Category: Brews and Food

2014, Blue Cheese, Brews and Food, Bru Brewery, Burkes Ice Cream, Copper & Spices, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Whole Hoggs

Boyne Valley Food Series – Brú Brewery – Beer & Food Night May 10th

by irishbeersnob2 Comments on Boyne Valley Food Series – Brú Brewery – Beer & Food Night May 10th

Beer, and Food. In a brewery. What’s not to love.

This past weekend, Paddy & Daire opened up their brewery to hold a Beer & Food evening, where Bru Beers were either ingredients in the Food or matched to the food on offer. Boy was there a good crowd there. Great to see!

The event was organised as part of the Boyne Valley Food Series www.boynevalleyfoodseries.ie where there are lots of foodie events taking place in the Boyne Valley region over the next couple of months. It was great to see so many local people out celebrating local food and produce.

Shiny steel and a packed brewery.

It was a who’s who of local artisan and quality food, on the cheese side we were represented by Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, and Boyne Valley Blue. There were some nibbles provided by The Central Navan, and Vanilla Pod. There was also bread that was baked with spent grain from the boys brewing exploits.

Then hot food wise there was offerings from local Indian Restaurant Copper & Spices, and cooking up Whole Hoggs fine pork products on the BBQ was Daire’s mammy, Mrs Harlin! Fair play for sticking at it all night.

A wheel of Delicious Boyne Valley Blue, flanked by Bru!

Dessert on the night came from Burke’s Ice Cream, infused with Brú Dubh. It was delicious, but it was ramped up when we made Brú Dubh floats with some and added some grains also. Yum Yum 

Aside from the cracking beers, including a newly tweaked Rí recipe which is much more hop forward now, and I loved it. The stars of the night were the curry offerings from Copper & Spices, i’d tweeted earlier in the week that Chicken Balti would be great with a Brú, and Carmel matched the two and it was a match made in heaven. The lamb curry was also fantastic. It’s great to see that in keeping with their local ethos Carmel will be getting a tap of Rí into her restaurant this week, and more and more punters will get to taste this great food and beer combination. It was great to meet Carmel & Nitin, and i’m looking forward to picking up some food for a Beer & Food matching article i’ve got to write.

Advertising, that hits the nail on the head

Also stars on the night were the amazing pork from The Whole Hoggs of Slane. Bru Rua infused Sausages, and Bru Marinaded Burgers. However what sent them over the edge, was the Bru Rua ketchup, and Rí IPA Mustard that came from Ian Bergin, the man behind the 11pm Somewhere podcast. Just like his podcasts, these things packed a punch.

Its been a busy time for the lads in Bru, picking up new accounts, but also new beers coming. A Belgian Saison will be winging its way to us just in time for the summer, weighing in @ 7% this isn’t going to be for the faint hearted. It’s called Bru Mor. There is also a Hefeweizen on the way, and this weighs in @ 5%. Lastly, what i’m looking forward to the most. Bru Dubh is already an awesome stout, the lads are ageing some in Whiskey Barrels and is due for release later this year. 

Alltech, Breweries, Brews and Food, Convention Centre, Grand Slam of Beer, Hector, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Ireland, Paddy Casey, Publicans, Trade

Alltech International Craft Brews & Food Fair – Convention Centre Dublin February 6th – 8th

by irishbeersnobLeave a Comment on Alltech International Craft Brews & Food Fair – Convention Centre Dublin February 6th – 8th

Now in its second year following on from the first festival which was during the summer 2013. This mix of trade fair, and beer festival is hopefully going to become on ongoing fixture in the calendar for years to come. 

There is going to be plenty for the trade, both publicans, and producers. There is also going to be plenty for the going public.

This year there is a large number of brewers here, with a majority from Ireland, there is a fleck of European and US brewers here too. A full list of these is here. Then there is a range of food producers here also; Good beer and Good food go hand in hand.

    The two public sessions are the Friday evening from 5pm, and the Saturday from 12pm. Tickets are €15 per day which include your admission, a souvenir glass and 4 free drinks. Great value if you ask me. On the Friday there is live music from Paddy Casey, and Saturday we have Hector presiding over the Grand Slam of Beer considering the 6 nations is on that weekend. Yes, the game is also being televised for all the Irish Rugby Fans out there. There are also some Sensory Lounges too.

    There is a conference aspect to this and i’m fortunate to have been invited to the Pub Series where there will be many speakers from various areas of the industry. For any publicans who are still undecided about whether to go or not there is plenty of time to still register by following this link

    All in all this promises to be a lot of fun, and I hope to meet some of my readers there. See you at the Convention Centre, go on, you know you want to. More info available from www.alltechbrewsandfood.com and @alltechbrews on twitter. Tickets can be purchased here via Entertainment.ie