Monthly Beer Club - Beer 52.com

One of the perks from being at the European Beer Bloggers conference recently was that attendees were able to claim a free box of beer from www.beer52.com 

Now, Beer52 is a company based in the UK and the premise is rather simple. In exchange for a subscription of £25 they will ship you 8 beers, along with a colour guide for each beer, and a snack or two. They use only small brewers, which makes the offerings quite unique.

I was wondering if they offered shipping direct to ROI, which at this time, they currently don't, however there is a way to do it. It worked for me perfectly, but I think one or two people were getting their orders cancelled. Basically to get them shipped to you here you will need to use www.parcelmotel.com as the shipping address. Yes it will add €4 to your costs, but you're more than likely going to get beers that will not be available here.

I've checked with Siobhan in Beer52 and they are happy for Irish customers to use Parcel Motel for shipping until they get sorted out.

Naturally too my UK based readers can join up and not fuss around with Parcel Motel or the like, the code is good for you too.

As an added bonus, readers of my blog will also get £10 off their first order, to avail of this just use the code BEERSNOB10 when placing your order. 

Now as to the package itself, there are 7 beers in the 8 there i've not had before and I look forward to trying them each individually. There is a great booklet which gives info on the beers and breweries. I was very impressed with it. The package was well packaged with no breakages to worry about. 

And now the conclusion - EBBC Day 2 - Thoughts

So this is following on from my previous posts re the European Beer Bloggers Conference, this one will cover the final day.

Day 2 was an early start, 10am was the first event. Dean McGuinness of Premier Beers was giving the talk and the state of the Irish Craft Beer sector. Knowing this was going to be a long day pre conference grub and fuel was provided by Ugly Duckling - Cheers Darragh for the awesome full irish! Just what was needed.

Dean talked us through his 10 Commandments and they made a lot of sense, but the Honesty one was the one that resonated. Just tell people whats in their beer. 

It was a bit odd that when the subject being discussed was the Irish Beer Scene that we were sampling a couple of UK Beers, and a German Bock. I know this caused conversation to the side. Personally though it reflects the small amount of Dean's portfolio that is actually Irish. Most of it is foreign. The beers themselves were tasty, even if we did peer pressure Simon into joining us at that time.

Next up was the meat and potatoes, Supercharging you're Blog. This was the main reason I came. As a new blogger I wanted to learn some tips to improve my blog, and ultimately increase readership. Cindy from Zephyr tours gave the talk and it was fascinating to learn about the different things. A lot of these I will be implementing over the coming months.

So it was break time, and once again Pilsner Urquell provided the generous hospitality of lunch, we had the awesome Church staff cook up a great barbecue with more unfiltered Pilsner. I got to tap the keg myself, and so did Rossa. The quality checking was very important!

Quality check of the pour with Vaclav Berka

The generosity didn't stop there, they had packs of can's for us to take with us too. I was lucky enough that the marketing people let me take home an extra pack for a twitter raffle with a branded Pilsner Urquell glass. My only regret, I didn't get a glass for myself! 

Enjoyin some Pilsner Urquell won in @irishbeersnob competition.They are being enjoyed as we speak #irishbeersnobgives pic.twitter.com/nWNL2DoHWP
— Kieran Tuke (@TukeKieran) July 2, 2014

After lunch we then had the guys from Wordpress talking about their blog platform. I must say I was really impressed with the tips they also gave and they were extremely helpful, a migration to wordpress could be on the cards later in the year. We also had a fascinating chat with Tomasz from Poland who has frankly insane numbers of views for youtube. His main hint - don't edit your videos, just get them up! Once these were done and dusted we had a beer reception from Beer Ireland showcasing yet again the great craft brews in this country. The Hurler by Four Provinces was the perfect beer for the clammy conditions in the Church. 

Approaching the end of the events was a dinner sponsored by Franciscan Well, allowing our host venue to highlight again the quality of their food, with Irish produced matched to the Fran Well beers. My favourite beer of the night was the Jameson Barrel aged Stout, simply amazing. But the highlight was Shane Long's talk, Shane is the Head Brewer and it was great to hear his passionate speech where he covered the move from independent brewer to being in the Molson Coors family. Shane is a massive influence in the Irish market and provides advice, help, and his time to brewers all over the country. I for one hope they heed his plea to break from the norm of pale ale, red, and stout. But the night wasn't over yet. We had a final event of entertainment and beers from O'Haras. We got to try all of their core beers, but we also got to suggest a beer for them to make. I suggested a Gooseberry sour, but wouldn't be hopeful it will be picked.

All in all this was a fantastic weekend, and I am grateful to the sponsors for stepping in to make sure this went ahead. A big thank you to Zephyr for organising this, and I can't wait to see where it is in 2015.

