TOPIC:

Yeah so did I . Nice of them I have to say.

Actually, on that note... I must thank Galway Hooker and the Franciscan Well. Cheers lads, always much appreciated.

I had a great weekend chatting with ICBers, commercial brewers and people interested in getting started.

I thought it was great that ICBers stepped up and pitched in behind the bars to get beer and cider out to the thirsty customers. It says a lot about ICB and what we are about. Well done.

To clarify the situation with tasting at the event, we were asked to refrain from giving samples in the beer tent (good call, would have been pandemonium when the queues for commercial beer were and hour long), but I was allowed to include a tasting as part of my presentation on amateur brewing techniques, which took place in the speakers tent on Sunday. A big thanks to ChillieBillie, Saruman, Bighair and Grainne for contributing beer for this. Everyone got a taste of the six beers we had on offer, so they got to see how great beer could be made with extract or all grain and that experimentation and innovation by amateurs can result in some wonderful beers. There was something for everyone in the selection. People seemed genuinely interested and there were some pertinent questions asked. Thanks also to my glamorous assistant Bighair, for his help distributing samples.

I thought the information stand was a great success. We got the good word out, generating (in some cases rekindling) a lot of interest and I fully expect to see quite a few new people joining the hobby. Bugno and HomeBrewWest would be well advised to begin putting starter kits together now.

I think we learned quite a bit form the experience (I know my patter was a lot better on Sunday than on Saturday) and will have a better stand next time we do one of these things. The bubbling, fermenting beer was quite a draw, but maybe next time we'll use a demijohn rather than a 2l PET bottle and fewer, or no dry hops. We'll also buy some cheap bed sheets from Penny's or somewhere to cover the stand and we now have a better idea of what leaflets to do up.

I think the Bull and Castle deserves thanks too. They definitely showed their devotion to the Irish craft beer scene (as if there was ever a doubt about that) by allowing sold out brewery stands to restock from the B&C cellars. They also gave us far too much food when a bunch of us ate there on Saturday night and Ronan, from Galway Hooker stood us a round of his fine beer.

I hear Ronan is the man we have to thank for suggesting we get a stand at this event and that it was Carlow Brewing who seconded the motion without hesitation, so if run into any of these people, say thank you.

Anyway, a big thanks to everyone involved. You all made it a great weekend for everyone.

[quote:29ch7xwe]I think the Bull and Castle deserves thanks too. They definitely showed their devotion to the Irish craft beer scene (as if there was ever a doubt about that) by allowing sold out brewery stands to restock from the B&C cellars. They also gave us far too much food when a bunch of us ate there on Saturday night and Ronan, from Galway Hooker stood us a round of his fine beer.

I hear Ronan is the man we have to thank for suggesting we get a stand at this event and that it was Carlow Brewing who seconded the motion without hesitation, so if run into any of these people, say thank you. [/quote:29ch7xwe]

I would like to add my thanks to B&C, Galway hooker and Carlow (they gave me a beer also). I must go buy a tshirt for the next one of these.

Went on Saturday and had a nice time. Got there about 3.30 and the queues were mental. 45 mins. <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( --> Plus the heat in the tent was ridiculous, obviously not anybody's fault, just the Irish weather for ya!
Would've liked to have gotten there earlier but I rather stupidly decided to make my first large Brew the night before and didn't get to bed quite late.

Had to get a taxi there as getting there by public transport would have involved a bus/luas/shuttle. Too much hassle and would've cost the same as the taxi. Funnily enough the taxi driver was saying that he was gonna head down on the Sunday. He said he had heard Sean on Spin.

Was really surprised at the amount of people there, it was absolutely jammed. Would've loved to have gotten some food too but the queues for food were crazy also. So just sat out in the sun and enjoyed some O'Hara's.

Meant to get over to the ICB crew and have a chat but as has been already mentioned you were all kinda boxed in by the long queues.

Had also planned to get down on the Sunday for the demonstration but unfortunately couldn't make it. How did it go?
I take it Bord Bia didn't want samples given out for perceived hygiene issues?

I'll definitely get there earlier next year!

&amp;quot;Atticus&amp;quot;:j306pehf wrote: I take it Bord Bia didn't want samples given out for perceived hygiene issues?[/quote:j306pehf]Not at all. It's just that they didn't want to risk taking focus away from the main exhibitors who were paying to be there and charging for their wares.