All Ireland Craft Beer Fest 7-10th September

KJ

The All Ireland Craft Beer Festival will be taking place in RDS, Dublin between 7th and 10th of September. They are looking for peoples suggestion on how to improve it over on their Facebook page.

johnnyskeleton

Do they really need a facebook page to tell them that people want, in no particular order:

cheaper entry/drinks
more special event Beers ie once offs
off sales of special beers
keep the individual stalls as opposed to a single bar
more choice in food
perhaps more whiskey
did I mention cheaper/free stuff?

CiaranC

Its not going to be cheap or free, lets not start this again.

Lets compare it to NZs major craft beer fest - entry is 40 dollars for four hours with 8 dollars worth of beer vouchers and a glass, beers run 6-8 dollars each (thats approx 4-6 euro) for 250ml.

http://beervana.co.nz/

Irish craft beer is cheap already, a 500ml bottle of 8 Wired, EPIC or Renaissance beer here is 12 dollars in the supermarket and 18 dollars in a bar. Too many people in Ireland think its fair to compare craft with Tescos trays of Budweiser offers as if that is normal. I cannot wait to go home and drink cheap craft beer again.

bamboozle

individual stalls is the key. Didnt enjoy the festival in the IFSC purely as it was one long bar. Individual stalls gives you facetime with the people behind the brews.

johnnyskeleton

CiaranC wrote: »

Its not going to be cheap or free, lets not start this again.

Right. So feedback is wanted but not the type of feedback they don't like?

CiaranC wrote: »

Lets compare it to NZs major craft beer fest - entry is 40 dollars for four hours with 8 dollars worth of beer vouchers and a glass, beers run 6-8 dollars each (thats approx 4-6 euro) for 250ml.

http://beervana.co.nz/

Crikey.

CiaranC wrote: »

Irish craft beer is cheap already, a 500ml bottle of 8 Wired, EPIC or Renaissance beer here is 12 dollars in the supermarket and 18 dollars in a bar.

I don't think you are comparing like for like. Looking at drinkstore.ie and beerstore.co.nz, a bottle of 5am saint in Ireland is €2.50. It is $5NZ which equates to about €3.25. About the same, factoring the transport costs from Scotland to New Zealand.

In the reverse, I can't find a like for like match, but Harrington's Big John Reserve is €5.99 for a 500ml bottle in drinkstore and is $4.03 for a 330ml bottle in beerstore. If we say that a 500ml is an extra 50% on a 330ml (and that's being generous) then it is $6 equivalent in NZ, or €3.89. So the only NZ beers that I can see sold here are more expensive than they are in NZ (makes sense what with import costs).

The three beers you mentioned start from $7.95, $4 (330ml) and $8.49 respectively. It may also be that in NZ you pay a premium for 500ml bottles while in Ireland it would be a more standard serving (other than porterhouse and 8 degrees). Still expensive, mind you, but not as outrageous as you are trying to suggest.

CiaranC wrote: »

Too many people in Ireland think its fair to compare craft with Tescos trays of Budweiser offers as if that is normal. I cannot wait to go home and drink cheap craft beer again.

No one is suggesting that they compete with Tescos or Budweiser, and this is trotted out as though it is somehow an answer to anyone questioning the cost of these things. You are not comparing like for like but I am.

So the hurdle that the beer festivals have to get over is not competing with drinking cheap fizz in a field, it is competing with the L Mulligan Grocers, FXB, Against the Grain, Messers Maguire and Porterhouse groups of pubs. I would pay a premium to drink craft beer in a beer festival vs drinking in an ordinary pub, but the difficulty I have is paying a premium over these great pubs.

In any event, this is all to miss the point. Why are we made to feel like beggars or that we are trying to do down Irish industry because we want better value for money? If any other service industry asks for feedback and price is the main factor, they will either respond or lose business. Why is the suggestion that craft brewers try to work on price anathema?

Particularly since my point isn't just "I want cheaper beer at the festival" but "A festival is a good time to get new customers, so why not use it as a loss leader to gain future sales?"

BaZmO*

I'll be at this with knobs on! Last years' was head and shoulders above the one in the IFSC. I know it's not comparing like for like but they were miles apart in set up.

They should pretty much keep it as it was last year but with more food options. It'd be nice to encourage the brewers to have more specials, but then again, most of them did last year so I don't think it's a problem.

