So, imagine, one of the biggest festivals of the craft beer calendar and I’ve got man flu….

As some of you will know, I don’t normally get sick, it happens about once a year at most. I think I’ve missed a total of 3 work days through illness, but doing most of my work through a computer helps with that.

I could feel it hit me on Friday morning. So I did my usual and just ignored it. Normally, alcohol seems to kill off any viral ailments I may have and I had a full weekend of beer ahead, so I though I’d be sorted.

Friday night, I was at the leaving drinks of an inspirational friend and felt crap. So was home by 11.30.

Up at 7 the next morning to get last week’s blog done as I knew I would be at Alltech and I wanted to get it published in time to give it a plug.

Believe it or not, these blog things aren’t normally a couple of hours work. Far from it. The first draft for the Promotion one took about 8 hours, including research. And then you leave it.

It’s a bit like Christmas pudding – cook first time around, leave for a few days and then cook again (or is that meth?).

Rule no.1: Never, ever go with your first draft, unless it’s very short.

So, after spending the morning writing the first draft, I had the simple task of just adding hyperlinks and images. “No problem,” I thought. “I can do it at the festival.”

Little did I know, adding hyperlinks and images on an iPad is like knitting a jumper wearing a pair of boxing gloves. So tasks that normally take about 20 seconds, took 10 minutes.

Subsequently my Saturday at the festival was spent in the press room, apart from a quick reccie and one beer.

Saturday’s beer tasting was always going to be cut short as I had to get the train to Belfast to take my da to Carl Frampton’s World Title boxing match.

Morning at home, afternoon at festival, evening on the train. And I still didn’t have the bleepin blog finished!

I had to call in the help of my wife to finish the links, add images and videos. I was giving advice from the boxing arena, trying to make the most of the quiet interludes between the chants of the well-oiled gents that surrounded me with “There’s only one Carl Frampton.”

And there is. He won convincingly to the backdrop of an amazing atmosphere. At least one thing went right today!

6.30am start the next day to get the 7.30 bus to Dublin after a nail biting rush from a late taxi to the bus centre. One final proof of the blog on the bus brought up a few final amends, which took about an hour to fix! 9am, Sunday morning and last week’s blog was up…. Phew.

I just about made it to the Dublin Convention Centre for the Alltech seminars on marketing and beer. One session was on Kentucky Bourbon, because it’s also part of Alltech’s product line and was available at the festival. We got to taste (what I think was) the Town Branch Bourbon. It’s probably worth noting, it’s 11am on a Sunday morning, I haven’t had time to eat since my 6.30am start and my man flu hasn’t abated. My theory was that the whiskey will kill it…..

12 o’clock saw the big game kick-off between my beloved LFC and Manchester City, so I had to go off-site to catch up on that and finally get some food into me. Roast beef and spuds, a McGargles Stout, a McGargles Red and a satisfying 2-1 for the mighty Reds and I was finally ready to experience the Alltech Craft Brews and Food Fair.

Alltech have their own rang of beers – Kentucky Ale, Kentucky Kölsch, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout and Kentucky IPA. You can guess where they’re based…

The company has an interesting story, their founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons, grew up in Dundalk and worked in the Harp factory, before settling in Kentucky in 1976 and starting Alltech in 1980. Alltech owns a number of different businesses ranging from animal nutrition to craft beer to a golf course!

They seem to have a great ethos around sustainability and improvement in nutrition and the business has been growing very strongly, year after year. And currently approaching $1billion in sales! Their CSR is genuine, with some fantastic initiatives. In addition, Dr. Lyons has been giving something back to Ireland, with, not just the Alltech festivals, but a European Headquarters in Dunboyne, Meath, a joint distillery venture with the Carlow Brewing Company in Bagenalstown and a new distillery in St. James Church, a stone’s throw from the Guinness Storehouse.

Sunday at the festival was good craic, they smartly had the hotly anticipated Six Nations rugby game between Ireland and England on a big screen (which we won!) and music and entertainment. The stalls, or bars, were well laid out for the 60 plus beer brands on offer including an impressive feature bar in the centre for the Alltech beers.

Alltech also had a little stand promoting the beers which won awards at the festival. A really good idea and a great marketing boost for the awardees. For example, I was never going to get to try all the 100+ beers on offer, so I focused on trying the award winners, starting with the Dublin Craft Beer Cup. Here’s who won awards, if you’re interested…

Unfortunately, the man flu clung to me like beer dregs round a glass. My hectic weekend schedule didn’t help matters. So I struggled to make the most of the day and the Alltech festival as a whole. I would highly recommend it to anyone who drinks beer to go along next year.

And if you’d like a beer festival beforehand, there’s one in the RDS, Dublin, as part of the St. Patrick’s Festival.

Beer of the week

As I promised in the previous blog, I would highlight the beers I tried at Alltech. Normally I like to promote Irish beers in my beer of the week but since there was such an amazing range of international beers at Alltech, I got the passport out.

Since next weekend begins the St. Patrick’s Festival (we don’t have a day in Dublin anymore, it’s a friggin week long celebration!) I’ll be back supporting the talents of the Irish breweries.

So let’s start.

Eleven Russian Imperial Stout by Coisbo.

This won the Dublin Craft Beer Cup. I find stouts to be a mixed bag, some I love, some I hate. I absolutely adored this. It was like no other stout I’d ever tasted. It’s 10% ABV so probably just as well I only got a taste! It’s not in Irish off licences yet, but I’ll definitely be looking out for it.

Urban Haze Pale Ale

Inspired by the Stout I thought I’d try another Coisbo and the elderflower in their pale ale (5.7%) intrigued me. Unfortunately it was probably at the bottom of the beers I tasted that weekend. Yet, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try it today and it would be lovely! The style and design of the brand is very cool though.

Lagunitas Cappucino Stout

I’m not a coffee drinker, but I’ll try anything once when it comes to beer and this was surprisingly nice and not a strong alcohol taste even at 9.2% ABV. I could taste coffee, but in a good way. Would definitely drink again! Lagunitas is from Petaluna in Calfornia.

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (8.2%) from Alltech

You can’t go to the host’s party and not try their cake! I’ve tried a few whiskey barrelled beers in the past and liked them and this one was nice as well. Sweet and interesting.

Kentucky Honey Barrel Brown Ale

I also tried this one from the hosts, but didn’t like it as much. It’s 10% ABV so not to be sniffed at. Maybe the man flu was distorting my taste senses…

Horror, by Legenda Sörfőzde

What a name for a beer, but probably more appealing than Diesel, Snakebite and wait for it Horse Juice! When I saw the stand for these guys and their anarchic beer branding I thought they were ex-skaters from California, but they are from Budapest, Hungary, a country not known for it’s craft beer.

Anyway, Horror looked scary and at 12% ABV it probably was. It is so new it’s not even on the internet yet! I don’t know if it was the man flu or this being my last beer of the day, but I thought it was very nice 🙂

Brettannia Sour Ale

Another one by the the boys down by the Danube. I’m not a fan of the sour beers I’ve had so far but this was nice and sweet. I was told by the girl at the booth that if you like wine, you’ll like this beer.

Stout by Crate Brewery

Well these guys certainly keep their branding simple. Based in London, they are distributed in Ireland by Manor Brands. Again, I like this one, not too heavy, 5.7% ABV, with a bit of a sweet, liquorice taste.

Brune by Bertinchamps (7% ABV)

Another import by Manor Brands, the Bertinchamps Brune caught my eye because it was Belgian and I’m a huge fan of the classic Belgian beers. The notes I took for this one were ‘complex’……… I blame that totally on my condition at that time!

So back next week for all things Irish!!

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