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The Porterhouse only brewery represented, beause only brewery in Republic producing cask beer all year round.

I think this is a disgrace. At this years Franscian Well festival Carlow Brewing produced a one off cask stout/porter and it was great pint.Ask Noby. How can there be more cask if the beers are not left enter festival like Belfast.

With at least 3 craft breweries closing or closed this year. The more promotion the better.

rebel

Hmmm. They should really have ANY craft brewery on the Island present, regardless of whether they are cask or not. You're dead right. How can these micros be promoted if the bigger festivals place restrictions like that?

If they are CAMRA's rules, and it's CAMRA's festival, then tough. If you don't like it, join CAMRA and get it changed or run your own festival.

Cask beer will not become a regular feature on the Irish market because it is too expensive for publicans to stock in terms of the environmental conditions it requires and the potential for wastage. Having it on tap in Belfast for a few hours each year will not change this.

Well Camra on this Island should be different from U.k. All the Irish craft breweries were prepared to cask their beer for the festival, but were not permitted to enter because the beer was not produced all year round.

I agree with rebel. Although I can accept that it is a UK organisation, and there's a cask tradition there, and a somewhat of a cask presence in Northern Ireland. But as rebel hints, they could consider localising the rules to a degree if they want to be more inclusive (maybe they don't to make it more exclusive?). As you say John, a festival dedicated to cask beers will not change the situation, but surely they should be more flexible for the good of the Irish micro-brewing industry? It needs all the help it can get! <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->

&amp;quot;rebel&amp;quot;:2tu7pqly wrote: Well Camra on this Island should be different from U.k.[/quote:2tu7pqly]Why? If you think they ought to be doing something else then it sounds to me like a job for a different, yet-to-be-established, organisation. CAMRA have a very narrow remit and that's their preogative. I don't think anyone standing outside has any right to complain about their rules. They serve their objectives, not ours. I don't see anything about the Irish microbrewing industry in their objectives.

&amp;quot;rebel&amp;quot;:2tu7pqly wrote: All the Irish craft breweries were prepared to cask their beer for the festival, but were not permitted to enter because the beer was not produced all year round.[/quote:2tu7pqly]Out of interest, where are you getting this from? Whitewater's Sanity Claus was on, and I'm guessing that they aren't producing that all year.