All-Irish Brewfest™

[admin]

Bit premature, but since we've starting using Irish pale malt and the hop rhizome season is nearly upon us, that we should maybe have a small event in September or October or so where we showcase beer made from 100% locally grown ingredients. This really would be a first in Ireland, and we might even get some funding for it!

What say ye?

[Ciderhead]

You are fooking bullshitting me, Smith get back to your homework and stop looking out the window.

[Ciderhead]

Thought you knew the hotels I stay in they are in the flesh
I'm still scratching from the Travel Lodge.

[Will_D]

Indeed and talking about CIDER

This comp in March is far too early for really good cider.

So John and I propose a August/September Cider fest to coincide with the start of the apple harvesting season.

Those of us who used Johns great juice will be in a category "Cider from Apple Juice"
Also anyone could enter this with juice pressed from desert/cooking  apples or even pears bought in the shops.

Others can enter using Lidl/Aldi/Other juices in the "Concentrate category"

Others can enter cider made from kits in the "kit" category

[Hop Bomb]

Since you brought up the Irish Malt Ive a question. It doesnt taste or smell near as nice as the marris otter malt ive here. Story with that?

[Ciderhead]

Since you brought up the Irish Malt Ive a question. It doesnt taste or smell near as nice as the marris otter malt ive here. Story with that?

Taste? you ate it?
Much nicer smell in the back of my car that UK malt drop I did

Have you ground/mashed with it yet? no me neither.

Tube you did any comments?

[Hop Bomb]

I taste all the grains I buy. Myself & a few of my non brewer mates were drinking some of my IPA last night & to explain the process I let them sniff a bag of hops & taste some marris otter. We were all eating the malt as we drank like it was a bowl of peanuts haha. They thought it was lovely.

I guess its a personal thing. I though the handful of MO I sniffed at tasted was nicer than the Irish Malt. Ive not milled or brewed any of the Irish stuff yet though. Might do on Sunday as Ive a starter on the go now.

[imark]

Like the idea Shane but would there be enough people with their own hops?

[johnrm]

I was thinking the same, plus this years harvest will only be coming in Sept/Oct so if its a drinking rather than brewing event, then there might bel slim pickings in the drinking dept.

I do think however that it is safe to bill it as All-Irish as a bid to encourage greater awareness and participation by growers nationally.

Lets pray for sun. (For the Hop season more so than the event!)

[Eoin]

I'm not sure we have any hop growers, or else they're too short sighted to plan ahead for next season...which is it?

http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1359641377

[johnrm]

Ooh, thats a real shame.
How do we tap into the growers?

[imark]

You'd be surprised. I know one lad who composted hops last year as he had too many.

Ah jaysus...thats just wrong! 

[Greg2013]

OMG i didn't even realize we could grow hops in this country with our weather. What varieties are we talking about here?