All Ireland Craft Beer Fest 7-10th September

BeerNut

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Is there anything happening at certain times today, any particular time to go in by?

Nothing I'm aware of, but I would say go early: stuff will start selling out and I expect it will be jammed by evening time.

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Is there slane castle mojihtos there again

Slane Castle whiskey is out of business for the next few years, so no.

noby

I'll be dong my bit behind the Dungarvan bar from three-ish until tomorrow night - do come say hi!

Johnny, sorry you missed the Rye-P-A. We have about three different specials that we brought to the festival, so they were always going to be on one at a time. The nature of casks (especially on a temporary bar setup) means the order is always subject to change. There is one pin of Rye-P-A left which should be on at some stage this afternoon (i.e. after I get there!)

Guyett

Went last night.

I tried O'hara's winter star and Leann Follain oak aged.
The former was pretty good but the later was stunning.
The strawberry cider from Djs was pretty nice, worth a try.
Trouble Brewings dark arts was quite nice.
Didnt really rate White gypsy's red ale but their brown was really really good, the Imperial stout was nce but you couldnt drink too much of it.
I gave Sierra Nevada's bigfoot a shot and it didnt disappoint, Buckets of hops but too many of them definitely would kick the sh*t out of you.
However the best beer for me was the Lexington kentucky bourbon ale; It was magical!

matrim

Was there last night too.

The highlights for me were Oak Aged Leann Folain, Dungarvan Ry-PA and Dark Hoppy Ale and the White Gypsy Imperial Stout. Just a pity that the Imperial stout was only available as a small taster. Can't wait for them to start selling it so I can get a proper taste.

Honourable mentions to the Kentucky Bourbon ale and Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne Porter.

An interesting one that I only had a sample of was the Hilden Barney Brew, which had a nice lightly spicy kick to it.

I wasn't that impressed with the White Gypsy Ruby red and the Bo Bristle IPA or Rowers Red

Creamy Goodness

Des wrote: »

Aiming to be in there for about 6 this evening, looking forward to it, good to hear there are some ciders, should keep the mrs quiet for a while.

just to be aware there is a leinster game kicking off at 18:30 so you may need to adjust your travel. I'm heading in before the game.

anyone got any recommendations also can you come and go as you please as in can i go in before the game and then come back afterwards?

matrim

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

just to be aware there is a leinster game kicking off at 18:30 so you may need to adjust your travel. I'm heading in before the game.

anyone got any recommendations also can you come and go as you please as in can i go in before the game and then come back afterwards?

You can come and go as much as you want and if the weathers nice sit outside on the grass with your beer. You're given a wrist band that gives you admittance to the actual venue but the outside part doesn't seem to need one.

Uriel.

I was there yesterday from about 5.
Starting with the simplest, j wasn't there last year so can't compare but the food choices I thought were fairly poor.

I think there was a nice variety of beers and Brewers to give you plenty of choice. If you wanted to properly try a half pint from each I think you'd nearly be needing two days but then again for most craft enthusiasts, we've already tried a decent selection of the beers.

For me I was very very impressed with Belfast black on draft. Found it very easy on the pallet and it went down smooth. It's only available down here in bottle but it's certainly something I'd be interested in..

Also in was quite impressed with o'haras winter star and that could easily become my pint of choice in an establishment.

I tried troubles saison spelt (sp?) - - don't ever remember seeing or trying that before. I wasn't particularly impressed. Very drinkable, no problem there but I didn't see it as much of step away from Smithwicks to be honest.

The kentucy bourbon ale was very interesting. Quite different to anything I've had before. I had a half pint of it and it was grand. But to be honest not sure I could manage to drink a few pints of it, before it became sickening. Think it would be nice in a bottle the odd time for something different. Actually, I thought their kentucy original (can't remember the exact name) was quite nice and I'd be more interested in that although in only had a sample shot and it won't be available here yet.

I don't drink cider but it's the only drink my gf drinks so I got to try all the ciders. Stonewell medium was quite nice actually and I'd probably comfortably drink a few bottles if I had no choice. (I'd rather die of thirst than drink bulmers etc). The strawberry one from djs was grand too actually tho and not as sweet as the likes of koppaberg and rekorderlig

The music was OK, lot of Irish songs as you might imagine which I found enjoyable. Though the first artist sang "rock on rockall" which thought was a strange choice for an event like this.

All in all an enjoyable evening

Martyn1989

Headed in for abit after 8 and stayed to close Had a great time.
There was 5 of us so we got to at least sip almost everything.

