Beer History: Exhibitions All Round...

On the day that the Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fair (There's a post from last year's event here.) starts in The Convention Centre in Dublin it seemed appropriate to do this post about another exhibition from 1892, this was held in another iconic - and circle-focussed - building, the Round Room of the Rotunda.

As you can see it had a cosmopolitan air with a focus on Spain, and Californian brandy and wine as you can see here...

Macardle, Moore and Co. from Dundalk were also there, showcasing their stout and a cask cleaner to remove the flaw of casky beer! This is my first time seeing this as a negative term...

Lager was also on show from 'Frankfort' Brewery, along with some beer pumps...

(This piece just led into a different section on glass, you're not missing anything on lager or pumps!)

Last but not least was a display from Corcoran's from my home town of Carlow, once a big employer at a site near the castle...

So there we go, drink fairs of a sort have been around for a few years in Dublin, and imported beverages are not a new thing. Remember that when you're opening your next bottle of California Merlot or German lager!

Liam

(Thanks as usual to my local library...)

Alltech Craft Brews & Food Festival 2017 - A Sense of Belonging...

For me the Alltech Brews & Food Festival is unmissable and I was lucky enough to wangle a media pass this year. Previously I had thought about applying but felt that it would be deceitful, as I wasn't blogging regularly enough and the honest streak inside of me would make me blush bright red if anyone asked me, 'Hmmm ... So what do you do to receive one of those?' But now my blog posting and interaction is regular if not riveting, and although it now incorporates some beer history to take up my lack-of-travel's slack, at least I'm developing a rhythm and gaining some traction and attraction on social media in general...

I arrived with a few friends a little too early to The Convention Centre in the Dublin Docklands and waited patiently in the atrium as those from Alltech and from the CCD hustled and bustled around getting things ready for the crowds - the event was sold out today. Soon everything was in place and I left the others to sort out their tickets, glasses and passes, and I went up to the media room on the first floor to collect mine ... and that's when I twigged that something was different...

I have never been to a festival before where I felt so much like I really belonged. Of course I have attended many festivals over the years and I've enjoyed them but it always felt like there was a separation between the event itself and those attending it - like a them and us scenario - whereas here and now I felt part of the festival. This is of course down to the attention, friendliness and professionalism on hand, but it's more than that. It's about how those who run an event can be so good at what the do that there's an effortlessness and seamlessness in attending...

Back down in the venue itself I caught up with the others and saw the same sense of 'Being There' in their mannerism, comments and moods. It seemed to me that it was like relaxing into that comfortable old armchair with your warm cardigan on, a good imperial stout in hand, glowing embers in the fire and your favourite music on in the background. Maybe it's an age thing, as with it doesn't come wisdom but does come appreciation of 'Experiences' and not of 'Things' anymore - perhaps that is the wisdom.

You may think I'm gushing too much and the media pass went to my head, and maybe it did! Who knows? But this would not explain the same sense from those around me and those I talked to both behind the stands and in front of them. And this whole feeling made me realise that us Bloggers, Tweeters and Facebookers spend way too much time commenting on and rating the beer and not enough talking about the people, atmosphere and feeling we have at these events or even the elation we feel when we drink a good beer or eat a good meal. We shouldn't rate it we should describe it... but maybe we rate because it easier to quantify something as relatively tangible as a product whereas it's more difficult to rate experiences.

Not to mention the fact that it makes you sound like some kind of lovey-dovey, beardy-weirdy, fruitcake, but hey if the bobble hat fits...


Having said all that, I guess I'd better do a short roundup of some the festival itself, people I talked to and the beers I tried and liked. As is often the case, I avoided some of my favourite breweries that I knew I could pick up easily at bars and bottle shops such as Wicklow Wolf, Rye River, Trouble, Blacks and the rest - sorry folks no offence! Also, the sheer number of beers to be tried in a relatively short period of time combined with some virus-like bug that had infected me - You're welcome, Alltech Saturday Crowd! -  meant that the complicated maths of time divided by beers plus many variables could never work.

