Craft beer is back: Septemberfest in Farmleigh, Sept 2009.

Rebelheart

Just listening to John Spillane on the Seán Moncrieff show and Spillane got a plug in for the 2nd Septemberfest in Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park. Last year's was fantastic so I'm glad he reminded me. It will be held on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2009, from 11.30am to 6.30pm each day. You do not need a ticket to attend it. If you're tired of the same old Guinness/Heineken/Carlsberg etc beers and ales, you can try craft brewers' products from across the island, including:

Carlow Brewing Company
Porterhouse Brewing Company
Galway Hooker Brewing Company
Beoir Corca Dhuibhne
Cooley Distillery
Double L Cider
Franciscan Well Brewery
Messrs Maguire
White Gypsy brewing company
Hilden Brewery
Whitewater brewery

http://www.bordbia.ie/eventsnews/events/Pages/SeptemberFest2009.aspx

http://www.farmleigh.ie/culturalevents/currentevents/summerprogramme2009/september/

http://www.visitdublin.com/events/alldublinevents/Detail.aspx?id=235&mid=6195

http://eventful.com/dublin/events/septemberfest-/E0-001-023009703-3@2009091211

oblivious

Very very good last year, well worth going:D

BeerNut

Rebelheart wrote: »

If you're tired of the same old Guinness/Heineken/Carlsberg etc beers and ales, you can try craft brewers' products from across the island

Or you can go to any of these pubs, open all year round.

Looking forward to the Festival, though.

Rebelheart

BeerNut wrote: »

Or you can go to any of these pubs, open all year round.

Looking forward to the Festival, though.

Thanks a million for that, Beernut!

IrishWhiskeyCha

Thinking of making the effort to travel up to this this year.

What is the set up?

I know it's free in but is it pay as you go from there on in or can we expect small free tasters from the various participants.

BeerNut

IrishWhiskeyCha wrote: »

can we expect small free tasters from the various participants.

I doubt it's to be expected; but bat your lashes, show a bit of leg, and you might get lucky

For anyone who missed the Brew It Yourself gig down in Cork last Spring, we'll most likely be doing something along similar lines at this. I don't think we'll be handing out samples of homebrew, unfortunately, but there'll be plenty of decent beer to drink.

oblivious

Last year and with most beer festival I have seen is you pay for the glass around 2 euro (run by board bia) and then per beer. I cant remember how much each cost

cavedave

Anyone else going to this? If the weather stays like this it'll be great to sit outside have abeer and watch a band.

BeerNut

cavedave wrote: »

Anyone else going to this? If the weather stays like this it'll be great to sit outside have abeer and watch a band.

Shame you'll be in the tent working like a dog then, eh?

BeerNut

If anyone's planning to go along today go early. From about 2.30 yesterday there were hour-long queues for drinks.

Raekwon

I was there yesterday, it way over crowded and the queues were bloody ridiculous (even for food), but then again that is too be expected at any free event.

T-Square

No free samples,
overpriced food, long q's
overpriced drink (which was served in ~tiny~ plastic cups) long q's too
and too many people

Major traffic problems, and people walking on cycle paths too.

If I'm going to queue for ages, I WANT a freezing cold pint glass, and several of them,
no soft plastic ones that will squish in your hand and warm up in seconds. Bleagh!

Did I mention the deafening crusty music, and the wet ground underfoot?

oblivious

T-Square wrote: »

f I'm going to queue for ages, I WANT a freezing cold pint glass, and several of them,

You obliviously missed the point of craft beer , 10 c for a lot of beer their was an acceptable temp range to be served at

wobzilla

I went up there today. I was planning to buy loads of bottles of beer but unfortunately they didn't have a great selection compared to what was on tap. I still got some great beers though. The place was full of kids though. There was even people changing babies on the picnic tables which were full of other people's beer and food. The amount of ****ers I heard going up to the bar and asking "Do you not have any lager no?", and then rolling their eyes when they're told no. I even saw some douchebag pull a 6pk of miller out of a bag and start drinking them.

Hard Larry

Was at this Saturday & Sunday have to say it was great but it was dictated by the weather.

I think the organisers were overwhelmed by the amount of folk who turned up. They clearly didn't expect the numbers that showed up. But all in all they should do this in the summer months more regularly they must have raked in the revenue.

I can see its organisation improving with experience.

Galway Hooker Ale

LimeFruitGum

I was there and had a nice day :-) The weather was great for it.

Out of the beers, I tried the Belfast Blonde, the Carlow company's red ale and the IPC(?) pale ale (can't remember the name but it had this nice citrusy kick) I thought there would have been more beer stalls there actually.

