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For me the whit gypsy Oak aged stout stood out and I am talking about the normal one on tap and not the specials in the bottle, though they were excellent they were not [i:1fr16mga]officially [/i:1fr16mga]part of the festival.

Also I was quite impressed with Galway hooker Dukel on cask.

Dungarvan Helvick Gold also stood out.
I will go in to more detail on my blog of course but those were three I can think of right now.

"Saruman":1d92cw0j wrote:
Dungarvan Helvick Gold also stood out.
[/quote:1d92cw0j]

For me, that was the pick of the two new breweries' offerings. I didn't know what to expect from a blonde on cask but it worked. Their red ale was too fruity for my taste but it went down well with my friend.

I thought Or from trouble brewing was nice although the keg seemed over-carbed.

The UCC crowd produced a lovely hefeweizen, with the classic hefeweizen flavours but with a bit more substance. At 5.4% it was bizarrely presented as a "ladies drink". Cork women must be formidable. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

Really enjoyed a couple of hours there. There was a lovely atmosphere in the place. I could have done with a second day as there was a lot I didn't get to sample.

I have to concur with most comments here re the festival. Had two most enjoyabke days with lots of decent beer as well as great atmosphere and many frienedly punters.

Highlights for me were - not necessarily in this order

Rebel Red on cask
O'Hara's Easter Stout, Pale ale and red ale on cask
Barrelhead on cask
Hooker dark wheatbeer on cask
Headless dog - good as always
Dungarvan's red ale - blonde was all gone by the time I went to try it
Trouble Brewing's Pale Ale - very good
White Gypsy Raven stout and Emerald Ale

Also Cualan's presentatiob re different casks was very interesting,

Also great to see Beoir Corca Dhuine there and their offering was most acceptable - we need more guys like these.


All in all a great fest!!

Had a good day there on Saturday, and spoke to a few fellow ICB'ers.
I tasted a fair few, should have tried more cask though, didn't realise alot of the ones i didn't try were from cask.
My favourites not in order were Chocolate Truffle Stout PH, Helvick Gold Dungarvan, and O'Haras winner the IPA.
Also liked Galway Hooker Pils. Was asking one of the guys about bottling Hooker and he said they're actually looking into it.
Also in bed about 10pm that night!!
PS Burgers weren't the best.

&amp;quot;Norrebro&amp;quot;:1t4da7vl wrote: PS Burgers weren't the best.[/quote:1t4da7vl]

Don't blame the burger!!!!! I had ons both evenings with no ill effects!!!!!

Great event and a lot of good beers, I won't even attempt a list as it would be too long, although I was delighted to see both Dungarvan Brewing Company and Trouble Brewing make their bow. Well done to Cormac, Thom et al.