People

With my social skills perked up and on a high, I was drawn to Bridewell Brewery from Clifden by a beer mat that appeared on the barrel/table that we were using as a base. There was a brewery on Bridewell Lane in Carlow in the 1800s so curiosity brought me over to talk to Barbara-Anne and Harry, whose brewery is in the shadow of Clifden's old jail. They brew just one beer - a blond - and don't bottle, so I was glad to have come across them as otherwise I'd have to wait until I was visiting one of the many places it's on tap in their local area.

Their beer is a lovely, dry version of the style, with a subtle, almost smoke-like quality. I liked it alot and felt it would be a great companion for food. Specifically, I could imagine myself sitting in a bar in Clifden drinking this beer with a big bowl of creamy chowder and butter-smothered brown bread, with that sea-side smell in the air as I gaze out across the bay. (Disclaimer: This may not be possible...)

They say that beer people are good people, and I'm not sure if that's always true (In fact I know it's not!) but these people certainly come across as good people, I hope they do well!


On the Sullivan's stand I caught up with Alan, who I had met previously in their taproom in Kilkenny. Their flagship beer is Maltings Red Ale and he promised more brews were on the way when I complained that their barley wine was currently missing from their portfolio! I did get a sample taste of the export version of their red, a lot of which is destined for Buffalo, New York seemingly! At 5% it's a more marketable product in the US than the domestic 4% version and had pretty much the same malt-forward flavours of its little brother, but was perhaps a little bolder.

Sullivan's are gathering an interesting and hugely experienced team around them, they are doing some pretty heavy marketing at the moment and have big plans for the future. They are the cheese to the chalk of Bridewell Brewery in one way but by the same token they also come across as good people. And they are relatively local to me so I have the same interest in them as I have in 12 Acres, O'Hara's and Costellos, and I like what they all produce so I'll be keeping a close eye on them in the future.

(And yes I do promote 'local' as long as it's good local, too many people promote local produce just because it is a buzz word at the moment ... I think you all know my feelings on this from previous posts.)

Irish Beers

While wandering around the festival I did try a fair few other Irish beers, although not as many as I would have liked. I was helped by the fact that those with me didn't mind sharing their beers and running the risk of getting whatever virus was afflicting me.

My favourites in no particular order were the pre-oak-aged Special Brew from Wicklow Brewery, this was the unbarreled version of their 12:12:16 beer from last Christmas and tasted of satsumas and caramel digestives biscuits; Independent Brewing Company's Coconut Porter and wonderfully labelled(!) Connemara Bock, the former tasting of Macaroon bars and the latter of orange Miwadi with a fizz of lemon sherbert ... and was somewhat unbock-like but delicious; Kinnegar's Olan's Tart, a collaboration with Dan Kelly's Cider had a sweetish brown sugar meets Granny Smith quality that I liked, although the similar collaboration between The White Hag and MacIvor's Cider - Silver Branch Apple Sour - with its dryer and sourer palate cleansing effect might have shaded it for me; then another White Hag collaboration, with Kinnegar this time, was The Hare and The Hag, a nitro coffee stout that was pretty phenomenal, although a taste I had of White Hag's good old Black Boar confirmed that it is still one of my favourite beers; 8 Degrees Bandit sang to me and had more smoke than I remember, it was pretty special; Lough Gill Brewery's MacNutty brown ale was a gorgeous velvety version of one of my favourite beer styles with that macadamia nut aftertaste.

These are not all those I tasted but they were certainly the ones I prefered, although I admittedly missed a few crackers from what I heard and saw on social media later.

(Having said that a couple of recommendations for one particular beer left me wondering what all the fuss was about when I tried it!)

Imported Beers

Next up is the imported beer category, again I only got to try a tiny fraction of them.

