Hey folks, just wondering what people think of the prospects of a US-style beer festival being held in central Dublin this year.
When I say US-style it'd be something like this:
€40 admission fee, which gets you in and gets you unlimited* 125ml samples.
(* still done by vouchers but you would get more than you could use)
Up to 300 beers on offer.
The entry times would be divided into sessions of, for example:
Friday 5pm-10pm
Sat 11am-4pm** 5pm-10pm (**possible concession price for early bird)
Sun 12pm-5pm
There would probably be food, meet-the-brewer, tutored tasting sessions, competition (pro and non-pro)
The vast majority of the beers would be Irish, but with lots of one-off festival specials where brewers are encouraged to push the boundaries. There would be some quality imported beer too.
The main idea of a festival of this style is to introduce people to as many new beers as possible.
Your thoughts and feedback would be most welcome.
When you say "The main idea of a festival of this style is to introduce people to as many new beers as possible." Do you mean for people who are already into it to try different, semi-rare styles or to get more entrance level people to try new things?
Its a proven festival model. The only reason it wouldnt work is if you priced the breweries out of it with a crazy high stall price & still take 30% of their sales.
Of course. 40e but samples are free = great value. 40e would last two hours in a craft beer bar these days like. Plus the sessions mean you wont be there all day. Just for a set amount of time. The small sample size means you try way more beers too.
How much different would this be from the September beer fest :-\
Quote from: DEMPSEY on January 21, 2015, 03:54:34 PM
How much different would this be from the September beer fest :-\
Won't be in September O0
For comparison Gibney's wine tasting in the Grand was dominated by Beer and Whisky this year. There were about 6 breweries / beer vendors and 2 or 3 distilleries as well as the wine merchants giving out decent volumes. Think the tickets were about €20.
So you are looking at 5 hours drinking for €40
Thats €8 an hour and at €5 a pint thats 8 pints (ish) in conventional land.
How many people can handle this?
Plus add in the fact that some of the beers will be high abv
I like it :o
I'd deffo go and I know a good few others that also would.
Sounds great. I'd definitely go.
Quote from: Will_D on January 21, 2015, 07:47:44 PM
So you are looking at 5 hours drinking for €40
Thats €8 an hour and at €5 a pint thats 8 pints (ish) in conventional land.
How many people can handle this?
Plus add in the fact that some of the beers will be high abv
I like it :o
Plus you today to drink faster when tasting. Sounds like the right price point to me. I think if you had a set capacity (no idea what that should be) then it could be amazing.
I'm all in
Nice idea, good model which I think would work well. The venue / date would have to be carefully thought out
Quote from: Bock on January 22, 2015, 10:10:12 AM
Thanks for all the feedback so far. If anyone has a really good venue in mind to suggest, fire away
What about The Bernard Shaw, space at the back to host it and they have a licence too :)
Lucan County smoking section
Plenty of outside space at the LC.
Mansion house
CCD
Hotels
A warehouse
A community centre
Dalymount
Quote from: Bock on January 22, 2015, 02:34:55 PM
Anyone any suggestions of venues of 2000+ capacity?
tallaght basketball arena?
Guinness gravity bar.
It is the country's biggest tourist attraction and heart of Irish brewing like it or not.
You did say American and to them....Ireland and Guinness !
The gravity bar is the top of 4-7 lvls or something like that.
The Irish Kennel Club in Cloghran beside the Coachmans Inn and Dublin Airport, its as big if not bigger than the RDS and probably cheaper
If you'd prefer something more central The Boxing Stadium have conference facilities