Agree that the queues for food in the main field were mad. I went into Farmleigh courtyard to get a hot meat sandwich around 3pm (thinking I would have missed the lunch rush), and I still had to stand in line for 15-20 mins.

I remember standing beside some dumb bitch in the beer tent who opined the place smelled of booze. Well, it was a beer tent, love. Jeez...

The Phoenix Shuttlebus was nowhere to be found today, what was up with that? I walked up from NCR to Farmleigh, which was fine, but I could have done with a lift back to the NCR/Town gates. The traffic lady told me the shuttle wasn't going to come up to Farmleigh gate (even though there is a designated bus stop) because of all the traffic. FFS!! That is something I would like to be sorted out for next year. I'd like to leave the car at home so I can enjoy the beers.

Aside from that little rant , I'd go again next year.

LimeFruitGum

wobzilla wrote: »

The place was full of kids though. There was even people changing babies on the picnic tables which were full of other people's beer and food.

That's just fcuking vile! Nobody wants to see some brats dirty bum. And if you even dare say anything to the parent, they'd tear strips off you. Pfft. You can't win.

I was half-expecting a load of teenagers chancing their arm in the beer tent, but no sign.

bionic.laura

Great day! I was at Septemberfest last year and this years was way way busier. It was great to see so many people out looking to try tasty Irish beers. Hopefully they will go looking for them in their local pubs now.

I don't think any of the breweries were prepared for the huge numbers that showed up. They were saying it was maybe twice the numbers of last year so that explains the huge queues. It's a pity the queues were so long but I suppose you have to remember the people manning the stands are the brewers of the beer not professional barmen!

I loved Carlow's good store IPA. Galway Hooker was fantastic as always, great accompaniment to the craft Irish cheese plates. Belfast black from Whitewater and White Gypsy's Dark Lager were also really tasty.

Bren1609

T-Square wrote: »

No free samples,
overpriced food, long q's
overpriced drink (which was served in ~tiny~ plastic cups) long q's too
and too many people

Major traffic problems, and people walking on cycle paths too.

If I'm going to queue for ages, I WANT a freezing cold pint glass, and several of them,
no soft plastic ones that will squish in your hand and warm up in seconds. Bleagh!

Did I mention the deafening crusty music, and the wet ground underfoot?

+1. Overpriced, bad traffic, long lines for beer, long lines for food. I spent most of the time walking to get there and standing in line for food and drink.

Also, did anyone get the bord bia e-mail going around?

Hello all,

A quick mail to let you all know about a great FREE drinks festival coming up in Dublin. It's called SeptemberFest and this is its second year. It will take place in Farmleigh, Phoenix Park, on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September, from 11.30am to 6.30 pm each day.

All the drinks companies are independent Irish producers who make their drinks here in Ireland; some of these you may have heard of (The Porterhouse, Messrs Maguire perhaps?) but others which are less well known such as (Galway Hooker and White Gypsy). There'll be cider, whiskey, liqueurs, mead and even Poitín there too in case beer is not your thing and delicious Irish apple juice if you're not a drinker (or if you're under 18).

Lots of food will be on offer, all from artisan producers, with crepes, burgers, hot dogs, ice creams, pies, tea & coffee all on site..there'll also be lots of Irish farmhouse cheese in the beer tent...and if all that isn't enough then you can always pop across to the Food Market which is also on at Farmleigh that weekend. You will not go hungry..!

There'll be plenty of entertainment for all the family including a variety of bands and musicians, circus acts and street performers. And there'll also be related talks on both days including cocktail-making sessions from the Bartenders Association of Ireland, Guided Cider tasting and talks on Irish beer and whiskey.

And, embracing these recessionary times, the Irish Craft Brewers (many of them passionate home-brewers) will be present for the duration of the event to demonstrate the brewing process...so you can learn lots too!

All in all, it should be a great day out ..and it's all free. so I really hope you'll come along and please do pass this on to all your friends and tell them to come too!

I attach a copy of the poster for the event and information is also available online on www.bordbia.ie/septemberFest (this will be updated with the entertainment and talks programme in the run up to the event).

You can also invite friends to come via Facebook (Bord Bia- Irish Food Board page) http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=240009540197&ref=mf

I hope to see you all there!

By the way, if anyone has anywhere they could put a poster up for the event (workplace, club, local shops and bars etc.) then please let me know as I will happily send printed posters out to you. (Our advertising budget is non existent so all help much appreciated)

Cheers!!!

www.bordbia.ie | www.bordbiavantage.ie

It's not "all free". Very misleading IMO.