I tried:
Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne Porter - very easy going, nice, went great with the steak and stout pie I had . They listed 2 porters in the beoir programme, the other was not available, apparently its more of a brown ale/bitter, I'd love to try it. Had a sip of their golden ale aswell and was not blown away.
Bo Bristle' Rowers Red and IPA - neither were that full on but both were decent.
O' Hara's Winter Star was not what I was expecting, the cinnamon, orange or coconut didn't jump out but it was a nice beer.
Dungarvan's Rye-PA was lovely I meant to go back for another but missed the chance.
Had a sip of Eight-Degrees Marzen and thought it was ok, I wasn't sure what to look out for having never tried a marzen before.
Franciscan Well, the Mi Dazza Stout was the beer of the festival for me, so roasty, burnt and chocolatey I couldn't get enough, maybe my new favourite stout. I asked about the 'original beamish recipe' story and was told not to believe every marketing blurb I read, nice to put that one to bed. Apperently its one of the younger lads recipe, it'd be great of they could send it to Dublin. Disappointed they didn't have the Rebel Double Hopped and wasn't gone on the Purgatory just because it wasn't chilled at all, just a little warm for my tastes.
White Gypsy's Black Lager was very nice, roasty and wheaty, the Belgian Brown was a murky orange and could have passed for a wheat beer almost, not what we expected but nice flavours.
Disappointed with Whitewater's McHugh's 300 and Belfast Black, both seemed to have off flavours.

Seems their getting a bit more into the swing of organising these events, its great in that venue with the grassy area outside and loads of space inside. Music was ok and food options had improved.

eyeball kid

Would definitely have gone to this if I was back in Ireland. Went the Camra beer festival in Earls Court last year. That was fun. An awful lot of regional English ales at that as you'd expect.

Think I'd have preferred the selections in the RDS going by the sounds of it.

stuchyg

was hoping to pick up some glassware and t shirts etc, is there any of this being sold

matrim

stuchyg wrote: »

was hoping to pick up some glassware and t shirts etc, is there any of this being sold

You get a free glass and I did see some brewers selling t-shirts

Heroditas

What a great day!!! Loved it. Full review to follow tomorrow, assuming my memory is still intact!

kenmc

I found winter star to be anything but tbh, lacking everything wintery. was the first beer I had. ah well. loved moonbeam, Leann follain oak cask and dungarvan IPA. 8 degrees marzen was tasty too, as was the cask chameleon with blackberry. the sample of Kentucky bourbon I had was bland as, but a mate had a half which tasted way better, wierd. great vibe overall, super weather helped. almost too hot really, was a sauna inside...

matrim

kenmc wrote: »

I found winter star to be anything but tbh, lacking everything wintery. was the first beer I had. ah well. loved moonbeam, Leann follain oak cask and dungarvan IPA. 8 degrees marzen was tasty too, as was the cask chameleon with blackberry. the sample of Kentucky bourbon I had was bland as, but a mate had a half which tasted way better, wierd. great vibe overall, super weather helped. almost too hot really, was a sauna inside...

There were 2 versions of the Kentucky ale in the samples. One normal version which was ok but a bit bland and the bourbon barrel aged version which was nice. It's possible the sample you had was the normal version

ciaran76

My tactic this year was to only try beer that I never had before:

Dungavans Helvick Gold dry hopped and Rye IPA:both excellent.
Metalman Chameleon : Ginger beer was lovely.
Kentucky Ale : Normal one was bland but the bourbon barreled one was tasty.
O'Haras Winter Star :Was ok but not my type.
White Gypsy : Belgian beer was really good. Major hint on banana in this and lovely drinking it in the sun.

Much better than last year with the more choice in food.
Also smelling the beer brewing was great when you walked in the hall.

bamboozle

had a great day there yesterday,

enjoyed Trouble brewing's cask beer spelt saison i think it was called
Metalman Pale ale and chameleon were good as always
Dungarven had sold out of their rye pa unfortunately
tried the bo bristle from Carrig Brewery (this must be a new crowd, never heard of them before?) nice
Had the cask ale from west kerry brewery, wasnt to my taste, smokey taste to it, i'd see how some people would really like it though.
had never had the white gypsey stuff before, the ones i tried were excellent.
didnt get round to trying the bourbon beer, couldnt pass sierrra nevada without getting their torpedo.

favourite drink of the day though was the stonewell, stonewell and the evening sunshine sitting on the grass - great stuff

why was Galway hooker not there?

enjoyed the day, well done to all for organising and keep up the good work.

Brought a few friends who both thought the 8 degrees howling gale was excellent and the stonewell.

BeerNut

bamboozle wrote: »

tried the bo bristle from Carrig Brewery

Other way round Bo Bristle brews the Carrig beers.

bamboozle wrote: »

(this must be a new crowd, never heard of them before?)

Formerly known as BrewEyed.

bamboozle wrote: »

why was Galway hooker not there?

A combination of babies and busyiness, I believe.