There was a lot of talk about Stone's Farking Wheaton w00tstout when the festival opening on Thursday, so I was very surprised to see it still on tap on Saturday afternoon. It was only being served as sample size given its strength and rarity I guess. The smell assaults your nose like good mustard and then you get a coffee liqueur taste with a lingering alcohol heat, I could imagine it becoming quite sickly in quantity so I was kind of glad it was only a small measure. Beside it was Stone's Imperial Saison, a beer style I had never tried before and this one certainly packs a punch of hibiscus flower tea wavering towards cheap perfume, especially given it's 9.4% abv! I actually quite liked this one but I can imagine many would hate it, although again the sample size was perhaps enough today - but I'll keep an eye out for it. My taste buds are still not convinced that Stone are worth their hype but then again Xocoveza was my favourite beer over last Christmas so I'll sit uncomfortably on the fence for now.

I have a soft spot for Thornbridge because the brew Wild Raven, another of my all time favourite beers, so when I spotted their two taps I decided to try both offerings. Carlota is a 7% mexican stout but I couldn't pick up any chili in it. I did get a rich dark chocolate quality and a not unpleasant chalkiness. I will try a bottle of it on a cleaner palate if I come across it, as it certainly sounded like my kind of beer. Valravn is presumably the big brother to Wild Raven and has many of the same tropical hop with a dash of sweet cocoa mix - but intensified as you'd expect. It's an 8.8% abv beer and seems to me to be a brutish bully to Raven's subtler charms - although my infatuation with it's little sister may have clouded my judgement so it's another to try again at some stage.

I also tried Brewdog's Blitz Strawberry & Vanilla Berliner Weisse - and that's exactly what it tasted like...

Barcelona Beer Company

One stand that intrigued me was Barcelona Beer Company. I was interested to find out what the Spanish craft beer scene was like, as I would be heading to Valencia on a weeks holiday during the summer and wondered what my options would be beer-wise in Spain generally.

I chatted with Viet who deals with exports and he filled me in on the beers as I sampled my way through them. (He nearly ended up in my 'People' section above but I didn't get a photo of him and we didn't chat too much as he was quite busy. Plus I felt his range deserved a separate piece!)

La Bella Lola is a Blonde with a nicely spiced cardamom flavour and a dry finish; Nicotto is a 'Japanese Style Beer' that I very much enjoyed, probably because of the subtle coconut and lemon meringue flavour that was coming from the use of Sorachi Ace; Piquenbauer is a wheat beer a dash of ginger cutting through the cloves, not my favourite style but good for hot climates I'd imagine; last was my favourite, La Niña Barbuda a brown ale with a taste of milk chocolate and liquorice, with a tiny hint of bitterness in the tale end. Brown ales have really become my favourite style at the moment...

Barcelona Beer Company are exporting to a good few countries in Europe and beyond, and I'm sure they'll make it down the road to Valencia!

Food

I must admit that my mind wasn't really on the food at the festival. Strangely for me my appetite seemed to have gone AWOL, but when the Brisket Klaxon™ went off in my head after looking at the sign over the Smokin' Bones stand I decided I'd better eat. It was perfect ... gorgeously smoky and tender served on a bun with just a little mayo-mustard. (I can never understand how people think they can give an honest review and rating for a beer after having a load of mustard and onions on a garlic sausage or red hot chilli chicken! By all means eat what you want, but don't pretend it doesn't mess up your palate for the rest of the day.)

I was luck to try some of the fantastic raclette with gherkins and baby spuds from The Ploughman's Daughter too, and vowed to go for some of my own later - then promptly forgot!

I can't comment too much on the rest of the food but I didn't hear many complaints, apart from maybe a few who thought the prices versus portions were a little steep...

Conclusions...

Well what can I say that I haven't already? Not a lot...

For me Alltech's festival leads the way in how a festival should be run. They are the benchmark that others need to measure against ... and its not just about its size, location, entertainment, quality, organizational skills and the people, it's about that sense of inclusion that cocoons you while you're there.

