Early this week, Hospitality Ulster, the Northern Ireland organisation responsible for promoting our hospitality sector, tweeted about #BeerDayNI – something I’d either not heard about before or had heard of in previous years but had forgotten. So what is it? From what I can gather, it’s a hashtag running alongside the very popular social media…… Continue reading #BeerDayNI
Last weekend saw the return of the Belfast Craft Beer Festival at Custom House Square and in an unusual twist of good fortune, the sun was out for the two-day open-air event. Praise be. Quickly, to the bar before the clouds gather and the heavens open. A gin bar was prominent for the first time…… Continue reading Festival Gose Well
There’s been a significant change in the County Tyrone commercial brewing scene over the past few months. Pokertree from Carrickmore is now concentrating on distilling spirits via its alter-ego Íon and Donaghmore’s Red Hand Brewing has ceased entirely, mainly due to the closure of Pokertree, according to a source at its restaurant The Brewers House.…… Continue reading All Change in Tyrone
My name is Roy and I’m a CAMRA member. There, I’ve said it. I’m a rarity in Northern Ireland. I’m a member of an organisation the Campaign for Real Ale, run by volunteers, that promotes cask beer and the local boozer. “Right, the local boozer I get, but what’s this cask beer stuff?” Ah, again…… Continue reading Evil Keg Filth: When Dinosaurs Ruled the Land
Does the future of Northern Irish beer now pour from a can? Thankfully the snobbery once associated with cans of beer is fast disappearing as many Irish, British and of course American breweries have been pumping out some top quality brews for quite a while – just think of Whiplash, Yellowbelly, Cloudwater, Beavertown, Magic Rock,…… Continue reading Cans, Contracts and Modern Reds
Quare Swally 