BeerNut

Free drinks, served instantly, to 16,000 people. Yes, that would have made for a lovely day out. Mind the sick...

cavedave

There were free drinks there. At the talks and early on there was samples before it got to busy. In fairness the email is a bit ambiguous.

I think particularly on the Saturday things were a bit overwhelmed as that many people were not expected but things seemed more sensible on the Sunday

Rebelheart

T-Square wrote: »

No free samples,
overpriced food, long q's
overpriced drink (which was served in ~tiny~ plastic cups) long q's too
and too many people

Major traffic problems, and people walking on cycle paths too.

If I'm going to queue for ages, I WANT a freezing cold pint glass, and several of them,
no soft plastic ones that will squish in your hand and warm up in seconds. Bleagh!

Did I mention the deafening crusty music, and the wet ground underfoot?

Couldn't agree more. The queues were atrocious and completely unacceptable. I was there at 11.30 and by 12 there was a queue for the burger place. The burgers were very good, it must be said. The queue was *only* for 15 minutes but I looked at the number of food stands and there were only 9 in the whole festival, 2 of which had a duopoly on burgers. Who organised that? They completely underestimated the crowd. But then I went to queue for that sausage/burger place at the far end of the stands four hours later and I was wishing I had only a 15 minute queue: I was queuing for 1 hour and 5 minutes. That is, my money was kept in my pocket for that amount of time when, had they organised it properly, it would be given to Irish businesses. The queues greatly ruined the day.

When I finally got served there the food in that particular stand was nothing to advertise. Surely Bord Bia could have chosen a better quality company? I particularly disliked the girl serving who was putting the bread on a table with sauce, mustard and the like and cutting my food with knives that were not cleaned between each customer. Bad hygiene and, as I don't like those sauces, I had to talk to a supervisor and ask her to give me a plain one as I initially requested. Yes, I was pissed off at that stage.

Many of the craft brewers also underestimated the crowd and were sold out by the time we got to the top of the queue.

This could have been a really great festival. The idea is long overdue. Some of the beers were superb - my favourite was the White Gypsy Dunkel dark from a brewer in Templemore. The lecture on craft brewing by Shane Billings was also excellent. Bord Bia need to go back to the drawing board this morning and give us much, much more choice next year. Those queues can easily be ended.


Next year Bord Bia will have no excuses.


PS: And where the were the bins? The entire field should have had about 20 bins across it. I couldn't see one, although there was a bin at each entrance

bionic.laura

I wouldn't have expected the food and drink to be free at the event. Last year when it was less busy people were able to go talk to the brewers and get samples of the beers to try before deciding which ones to get. This year if you came early it was still possible to do that but later in the day it wasn't.

Were you at any of the talks? There was free homebrew samples, cocktails etc at those. I went to the beer and cheese one which was really interesting and had free beer and cheese.

I presume for next year they'll have to bring in a token system which is done at many beer festivals. That might reduce the queues somewhat.

BeerNut

Rebelheart wrote: »

They completely underestimated the crowd.

They did. That's the problem with organising things like this in Ireland: the variable weather makes planning extremely difficult and an event which got 8,000 people on a damp weekend in 2008 can attract 32,000 people the same weekend in 2009 when it's sunny.

Rebelheart wrote: »

Many of the craft brewers also underestimated the crowd and were sold out by the time we got to the top of the queue.

Indeed they did. There was a mad scramble between the Saturday and Sunday to try and gather enough beer for another day. I think the Beoir Chorca Duibhne guys even did an overnight run to Dingle.

bionic.laura

Bord Bia need to go back to the drawing board this morning and give us much, much more choice next year.

Indeed I think there should be loads more craft breweries in Ireland. Then we'd have lots more choice in pubs in general and less queues at this event next year.

They do need a better system for next year if the same crowds show up again.

oblivious

Rebelheart wrote: »

This could have been a really great festival. The idea is long overdue. Some of the beers were superb - my favourite was the White Gypsy Dunkel dark from a brewer in Templemore. The lecture on craft brewing by Shane Billings was also excellent. Bord Bia need to go back to the drawing board this morning and give us much, much more choice next year. Those queues can easily be ended.

Some great beer yesterday and glad you like the ICB lecture, not sure what more choice in beer, unless the is an Irish craft beer that was left out

One why the queues can be reduce is charging in like other beer festivals do, I would hat to see this my self. But a lot of event like this are organized chaos and as beer nut said events like this in Ireland are very weather dependent.

Raekwon

Maybe introducing a small cover charge (a fiver maybe) would make it a less congested and a more enjoyable event? I'd say alot of people heard the word free, saw the weather and came in their droves. Plus the token idea was a really good one.