The Three Tun Tavern - First Wetherspoons pub in RoI - First impressions

Tuesday 8th of July is just a date. A Tuesday. In early July. Why is it significant? Well, it is significant because this particular Tuesday saw the opening of JD Wetherspoons first pub in the Republic of Ireland. They have several pubs in Northern Ireland but this is their first skirmish south of the border.

Wetherspoons pubs have a certain image attached to them sometimes unfairly as soulless drinking dens with no atmosphere etc, but I'd equate them to any large chain operation. There will be good ones and there will be bad ones. But I will always make up my own mind and not be led by the NIMBY brigade.

When it was announced that they had purchased the Tonic pub in affluent suberb Blackrock in South Dublin the usual doom merchants were out. It'll never work! Its going to increase alcoholism etc, all sensationalist claims. And frankly reeked of fear from the established pubs. The whole landscape is about to change. If this encourages more pubs to look at what they're offering even if its increasing range of craft etc this is a good thing. As a consumer I always prefer more choice and competition as it leads to better value for me.

I won't lie. I've been in some pretty bad "spoons" over the years. Leeds train station stands out. But equally I've been in good ones too. Like airside in Gatwick Airport. They satisfied my need for good value food with good value drink.

I was walking up and noticed it and in reality the pictures on Facebook and twitter don't do it justice. You can see there has been significant expenditure here. €2.63m in total was the figure Deputy Manager Dan gave me (also looks after their social media) when you walk in its very different to what you see in most pubs.

The bar area is right ahead. With no stools. This is purely somewhere to buy your drink / food and return to your table. This will probably take people a little getting used to. There is plenty of seating. Loads of comfy looking booths which I secured. Tall tables for two or four. Small tables etc. And a nice smoking area to the rear. The place was busy without ever feeling packed. The other thing that will take some getting used to is no music in the background, no soft jazz tinkling away, or obnoxious loud dub step when your trying to talk. All you can here is the sound of conversation. They do have TV for large events eg world cup etc.

I proceeded to get myself a Bengali Tiger. Pictured below. Exclusively available in Wetherspoons. Nowhere else. A hoptastic IPA with a big hit of citrus and pine in there. €3.50 a can. Glancing through the beer menu. Nothing more than a fiver on the beer front. There are several cask hand pumps and they were throwing out plenty of Hobgoblin, Ghostship and Broadside. All under 4 euro. Irish craft was represented by 8 Degrees, and Trouble Brewing.

A lot was made out of no Guinness being sold. When I was there there plenty of pints of Beamish and Murphy's flying out.

I didnt eat there myself but people I was with did. The food was well presented. And exceptional value. €9.95 for a steak with all the trimmings and a soft drink or an extra 2 quid for an alcoholic drink from a choice of several. One thing that struck me that the place is designated driver friendly. The price of soft drinks was remarkable. €2 or less for just under 400ml of Pepsi. Coffees and teas were also well priced.

On the night it was also announced that the deal for the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire is done and that will be the next Wetherspoons in Dublin.

In summary first impressions were very good. I do believe the offering is slightly tweaked for the Irish market and that is a good thing. Myself and Mrs Beer Snob will be out in the coming weeks to give the place a real test run.

Cead Mile Failte Wetherspoons.

Big Boys Know How to Party - Night 1 European Beer Bloggers Conference

When it was announced that headline sponsors of the EBBC were going to be Molson Coors, Guinness & Smithwicks it caused some ripples among the blogging community. It's important to highlight, that this wasn't a Craft beer bloggers event, but a beer bloggers event. The simple truth is that without the support of the above mentioned companies it is very likely the event may not have gone ahead at all.

Now, the agenda for the evening was a walk from the Church over to St James' Gate where we were going to get a tour of the facility, with food and beer in the Storehouse. My immediate thought was, we're just going on an elongated version of the extremely popular tourist attraction, Storehouse tour. My fears were instantly banished when we arrived at the front gate on Thomas St. 

Here we we given hi viz vests, eye glasses, and shown to the square where Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray was waiting to show us around. We were in for something special. We were in the hub of St James' Gate. Walking through the yards toward the tunnel we were told more of the history of St James Gate. Down through the tunnel toward something, that no one else has seen yet. Brewhouse 4, the brand spanking new kit that Diageo have put in place to replace the now defunct Waterford, Kilkenny and Dundalk breweries. Needless to say this was an impressive feat of engineering, the sheer scale of it was mind boggling. Particularly for one or two of the craft brewers who tagged along. 

In the lion's den. New brewhouse for @GuinnessIreland #EBBC14 pic.twitter.com/fEhO5S05lB

— Reuben Gray (@TaleOfAle) June 27, 2014

Once we'd finished in here, we were brought up to the familiar store house building and whisked up to the 6th floor for drinks and food reception. These guys know how to do hospitality, 1.3m visitors a year can't be wrong. 

