Last weekend I was lucky enough to be asked to cover the Irish Craft Beer Festival in the RDS for the lovely people at iRadio for their new blog iDLE.ie.

So off I set on a lovely August Friday evening to Ballsbridge with my press credentials in one hand and a thirst only fine ales could quench. Luckily for me there was plenty of that to be had!

On arrival I decided my first port of call would be to possibly my favourite Irish brewery, The White Hag from Ballymote in Sligo. I was greeted by their head brewer Joe who told me that they had 12 individual beer on offer ranging from their Oatmeal Chocolate Stout “The White Sow” dry hopped with coffee beans to their “Beann Gulban” Irish Heather Ale, a lovely sour beer which was naturally fermented with wild yeast and aged in Cabernet wine barrels.

I tried a few of their beers and was especially fond of their “Little Fawn” Session IPA which used stout male and simcoe hops and was a great way to start the night!

Sharing some counter space with The White hag was a new addition to the Irish beer scene Manor Brewing, who launched their Mont Irish Mountain Lager, made at their brewhouse just outside Blessington in the Wicklow Mountains and I’m told it’s the highest brewery in Ireland.

The lads told me their philosophy was that “every beer should be earned” whether that be from doing chores or going to the gym or passing an exam, when you do achieve something you deserve to be rewarded. Their Lager a lovely malty lager with just enough grassy hop bitterness to keep it interesting seems like just the job for that. I’m not really a lager guy, but this was lovely.

Some of you might recognise the smiley head on the right as former manager of The Salt House in Galway and The Dark House in Blackrock. Tarem Davis is part of the Manor team and brings years of experience in the craft beer industry in Ireland with him. Looking forward to seeing their beers around the country.

Next I made at adventure across the hall to visit Trouble Brewing who have gone from strength to strength over the last 2 years. They have been cranking our consistently brilliant beers and being extremely creative in the process.

Keeping to that pattern I was delighted to get my hands on a glass of their always good Deception Golden Ale from the cask, the kicker here being that they had added gorgeous ripe mangos to the mix. It was everything I’d hoped for and more, but I’m slightly obsessed with mangos.

From there I sauntered as far as the Radikale stand, a new brewery where Alain Dekoster is acting as brewmaster and mad scientist and making some fantastic, slightly off centre beers.

At the festival he brought along a “Curious Brew”, a beer where he used no aroma hops at all. Hops were added at the start of the brew to give their bitterness but all the aromas came fro gin botanicals. It was a little different and definitely needs to be approached with an inquisitive mind, but I thought it was great. I can’t wait to get my hands on more of his stuff soon.

From there I paid my respects to a brewery who have been around for a while, Galway Hooker. The lads were part of vanguard of the current Craft Beer explosion and their Irish Pale Ale has been a staple in any respectable craft beer bar ever since.

Aidan Murphy, one of the owners, was manning the stall and gave me a taste of their lovely 60 Knots IPA as well as a glass of their flagship Pale Ale. Great to see the lads in flying form and the beer was a hit as ever.

Moving along my pack and I roamed as far as the lads from Wicklow Wolf Brewing Co. where Co-founder Quincey Fennely served me a glass of their Elevation IPA, which was bloody lovely. The lads have been around for almost exactly a year now and have been rightfully been receiving praise from all quarters in that time.

Right next door to Wicklow Wolf, The Porterhouse Brewing Co. were dishing out the beers that have made them an Irish beer institution over the last 19 years. But it was their new creating I was interested in. They recently launched their “Hopped to F#ck” Double IPA. This was an 8% hop bomb and I loved it. I guess even old dogs can learn new tricks!

Up next was Boyne Brewhouse where Peter Cooney told me about how himself and his siblings started the brewery as an extension to the family’s already successful cider business. I sampled their Long Arm Dortmunder Export Lager and thought it was a great example of the style. A crisp flavourful pale lager you could easily drink on a session with enough going on to keep you interested. Well done lads.

Moving swiftly along I hit another new kid on the block, Killarney Brewing Company. I had a chat with Paul Sheehan, a director of the company, and he told me there were in the process of setting up a bottling line and getting their beers ready for national distribution.

I had a sup of their Gold Spear Blond Ale and I thought it would be the perfect partner to burger during a BBQ on a hot summer evening. I’ll be patiently waiting for their beers to make the trip to Atlhone in the near future.

Next up was O Brother Brewing. Barry O’Neill told me about how around a year ago himself and his three brothers bought a second hand kit from the UK. The man they brought it from turned out to be a master brewer and insisted in helping them set it up in their new site. As a result they got a smashing brew kit and a defacto mentor for the price of one.

The lads have been getting rave reviews since their beers started appearing on tap in the usual craft beer bars in Dublin and I’ve been a big fan since the first taste of their “The Fixer” American style red ale. At the festival I got to try their new “The Sinner” IPA and it’s every bit as good as it’s stable mate. These lads are making serious beers, grab some if you can when they start appearing in bottle around the country in the next few weeks!

After that I headed over to sample the wares of Simon Lambert & Son’s in house brewery where Declan Nixon, seen above looking quite dapper in his lovely top hat, is brewing up the delicious “Yellow Belly” range of beers. I’d been tipped off by several people that I needed to get over there before I left and the advice did not disappoint.

I had a few sips of a few different beers and for me the stand outs were the Pale Stout, which I still can’t get me head around at all, and the Yellow Belly Lager, which is one of the best pale lagers I’ve ever drank. I’ll be planning a trip to Wexford to sample these beers in their natural habitat asap!

Last but by no means least, I visited the stand of Lagunitas Brewing Company. Based in Petaluma north of San Fancsico, these guys have been one of the darlings of the American craft beer industry for a while now. They were guests at this years Festival and are available in most good off licences in Ireland thanks to their Irish distributors Grand Cru Beers.

I had a chat with Fraser Murry, their European Market Manager and he let me have a sample of their “Laguintas Sucks” which was insanely good.

I had a great time at the festival and I’m really looking forward to the next one in the spring. Thanks again to the lads at iRadio for the gig and especially to all of the breweries featured who were kind enough to take time to talk to me, give me cheeky samples and let me take their pictures.

Cheers,

Seán.