As for the entrance fee, I don't mind paying in a small amount as long as it's not extortionate. They had a special 2 for 1 promotion in some newspapers last year which made for a good deal.

Heroditas

More food and some craft brewing master classes would be great.
Ideally some more festival beers would be nice but that might not be feasible for some breweries.

I thought last year's was fantastic value - free glass and a pint for the €10 entry fee, I.e. a nice branded glass for a fiver.

Can't wait for this to roll around again, particularly after how bad an experience I had at the one in the IFSC.

Krusty_Clown

Heroditas wrote: »

More food and some craft brewing master classes would be great.

+1. Would love if they roped in someone like Beernut to do some live demonstrations, and talk about the differences between kit, extract and All grain brewing (or I suppose I could just sign up for one of the pre-existing classes. Lazy me. :rolleyes:), but I guess it's not a Home-brewing type event.

Would be a good opportunity for Beoir to have a stand and do something like blind beer-tasting (for a fee). Be nice to get an opportunity to taste similarly-style Irish beers side by side. Beoir could even line-up some of the macros against the craft beers, and try and recruit some new craft beer enthusiasts!

I also really enjoyed last year's event and will be back this year if I can make it. I thought the price-point was fine (for a once a year event) but if the prices went up, or it began to resemble the IFSC event, I'd have to think long and hard.

alleyjoe

Thats cool give discount and promote more by making and sharing pages

BaZmO*

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Be nice to get an opportunity to taste similarly-style Irish beers side by side.

You can do that anyway. Just ask for a sample from the Brewer and compare it. Or just get a 3rd of a pint and compare it with a mate's beer. But even that aside, you can just ask the Brewer to explain to you what are the flavour profiles in each of the beers that you're tasting. As long as it's not mad busy, all the Brewers will gladly yap away to you.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

..and try and recruit some new craft beer enthusiasts!

Would the fact you're actually at a Craft Beer Festival not mean that you're already a Craft Beer enthusiast?

bamboozle

BaZmO* wrote: »

You can do that anyway. Just ask for a sample from the Brewer and compare it. Or just get a 3rd of a pint and compare it with a mate's beer. But even that aside, you can just ask the Brewer to explain to you what are the flavour profiles in each of the beers that you're tasting. As long as it's not mad busy, all the Brewers will gladly yap away to you.



Would the fact you're actually at a Craft Beer Festival not mean that you're already a Craft Beer enthusiast?

i brought a few friends to the festival in the ifsc hoping to turn them into fans. Dont think they'd be considered converts afterwards.

hope to drag them along to the RDS as it should be a much better event.

BaZmO*

bamboozle wrote: »

i brought a few friends to the festival in the ifsc hoping to turn them into fans. Dont think they'd be considered converts afterwards.

hope to drag them along to the RDS as it should be a much better event.

In fairness though, the one in the IFSC would turn converts the other way!! The one in the RDS is a million miles better, and also (Irish) weather proof!

Krusty_Clown

BaZmO* wrote: »

You can do that anyway. Just ask for a sample from the Brewer and compare it. Or just get a 3rd of a pint and compare it with a mate's beer. But even that aside, you can just ask the Brewer to explain to you what are the flavour profiles in each of the beers that you're tasting. As long as it's not mad busy, all the Brewers will gladly yap away to you.

You can go to any pub and order a glass of Heineken and a glass of Carlsberg and compare the differences. What I was suggesting was an opportunity for Beoir to encourage punters to look at the finer differences/finer points between Irish beers of a similar style, and differentiate them, rather than tasting a sip of your mate's beer and saying 'yup, it's different'. It's not something that your typical beer drinker would do at home, as we tend to go for the 'one bottle at a time', so to taste beers side by side would be a bit of a novelty. It's also an opportunity to get punters to rate various beers according to style, and choose a beer of the festival. Anyway, it's a suggestion. May not appeal to you (and perhaps would just appeal to me!).

BaZmO* wrote: »

Would the fact you're actually at a Craft Beer Festival not mean that you're already a Craft Beer enthusiast?

As a previous poster has said, there's a lot of 'dragging friends/partners/etc.' to these things, as well as corporate sports and social outings. When you taste craft beers in isolation? Might change their habits for the night. Taste them alongside macro beers? Might change the habit of a lifetime.

One of my US buddies says he can't drink craft beer, because it gives him an awful hangover. What he is failing to realize is that it is the amount of craft beer that he is drinking, that is giving him an awful hangover. So I'm suggesting that it's an opportunity for Beoir to promote the association of craft beer with taste, rather than strength.

