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&amp;quot;kenmc&amp;quot;:3m43s05r wrote: Except that he really doesn't want you to bring any checked-in luggage, so you can't bring any samples home with you very easily <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->[/quote:3m43s05r]Planning to pocket-bottle, eh?

&amp;quot;kenmc&amp;quot;:hbrls7f0 wrote:
I'd defo be on for a trip to the Hilden next year though. It seemed to kind of sneak up on us didn't it? or was it just me...?[/quote:hbrls7f0]

Does anyone check the calendar? <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt="" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? -->
It was on the week I went back to work, so that's my excuse.

&amp;quot;bigears&amp;quot;:2wxfcl3d wrote: I didn't realise Hilden could be done as a day trip.[/quote:2wxfcl3d]Easily. I left home at 12.30, got the 1.20 train to Portadown, transferring to the Bangor train getting in to Hilden by 3.30, well in time for the free admission before 4. Left at 7.20, expecting to get the 7.27 train back, though it didn't show until near 8. The last Enterprise got me back to Dublin at 10.20.

I think I'd go earlier if I was doing it again (and hopefully will be). I hadn't realised that these were mostly session beers on offer, under 4% ABV, and designed to be consumed in a long leisurely fashion. It was heartbreaking trying to decide which beers to leave undrunk. I still don't know what a Purple Moose tastes like.

Balmoral, for the Belfast festival in November, is a couple of stops along the same line from Hilden.