And thats what Alltech brought to the party more than any other festival - a feeling of belonging...

I have been accused in the past of only promoting beers, food, events and places that I like - of course I do! But purely for selfish reasons, as the better a bar does - for example - with craft beer then the more they will stock, and therefore the better selection for me. Any major negative comments I have I generally pass directly to those involved, providing its fact of course and not just my opinion or taste.

And I'll happily promote this festival - among others - for similar selfish reasons...

But for the love of god, change those bloody glasses!

Cheers,

Liam

Visited 25th February 2017

Epilogue

As we were getting the bus home we popped into Brew Dock to use the jacks and a grab a quick beer. We were lucky to find both Farami from Whiplash/Otterbank Brewing and Unto The Breach from Yellowbelly/Hope Brewing on tap, two collaborations that I'd hope to pick up and they didn't disappoint.

The place was buzzing and after a rather embarrassing, 'I'm your biggest fan!' moment when I spotted Galway Bay's Andy behind the bar, we ran for our bus and headed out of the city back to the hinterland.

I slept much of the way home.

(Apologies Andy, if you ever read this.)

Beer: The Monarchy Münchhausen - A Tall Tale of Taste?

Münch·hau·sen (ˈmuenḵ-ˌhau̇-zən) 

 Karl Friedrich Hieronymous, Freiherr von (1720–1797), German soldier. As a retired cavalry officer Münchhausen acquired a reputation as a raconteur of preposterous stories about his adventures as a soldier, hunter, and sportsman. From 1781 to 1783 a collection of such tales was published, with authorship generally attributed to the baron. Only years later in 1824 was it revealed that the author of the English edition was Rudolph Erich Raspe (1737–1794).

Merriam-Webster

When I restarted blogging I decided that I wouldn't do individual beer posts, but here I am back at it again! Perhaps its an addiction... Anyway here we go...

In my March post on the Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fair I mentioned a visit to the Freigeist Bierkultur stand and how impressed I was by them, so when I spotted this beer in my not-so-very-local offie I grabbed one, as its style of label and even the bottle itself seemed similar to those I had sampled at the festival. The postage stamp-style label, which shows Baron Von Münchhausen astride a hop cone, combined with the blurb that said that this was a 4.8% abv strongly hopped and soured altbier meant I couldn't really resist buying one.

It turns out that this beer is brewed by the same brewer and in the same brewery - Vormann Brauerei in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany - as those from Freigeist Bierkultur, albeit with a different partner. The Monarchy's Sebastian Sauer and Fritz Wülfing create historical beers with a twist, just like the example I had picked up.

A beer like this deserves company so I decided that it would suit an impromptu supper one night last week - a pretzel with real butter, strong Irish cheddar, combined with a few slices of smoked German ham. So I set the stage and got stuck in!

The first impression was of sour cola with a lingering malty, pleasant aftertaste. Carbonation was quite low, just leaving a tingle on the tongue like popping candy and left an almost wine-like mouthfeel. A bite of pretzel with its supporting cast created a salty-malty-smoky-lactic back drop to my next gulp and brought out a tea-like taste to the beer too. Now I was also getting a little funky farmyard - like a chicken coop - plus a little sweetness.

As the beer warmed up and I ate a little more, the subtle complexities of the beer shined through and I realised what a good decision I had made to have food with it, and maybe perhaps this type of food. I wonder if I had drank it on its own would I have liked it as much?

Not that that mattered, as I really did enjoy it although I didn't pick up on the heavy hopping and would have liked the sourness to shine through a little more. I am really looking forward to trying more from the range as well as picking up more of this one.

I'll keep my eyes peeled...

Alltech Craft Brews & Food Fair 2015 - Beer Heaven/Beer Hell?

I've always thought that there's a fine line between heaven and hell. Not in a religious sense of course but in how we use those words in our not-so-normal lives. Family can be both, work can be both and life itself can switch from one to the other in the blink of an eye.

