TOPIC:

That doesn't make the Arainn Mhor labels illegal, as has been implied.
Economical with the truth, maybe, but so are a lot of product labels.

Perhaps someome representing ICB should contact the company requesting an interview, to clear the air so to speak; or has this been attempted already?

"sbillings":3lsvwpl4 wrote: I agree that marketing is vital and frankly they seem to be better at it than most Irish micro's, but there is more to producing an Irish craft beer than simply marketing a beer as such. I would like the beer in the bottle to be Irish too and I don't think that is unreasonable.

Hey, how about I start a company selling Irish Oranges (grown in the EU)?[/quote:3lsvwpl4]

I'm fully sure that they're brewing in Belgium out of neccessity, not 'cause they'd prefer to.

Like it or not, no matter what kind of beer you're selling, the first and formost priority is to make a profit, otherwise you won't be making beer for very long. If your trying to make repayments of capital investment on a €200K-€300K brewery set-up with a beer that is new to the market that becomes damm near impossible; being able to write "Brewed in Ireland" instead of "Brewed in the EU" on the label in those circumstances becomes a hell of an expensive luxury.

Starting out in this business is mighty difficult, so getting your foot on the first rung of the ladder anyway possible is an achievement in itself. If you don't like the particular way they've gone about, that's fair enough, but be prepared to be bemoaning the lack of craft brewers for many a long year if your not prepared to give this company the benefit of the doubt.

As for the planned visitor center, it's very possible that it's part of their business plan, as a stepping stone, and who knows what kind of grants are available to for the Islands/Gaelteacht/Tourism aspect of it?

"noby":3tfybvz2 wrote: That doesn't make the Arainn Mhor labels illegal, as has been implied. [/quote:3tfybvz2]In my opinion if it went before the National Consumer Agency the labels would be found to be misleading, though there's certainly a case to be argued that they aren't, and I'd say they are inside the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.

Isn't it about time "Irish Ale" and "Irish Stout" became protected geographical designations? Step forward, Irish Craft Brewers' Network.

As manufacturing businesses go that is pretty cheap, actually. How much do you think it would cost you to set up a business making anything else?

Or maybe you'd like to open a shop of some kind, how much is the set-up and stock going to cost you, do you think? Restaurant? Pub? It costs money to set up a business.

Maybe they don't want to have the beer brewed in Belgium, but then again, maybe they don't want to bother brewing beer at all and all of the mention of a brewery, once they get the visitor centre up and running, is a case of “sure I'll marry you honey, it's just a bad time to leave the wife, that's all”.

No matter how much funding you can get for a visitor centre, you won't get 100%. It is still going to cost you money to set it up. If they were interested in brewing the beer themselves, setting up a brewery would be higher on the agenda than a visitor centre.

"sbillings":3lwiz23u wrote:
Maybe they don't want to have the beer brewed in Belgium, but then again, maybe they don't want to bother brewing beer at all and all of the mention of a brewery, once they get the visitor centre up and running, is a case of “sure I'll marry you honey, it's just a bad time to leave the wife, that's all”.
[/quote:3lwiz23u]

You obviously have your mind made up about them anyway.

Having some (not first hand) experience with the workings of Udarás, they may be more open to granting aid for a visitor centre, that may employ a few local people than a brewery, that may only be able to employ one part-time brewer's assistant. Perhaps they're using the system to their advantage. The fact is we don't know, even after four pages of idle speculation and assumptions.

I did email them a while ago, but no joy. Maybe it's time for me to try again.

OK, so maybe it is easier to get funding for a visitor centre, but that does not make it free. It will still cost the business money and how does it get them any closer to brewing their own beer?

It's wrong to say I have my mind made up about them. It's just that I am less willing to give them the benefit of the doubt than the rest of you. The whole affair just doesn't smell right.

I'm willing to be proven wrong about them, but I'm not holding my breath, waiting for a brewery to appear on Árainn Mhór.