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"irish_goat":2tbo0ljb wrote: I'm not too familiar with Dublin pubs, are there any craft beer selling ones with decent sized functions rooms?[/quote:2tbo0ljb]
There are a few alright.

Even the Bull & Castle's beer hall is closed to the public till 5:30pm at weekends.

&amp;quot;newToBrew&amp;quot;:1vefz329 wrote: in general if you did start out with a central one (inside the pale <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> ) and let it trickle out to us yahoos in the sticks over time that would give the opportunity to iron out any kinks as it grew naturally - and maybe could be run as heats over a period of time with some grand finale at an AGM or something like that [/quote:1vefz329]
Alternatively you could start with regional competitions where a limited number of entries are sent on to the national final in Dublin.

For example the Waterford Massive at their meet in Revolution could pick entries to submit to the national final.

Although, this would depend on the levels of interest. If there are only 13 beers from 11 entrants in the whole country then it's not worth having semi- or regional finals.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:1cy4snha wrote: For example the Waterford Massive at their meet in Revolution could pick entries to submit to the national final.[/quote:1cy4snha]I disagree. Why should us country folk have our beers vetted (albeit by our peers) prior to sendiing them up to the big smoke?

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:1cy4snha wrote: Although, this would depend on the levels of interest. If there are only 13 beers from 11 entrants in the whole country then it's not worth having semi- or regional finals.[/quote:1cy4snha]Totally agree - are we talking this up to be something bigger than it would be? Be interesting to see how many entrants are in the Trouble Maker this year.

&amp;quot;MAF&amp;quot;:1l6avz79 wrote: I disagree. Why should us country folk have our beers vetted (albeit by our peers) prior to sendiing them up to the big smoke?[/quote:1l6avz79]
Dublin area, or Greater Dublin would also be a region, putting forward a selection of entries. The finals after that have to be held somewhere, I only named Dublin it's probably the easiest to get to.

It would only be necessary if there were too many entries to be all judged in one sitting.

&amp;quot;MAF&amp;quot;:1l6avz79 wrote: Totally agree - are we talking this up to be something bigger than it would be? Be interesting to see how many entrants are in the Trouble Maker this year.[/quote:1l6avz79]
I wouldn't necessarily compare them. I would enter at least one, if not two, beers into a national competition, whereas I won't be entering the TB competition. And besides, there are practical difficulties -- no point in entering something along the lines of Dark Arts into the TB competition as it's not going to win.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:11jtehsc wrote: Dublin area, or Greater Dublin would also be a region, putting forward a selection of entries. The finals after that have to be held somewhere, I only named Dublin it's probably the easiest to get to.

It would only be necessary if there were too many entries to be all judged in one sitting.[/quote:11jtehsc]Fair enough, and agreed that it would depend on the level of entries. I'm still not convinced 'regional finals' are a good thing, but if theres a zillion entries then obviously it has to be whittled down in some shape or form.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:11jtehsc wrote: I wouldn't necessarily compare them. I would enter at least one, if not two, beers into a national competition, whereas I won't be entering the TB competition. And besides, there are practical difficulties -- no point in entering something along the lines of Dark Arts into the TB competition as it's not going to win.[/quote:11jtehsc]I think there would be plenty that haven't entered the Trouble competition and would possibly enter a Beoir comp, so probably not a good direct comparison.
Which leads to my next question for discussion - if there is a big number of entries, will the competition be divided into categories. Should this be decided up front?

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:362a37xb wrote:

&amp;quot;irish_goat&amp;quot;:362a37xb wrote: I'm not too familiar with Dublin pubs, are there any craft beer selling ones with decent sized functions rooms?[/quote:362a37xb]
There are a few alright.

Even the Bull & Castle's beer hall is closed to the public till 5:30pm at weekends.[/quote:362a37xb]

Depends what you mean by "decent sized". Against the Grain has a little used upstairs room that can generally be reserved for special functions if the attendees will be buying drinks.

Adam