Beer festivals - especially big, well planned and well executed ones - can be like that, as the elation you feel when you walk through the doors is quickly tempered by the realisation that your limited time there combined with your poor palate being bombarded by beer means you will never, never be able to taste all the beers you want to.

Call me a pessimist but that makes me sad - in reality some times the glass is half empty and sometimes it's half full but I firmly believe that it's more often a case of the glass being the wrong size. A philosophical discussion for another day perhaps...

The day had started OK, or better than OK in reality. I had won tickets to the festival and had managed to get €5 off the bus fare by signing up to some loyalty scheme they bus company had introduced. Little did they know that my ongoing loyalty would be an issue, as I hated travelling by bus and was only doing so today because Irish Rail had decided to feck up my day by bussing people from Athy to Dublin and back in order to make rail improvements in Hazelhatch, allegedly. This was pointless for me, coming from Carlow, hence my getting a bus all the way there. And so I was up a little in monetary terms but the knowledge that my bladder would be playing chicken with time on the trip back down from Dublin filled me with dread. (Why don't all intercity buses have toilets on them?)

But as I sat at the bar in Brew Dock opposite Busáras - 10 minutes and a packet of ready-salted crisps - after stepping from the bus, with a Beavertown Holy Cowbell in front of me that tasted of dense and sweetish-sooty spiced black cardamom, I decided to put the thoughts of the return journey to the back of my mind. Anyway, I had a plan to be as dehydrated as possible for the return journey in order to avoid the ignominy of peeing into a bottle on the bus. I always place personal embarrassment before my health, I think it might be a man thing...

I also got to sample the excellent Siren Soundwave in Brew Dock - tasting of cat pee on grapefruit in a glass, but in a nice way - before heading down the bright, windy streets of Dublin to the Convention Centre where the festival was being held.

Once inside the venue with an 'Eco' (read plastic) glass and a few vouchers in hand, I wandered about in a daze, and it was then I came to the heaven/hell conclusion once more, that I would not be able to try all the beers here - not even close, even with a couple of friends in tow. So as I sipped on a sour, tart, lemonish, medicinally-cleansing Beavertown Londonerweiss I formulated a plan to only try the beers I probably wouldn't be able to get at any other time or at any other festival. Unfortunately that meant leaving out most of the Irish breweries, as I knew I'd pick up most of their beers during the rest of the year either locally in offies, or on other beer or food related excursions.

My first proper stop was at the stand of the Hungarian outfit Legenda Sörfőzde and I was very impressed by the range on offer. The brewer(?) took his time to explain the beers and although there might have been a little bit of info lost in translation it was clear that there was passion and innovation aplenty in the brewery, not to mention some really tasty beers; Bazooka a smoked rye beer - like liquidised smoky ham with a sweet glaze; Olaszházi Meggysör Kriek - quite dry but with glacé cherries and a little Christmas pudding; Pony amber ale - dryish too with the tropical fruit flavours of five American hops and loads of body; Horror - an alcoholic Belgian TIPA that tasted of lychees and coffee somehow; Brettannia Sour Ale - those sweet cigarettes from my youth and cider vinegar in a strangely pleasant blend. I can only assume that inventive brewing is at the fore in Hungary at the moment. Hopfanatic's Fekete Erdő, a forest fruited porter reinforced this to me when I tried it later, a more subtle but equally good beer from the same country.

Next stop was Brauerei Gusswerk an award winning brewery near Salzburg in Austria brewing organic beers in a wide range of styles. Black Betty tasted of mild but bitter milk chocolate with some sort of a herby after-taste I couldn't place; Die Schwarze Kuh is an imperial stout that tasted like a bitter cocoa brandy if such a drink existed; the wonderfully named Horny Betty came across to me as spiced-up Belgian tripel. All were very nice and I made a mental note to return to get a mixed takeaway pack - but forgot to do so!