Here we were treated to the best of Irish produce, Oysters, Pork, Beef, farmhouse cheeses. Matched to Guinness' beer. The Oysters with Extra Stout were delish. But the ribs were a knock out. The FES marinated burgers were good too (think that was Burger number 2 out of maybe 5 all weekend!) One of the surprises of the evening was that they'd brought over some Belgian Special Export - a rock solid beer at 8%. This just shows us what Guinness used to be, but this thing is a very distant relation to the current Guinness Draft. It's Full of flavour. A subtle sweet roastiness. Why don't you sell this here? Another surprise was the "Night Porter" a 5.5% chocolate porter brewed as part of an internal staff competition. This beer was really really good. And it would stand up very well against many craft stouts and porters. It's a pity its only available in the Storehouse.

Also my favourite Matthew Curtis vine took place here - below for your viewing pleasure

@irishbeersnob Yep! https://t.co/T5f1OC8sTt
— Matthew Curtis (@totalcurtis) July 2, 2014

From here we were whisked away to a secret location, The Candle Bar in Kellys Hotel on Georges St. This was the Pilsner Urquell party! As a special treat from Vaclav Berka, the master brewer there, brought over the unfiltered unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell in Oak casks. This is a good beer anyway, but to get to taste it this way was a true privilege. Here's a video of Vaclav tapping the keg. 

After being stuffed to the gills in the Storehouse, more food winged its way out, Pulled Pork, and Steak Sandwiches. They were delish. From here we moved on to the next bar in our group, but at this stage the day was beginning to catch up with us, and with an early start the next morning I got the bus home.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Guinness, Pilsner Urquell, and Molson Coors for their support and the level of hospitality was second to none. Whatever peoples opinions on the beers are, the guys and girls I met showed as much passion that i've seen from many brewers. I'm thankful it was Fergal leading us around and he answered any questions honestly and openly. This I fear wouldn't have happened if we had someone from PR or marketing to look after us. 

European Beer Bloggers Conference - Day One

Now in it's fourth year the European Beer Bloggers Conference came to Dublin last weekend for the first time. Following on from a successful event last year in Edinburgh, Dublin had big shoes to follow.

Dublin is undergoing a craft beer revolution at the moment and it was going to be interesting to see what foreign visitors from the UK, Europe and the USA thought of it.

The Thursday evening pub crawl was arranged by Reuben Gray who had a major part in getting the conference to Dublin this year, and this highlighted the best craft beer bars Dublin has to offer. Ian (11pm Somewhere Podcast) and I arranged to meet early to film a pre conference hangout, the videos are below. We were joined by Carol Dekkers from Tampa Florida, Eric & Flo of Brewsweplate and Brian of Irish Craft Beer Show. 

So along comes Friday and conference proper. The advice was to eat before we arrived as there was a trade show displaying the best of Irish brewing before events kicked off at 2pm. I could think of no better place than the Ugly Duckling Cafe in the Epicurean Food Hall. I went with the McWurly, which is a battered beef burger in a bun with cheese and salad. Accompanied with a side of chips. This set me up for the day. 

From here we made our way to the Church Bar, which used to be a Church funnily enough given the name. Arthur Guinness even got married there. Where we registered and made our way through the samples. It was great to see some of the newer brewers there especially Black Donkey Brewing who really came with a great farmhouse ale called "Sheep Stealer" (Review to follow) There were some other great beers including the Honey IPA by Sharps, the Big Brown Bear by Trouble Brewing and N17's famous Rye Ale. 

The events kicked off with a history of brewing in Ireland which was fascinating to learn that it goes back thousands of years. Though it would explain a lot. Which lead onto a great discussion on the merits of Cask vs Keg, and Can vs Bottle. I expected this to get a bit heated, however it was a well delivered presentation which I think covered all the pros and cons in a balanced way but ultimately there are some styles that aren't suited to certain packaging. There then the last talk for the afternoon which had a panel discussion with Sarah of N17, Cathal of Rascals, and Paul from Trouble Brewing. A wide range discussed, including the topical pricing issues. I think Sarah summed it up best when she said as a brewer she wants to "keep it in the hands of the people!"

From here we had a break before the big festivities of the evening, Dinner in St James' Gate hosted by Guinness, and the legendary Pilsner Urquell party. Taking the opportunity a few of us recently acquainted bloggers went to the Norseman to try the Kinsale Pale Ale which was pouring through a Randall. We caught up with the group as they continued along Fishamble St on the Way to St James' Gate. 

I'm going to leave this post here, as I feel the Guinness event and Pilsner Urquell event really deserve a lot more detail. 

All in all, Day 1 was a fun day. Met some really interesting people, Sarah, Sean, Richard and Carol. The craic was mighty all day. We had some fantastic drinks. And it meant the second day was also going to be great.