Mi Daza has been one of my beers of the festival: had it ice-cold at kick-off yesterday and it was perfect. I've been directing everyone to Hilden Barney's brew: it's one of my absolute favourite Irish beers and it's almost never sold here.

chris85

Anyone know where I can pick up some of the bottles of the Kentucky bourbon barrell ale in an off licence? Had a few halfs of it at the RDS and was very tasty. A nice beer to sip and ponder with.

Martyn1989

chris85 wrote: »

Anyone know where I can pick up some of the bottles of the Kentucky bourbon barrell ale in an off licence? Had a few halfs of it at the RDS and was very tasty. A nice beer to sip and ponder with.

If I remember correctly they said it'll be in the offos in 2 weeks

eurokev

chris85 wrote: »

Anyone know where I can pick up some of the bottles of the Kentucky bourbon barrell ale in an off licence? Had a few halfs of it at the RDS and was very tasty. A nice beer to sip and ponder with.

Galvins in cork have the distribution agreement with them. Ask your local offy to stock it

http://www.galvinswines.ie/

blueshed

had a great day yesterday, got there about 1.30 and left at 8.was on my own but no problem meeting and chatting to people there.

loved the metalman and dungarvan ipa and stouts from kerry and the imperial from the white gypsy.

dinner was a pie with mash n peas n gravy.

pretty good set up and the weather was special, was nice to have a cider and helvick gold outside.

chris85

eurokev wrote: »

Galvins in cork have the distribution agreement with them. Ask your local offy to stock it

http://www.galvinswines.ie/

Will do. Will give Martins in Fairview a call during the week and see what they can do, they seems to be a good spot for craft beers and will get in whatever the customer wants.

kevohmsford

Had a great day at the event yesterday.
Dungarvan's Helvick Gold and Rye IPA were my favourites. The O'Hara's Stout was really nice too.

paudgenator

Having a great time here today. First timer. Not too busy, great music, clean & maintained toilets. Good food options, plenty of drink samples. Weather sunny for the past couple of hours and lovely seating area outside. Will def be back again next time

Focalbhach

Of the beers I tried more than a sample of:

Metalman Chameleon: I thought this was absolutely superb. I'd happily drink this as a summery thirst-quencher - a lovely hint of ginger on the way down without being overpowering.
Metalman Moonbeam: A good hoppy pale ale. Not spectacular, but very drinkable, and I'd buy this again.
Hilden Barney's Brew: When I tasted the sample of this I thought it was ok, but not especially interesting. I went back for a half to go along with a ginger curry pie, and was delighted I did - I thought the beer was delicious in itself, but the combination was spectacular.
Carrig Rower (red ale): This was tasty, but not particularly outstanding.
O'Hara's Winter Star: I thought this was a bit disappointing. I love the idea of it (and the description), but found it to be a bit nondescript in practice.

It was great to see so many experimental/seasonal brews, and some of the ones I've seen mentioned on this thread weren't available (or at least, weren't marked on tap) when I was there, so hopefully I'll come across them again. Most of the brewers/people manning the stalls were happy to chat (although not all) - especially friendly were the guys from Metalman, Hilden, and Carrig/Bo Bristle.

All in all, I thought it was very well laid out and there was a nice vibe around the place. It seems like a tricky event to organise to keep everyone happy, but I thought they did a decent job of it.

oblivious

kevohmsford wrote: »

Had a great day at the event yesterday.
Dungarvan's Helvick Gold and Rye IPA were my favourites. The O'Hara's Stout was really nice too.

Lucky you got the rye pa, it ran out in 45 minutes

kevohmsford

oblivious wrote: »

Lucky you got the rye pa, it ran out in 45 minutes

Yeah I just had two pints of it. It was really nice stuff. I am going to get some of the Dungarvan Helvick Gold asap.

Fart

I was there at 12:30 and managed to leave at 23:30.

Had a great day and tasted plenty of beers.
I was lucky enough to have the Rye-P-A as my first beer and it was very nice.

Two beers that stood out for me were Metalmans Moonbeam and Hildens Twisted Hop.

Great day and the food was pretty good.

oblivious

Hi all


Here are few pictures of the Beoir stand and homebrewing demo that took place on Saturday. There was massive interest an great to let the public see a live demo and the lads did a great job




Mash under way




The lads getting ready to cool the wort

Giruilla

Went on saturday. Had a great day, but honestly didn't have a single beer that I was impressed with and would look to drink again.
I think the lack of carbonation in a lot of the beers was a bad point for me. Made a lot of the beers taste stale and not refreshing at all.
Also, some of the beers tasted unfinished or like the fermentation was finished too quickly.. remember one in particular having a strong oaty smell coming off it which was really offputting.
Nicest I had all day was probably one of the ciders.