liked the bigger hall with the extra seating but the smaller hall did have a bit more atmosphere.

I would say that's more down to the September festival being much bigger. More breweries and more punters. I believe it will be the larger hall in September so the best of both worlds I imagine.
The best thing about the larger hall is the toilet facilities are much better.

BaZmO*

Saruman wrote: »

I would say that's more down to the September festival being much bigger. More breweries and more punters. I believe it will be the larger hall in September so the best of both worlds I imagine.
The best thing about the larger hall is the toilet facilities are much better.

I only noticed last year that there are toilets at the back of the hall. Much better than the scrum-fest toilets at the front door.

Saruman

Yes but for whatever reason, they weren't always open and were sometimes blocked. The hallway looked unfinished or something so perhaps RDS staff didn't want people injuring themselves or something.

Big hall also has an ATM.

L1011

I couldn't actually find the ATM - the modem for it was on the wall with all the warnings about staff having no access but the ATM itself wasn't there.


Something I've only remembered now - Rye River seemed to have sixteen taps on their stand and I could only recognise one as not being one of theirs (Innis & Gunn head on it). Definite case of needing to get one thing right first...

Saruman

L1011 wrote: »

I couldn't actually find the ATM - the modem for it was on the wall with all the warnings about staff having no access but the ATM itself wasn't there.


Something I've only remembered now - Rye River seemed to have sixteen taps on their stand and I could only recognise one as not being one of theirs (Innis & Gunn head on it). Definite case of needing to get one thing right first...

The ATM was on the way to the toilets by the front door. It was in its own little room. People were using it all weekend. Unless it was taken away between Saturday and Tuesday.

Rye River had a bunch of stuff that wasn't theirs. Two Innis & Gunn as well as 4 Coisbo taps. That still leaves 10 of their own beers, an impressive number. Trouble actually had more with 12 taps, two of which were cask hand pumps.

L1011

Saruman wrote: »

Rye River had a bunch of stuff that wasn't theirs. Two Innis & Gunn as well as 4 Coisbo taps. That still leaves 10 of their own beers, an impressive number. Trouble actually had more with 12 taps, two of which were cask hand pumps.

Trouble aren't considered to make an overly large variety of mediocre product though (the opposite, in fact)...

Saruman

L1011 wrote: »

Trouble aren't considered to make an overly large variety of mediocre product though (the opposite, in fact)...

Ah, I see where you are going with this

I recall the days where 12 taps would constitute a beer festival. It wasn't that long ago either.

lk67

Did Rye River have the same specials they had at the Alltech festival? The Brown, Berliner Weisse and DIPA were excellent there.

Are there plans to bottle and sell them as a new brand I wonder?

oblivious

lk67 wrote: »

Did Rye River have the same specials they had at the Alltech festival? The Brown, Berliner Weisse and DIPA were excellent there.

Are there plans to bottle and sell them as a new brand I wonder?

None I believe yet, but a variation of the Brown is pouring in the 57th Headlines as "Old Grocers Brown"

Saruman

lk67 wrote: »

Did Rye River have the same specials they had at the Alltech festival? The Brown, Berliner Weisse and DIPA were excellent there.

Are there plans to bottle and sell them as a new brand I wonder?

They had the brown but not the DIPA* and I don't think they had the Berliner weisse.

*Shame as I missed it at Alltech.

lk67

oblivious wrote: »

None I believe yet, but a variation of the Brown is pouring in the 57th Headlines as "Old Grocers Brown"

Thanks.

Another day trip to Dublin to be planned so!

lk67

Saruman wrote: »

They had the brown but not the DIPA* and I don't think they had the Berliner weisse.

*Shame as I missed it at Alltech.

Thought they were all excellent as I say and hoped someone might have heard news as to their plans...

Maybe they were just showing off!