After a quick stop at Tuatara to try their pleasant Ardennes blonde ale and a gorgeously full bodied Bertinchamps next door it was time for food.

I've always had a fondness for pies with beer so I Skoffed a pulled pork pie, which was very tasty but perhaps was a little heavy on the tomato sauce for my palate, also I would have preferred mash to salad, but then again I'd rarely be happy...
Somewhere to sit apart from the floor would have been nice too but I can appreciate that seating would take up too much space and would require extra staff with cattle prods to keep people moving. Perhaps more tables to stand at might be the answer...

Appetites sorted and eager for a palate cleanser we spotted Rye River's stand close by and decided to have a look. Sitting among their usual brands were a row of chalk written signs over taps. My notes failed me here but I can remember that the low alcohol Berliner Weisse was excellent, the Brown Ale - a much underbrewed style - tasted sublime, and the double IPA was ridiculously smooth and drinkable. I get the feeling they brewed these to prove to a few people that yes they can brew tricky beers if need be but that their core focus was beer for the masses. For whatever reason, I hope they brew these again as they are certainly beers I would buy.... hopefully they were testing the market for a premium brand to add to their stable.

Next we found Lagunitas, Thornbridge and Founders all lurking together on one of the side walls and had to pay our dues. Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout was exactly as it sounded - only better - and as we talked to the guy behind the tap I happened to mention Thornbridge Jaipur X and how I had hoped it would be here. Suddenly a bottle was produced, opened and shared with us! It was fantastic with a heavy hit of alcohol balanced with toasted orange peel and a lovely dry finish.

After a coffee/water/toilet break (ever mindful of my dehydration plan for the bus) and a sit down in the atrium we went seeked out Black's Model T stout, which was deliciously smooth with the usual-for-stout coffee and chocolate taste and Hi-Viz, which zinged the taste buds with grape-and-other-fruit bitterness.

At this point my notes were getting sketchy and my palate tired. Ever mindful of the bus journey home, I knew I was nearing my limit so headed for one of the breweries we had been tipped off about earlier.

Freigeist Bierkultur seem to be a bit of an enigma, even as I try to research them now I keep coming up with dead ends and a Facebook page that states; 'Freigeist is the experimental offshoot of Cologne's revolutionary small brewery, Braustelle. Here we strive to break the chains of industrial brewing by reviving and updating, Germany's unique, historical beer styles.'

No matter as their beer itself does the talking and Geisterzug Rhubarb Gose has a lot to say. It's a savoury rhubarb, spicy, herby, sourish glorious beer. A complex beauty that just might have edged it to my favourite beer of the festival, or at least made it into the top 3. This was followed by a smoked Alt beer whose name I never noted, but I wrote the words ' Bitter, Fruit, Smoke' in my notebook. It was superb too if not as memorable as the Rhubarb Gose, which is more a testament to the former's quality that the latter's shortcomings. Inwardly I cursed not coming here earlier to try more of the range and vowed to try and find them in this country.

I finished the festival with a Beavertown Moose Fang that tasted bitter and coal-like but in a good way, and said good bye to Alltech and a few new found friends, both liquid and flesh. We made our way back towards Brew Dock for a perhaps-unwise last beer before the bus and I couldn't help but feel that this was the best beer festival I had ever been to to date. It was so well run, the selection of breweries and beer was phenomenal, but more than that it was that edge of professionalism as soon as you walk in the door that makes a festival like this something special. Most importantly I really enjoyed it, which is the key thing really of course, or all the rest counts for nothing!

Perhaps they'll do two a year? How about a winter and a summer festival Alltech?

One of my favourite Irish stouts Galway Brewing Buried at Sea wasn't on in Brew Dock so I had the Stormy Port porter instead, and after a last minute toilet dash we boarded the bus for home.

By the way, my fears for the journey home were unfounded, I slept most of the way, dreaming of Rhubarb Gose...

Great Day!

(Thanks to John K. for heaven/hell title.)