Just my 2 cent!

dereko1969

Raekwon wrote: »

Maybe introducing a small cover charge (a fiver maybe) would make it a less congested and a more enjoyable event? I'd say alot of people heard the word free, saw the weather and came in their droves. Plus the token idea was a really good one.

Just my 2 cent!

i think charging in would kill the numbers big time, if you're depending on people who are coming just because they like craft beers then there would be very few attending

i think this was a great event and with better organisation could be more enjoyable for all

tokens i'd be in favour of, i also think a reduction in cost to €2 a half pint would help

it would also maybe make sense to have separate queues for bottled or draught at each stall

better/experienced or just more bar staff would help move the queues on a lot quicker, that's why the porterhouse raked in the dosh yesterday as their queue moved the quickest

can't really comment on the food outside as i 'made do' with the delicious cheese tasting plate from http://www.irishcheese.ie/ which was superb and great value at €3 for 4 decent hunks of amazing cheese

basically all the microbrewers on the island with maybe 1 exception were there which was a great showing so those seeking more choice will have to wait until a few of the fledgling breweries are ready (hopefully in time for next years fest)

getting there was easy by 37 bus, less than a 10 minute walk from the castleknock gates

i can't wait for next years

guildofevil

Well I had a great time manning the ICB stand and chatting to people about brewing. Had some lovely beers, with the highlights being Goods-store IPA and Malty Bitches from Carlow, Dark wheat from Hooker and White Gypsy's dark lager.

David Llewellyn did a very good talk on cider, with comparative tasting. I am kicking myself I missed the beer and cheese pairing.

If the service was a little faster on Sunday afternoon you have three community minded members of ICB to thank, as they stepped up and volunteered to pour pints for some of the understaffed brewery bars (I should mention that I was not one of these as I was far too busy waving my arms and enthusing about amateur brewing).

I'm glad you liked my presentation on Craft brewing Rebelheart, I think it went well. There were some pertinent questions asked, which I feel indicates genuine interest and everyone seemed to find something they liked among the six beers that were sampled, some of which were brewed by posters on this board.

Dionysus

guildofevil wrote: »

Well I had a great time manning the ICB stand and chatting to people about brewing. Had some lovely beers, with the highlights being Goods-store IPA and Malty Bitches from Carlow, Dark wheat from Hooker and White Gypsy's dark lager.

David Llewellyn did a very good talk on cider, with comparative tasting. I am kicking myself I missed the beer and cheese pairing.

If the service was a little faster on Sunday afternoon you have three community minded members of ICB to thank, as they stepped up and volunteered to pour pints for some of the understaffed brewery bars (I should mention that I was not one of these as I was far too busy waving my arms and enthusing about amateur brewing).

I'm glad you liked my presentation on Craft brewing Rebelheart, I think it went well. There were some pertinent questions asked, which I feel indicates genuine interest and everyone seemed to find something they liked among the six beers that were sampled, some of which were brewed by posters on this board.

You did very well, guildofevil. All the free beer tasting was brilliant. The first one, a spicy beer, set a high standard for the rest. I never tasted so many beers in the space of an hour! You gave us, I think, a malt extract which you said was an imitation of a beer inside made by the Belfast brewers. I went in to try it and I have to say your extract had a much richer flavour than the product you were imitating.


I never got to talk with Beernut who I surmise was the baldy lad inside the big tent at the ICB stand and thank him for his help on this board about the history of brewing in the past two years (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055136230; http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055546736&highlight=dionysus). Everybody seems to have been speaking with him.


I look forward to another beer festival somewhere before the end of the year. Maybe at the Christmas market in the Dublin Docklands or somewhere else. That was surprisingly good last year with all sorts of German sausages and the like - the beer stand was all supplied by Erdinger so maybe there might be a place for an indigenous brewery. And now for a random thought, back in medieval Ireland rents were often paid by tenants in beer twice a year; once at Christmas and once at Easter.

BeerNut

Dionysus wrote: »

who I surmise was the baldy lad inside the big tent at the ICB stand

*bows*

Dionysus wrote: »

Everybody seems to have been speaking with him.

Other way round, I think Anyway, thanks.

Dionysus wrote: »

the beer stand was all supplied by Erdinger so maybe there might be a place for an indigenous brewery.

A lot of what makes SeptemberFest great is that it's state-run. When private companies run events like this they'll either gouge the suppliers senseless or give the drinks concession to one company only. The exception is when the brewers themselves do it, as at the Franciscan Well at Easter or Hilden in August.

And, as I mentioned above, local craft beers aren't just for special events. They're available to drink all year round.