Geuze

http://www.bierpassieweekend.be/en/www_en.html

Antwerp beer festival.

Free entry.

Glass plus programme = 3 or 4 euro.

Beer = 2 euro for 20cl.

BeerNut

Geuze wrote: »

http://www.bierpassieweekend.be/en/www_en.html

Antwerp beer festival.

Free entry.

Glass plus programme = 3 or 4 euro.

Beer = 2 euro for 20cl.

Pretty much all big breweries there.

Heroditas

BeerNut wrote: »

Pretty much all big breweries there.

Pricing is almost the exact same as the RDS last year, if not more expensive!

ciaran76

I hope Vanilla beer turns up again from Breweyed.

Heroditas

ciaran76 wrote: »

I hope Vanilla beer turns up again from Breweyed.

I thought the initial taste was nice but got tired of it about halfway through. Half a pint was enough for me.

ciaran76

Heroditas wrote: »

I thought the initial taste was nice but got tired of it about halfway through. Half a pint was enough for me.

Funnily before I drank the beer I was thinking this is wrong and should not be nice but was very surprised. Then dropping over to get the whiskey aged Clothworthy Dobbin then back for a Vanilla it was a great range of varying flavours.

Tube

CiaranC wrote: »

Its not going to be cheap or free, lets not start this again.

If pints are €5, someone is doing well, and it's probably not the brewer.

There is no defending rip-off craft beer prices in Ireland as a keg of craft beer costs no more from the brewer than a keg of Guinness or a keg of Carlsberg.

BaZmO*

Tube wrote: »

.....as a keg of craft beer costs no more from the brewer than a keg of Guinness or a keg of Carlsberg.

Really?

BaZmO*

Just noticed on their website that there's a couple of "guest breweries" this year.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. & Lexington Brewing Company

Seaneh

Is this the one being run by O'Hara's?

If so, I was told a few weeks back by a brewer that they were seriously pissed off because O'Hara's were allowing Diago to have a stall to pimp Smitchwicks Pale and Guinness Black Lager, don't know how true this is though...

BaZmO*

I seriously doubt that's true

Random_Person

For anyone who has gone to this before, could you post about the prices inside and what goes on apart from the beers? Price of a beer, samples, demonstrations, types of food available, events etc.. thanks.

Seaneh

BaZmO* wrote: »

I seriously doubt that's true

Just what I was told, some breweries were considering boycotting.

oblivious

Seaneh wrote: »

Is this the one being run by O'Hara's?

If so, I was told a few weeks back by a brewer that they were seriously pissed off because O'Hara's were allowing Diago to have a stall to pimp Smitchwicks Pale and Guinness Black Lager, don't know how true this is though...

I think that there was a rumour that Diago would pay for the RDS rental for the event if allowed to set up a stand.

not sure if its true, but the event did make a loss last year

bamboozle

oblivious wrote: »

I think that there was a rumour that Diago would pay for the RDS rental for the event if allowed to set up a stand.

not sure if its true, but the event did make a loss last year

it can hardly be considered a craft beer festival if Diagio are footing the bill.

if they're involved i'd say they'll be flogging their 'craft' beers for next to nothing.

spectacular own goal if this were to happen.

Heroditas

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting awfully excited about this, particularly now that there will be quite a few food stands present!

BaZmO*

Heroditas wrote: »

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting awfully excited about this, particularly now that there will be quite a few food stands present!

Some of the food stands look fantastic. Spit roast pig?!! Yum yum!

irish_goat

Random_Person wrote: »

For anyone who has gone to this before, could you post about the prices inside and what goes on apart from the beers? Price of a beer, samples, demonstrations, types of food available, events etc.. thanks.

Prices last year were €5 a pint, €2.50 for a half. (stick to half pints and you can taste more of them). You're welcome to ask the brewer for a quick sample before you commit to buy as well. You'd pay the same if not a lot more for a pint of craft beer in a pub and like it's been said, the event operates at a loss at the minute so you can't complain about price.

There's going to be a homebrew demonstration stand run by Beoir and you can of course ask the brewer's themselves any questions.

Can't remember exactly what food is going to be there but off the top of my head;
Cheese stall
Organic Pizza
A decent burger van
The Pie Man
Spit Roast Pig
+ more.