Off-trade

Celebrate Indie Beer Week

Ireland’s craft brewers are having a week-long celebration of beers from independent breweries.

 

“Indie Beer Week is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the brilliant independent breweries in every corner of Ireland who employ talented young professionals with a massive emphasis on producing quality beers," commented ICBI Chairman Peter Mosley.

“Indie Beer Week is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the brilliant independent breweries in every corner of Ireland who employ talented young professionals with a massive emphasis on producing quality beers,” commented ICBI Chairman Peter Mosley.

Indie Beer Week 2021 celebrates independent Irish craft brewing around Ireland and runs from the 17th to the 23rd of May this year with online tastings running from Thursday the 20th to Saturday the 22nd  of May.

Indie beer aficionados can order their tasting pack to be delivered to their home and then join in online for guided tastings and Meet the Brewer sessions.

The event is being run by the Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland who’re working with Beer Cloud and Craic Beer Community to bring these online events live.

 

Supporting local indigenous small brewing companies

Irish microbreweries are showcasing the huge variety of craft beers available. Styles encompass lagers, wheat beers, sours, all types of ales and stouts.

This is the fourth Indie Beer Week, an event created to promote and celebrate small Irish brewing businesses. In the past it was a chance to visit one’s local brewery for community-based events. This time it’s an opportunity to virtually bring together the community of independent Irish craft breweries with the people of Ireland, states the ICBI.

The ICBI will be releasing the details of all these beers over the next while – but packs can be ordered on www.indiebeerweek.ie.

A selection of craft beers can be ordered from a choice of three packs and then tasted along with the brewers at these dedicated online sessions – the perfect time to explore Irish beer from small companies owned by and employing local people.

Indie Beer Week provides the opportunity to meet the people behind the beer, putting a face to the name of some of Ireland’s most interesting and innovative independent brews.

“Indie Beer Week is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the brilliant independent breweries in every corner of Ireland who employ talented young professionals with a massive emphasis on producing quality beers,” commented ICBI Chairman Peter Mosley.

For example, ICBI member Liam Tutty of Dead Centre Brewing set-up Beer Cloud in 2020 as an online sales hub for Irish craft beer to provide a much-needed route to market for his own beers as well as those of other breweries across Ireland.

“The local support for independent Irish breweries throughout the past year has been extraordinary,” added Brian Cahill who set up Craic Beer Community in early 2020 as an online platform that champions beers being produced by independent Irish breweries.

While it’s a shame that breweries can’t open their doors and welcome in the public as they normally would throughout the week, it’s brilliant that we’re still able to celebrate it online.

“However, it’s important to keep that momentum going. We’re all counting down the days until the hospitality industry can fully re-open. Once it does, we hope that the Irish public continue supporting their independent breweries by asking for it in their local.”

ICBI Co-ordinator Elisabeth Ryan summed up:With the closing of the pubs it’s been a tough time for many small independently-owned breweries, a lot of whom relied largely on keg sales to pubs for much of their output,” she stated.

“Whilst sales of bottles and cans have of course grown, even the best-performing breweries have experienced a significant loss of sales and this from an already low base where consumption of craft beer in Ireland is less than 3%.

“This being said, we’re very hopeful that the trend towards buying local in Ireland over the last many years will now really be cemented by the further upsurge in the last year and will continue to extend to the craft beer sector. Our hope is that when hospitality re-opens, the Irish public will vote with their feet and ask for their local Irish craft beer.”

A full list of members is available on the ICBI Website and all will be getting involved prior to and throughout the week, celebrating Independent Irish Beer.

 


Sign Up for Drinks Industry Ireland

Get a free weekly update on Drinks Industry trade news, direct to your inbox. Sign up now, it's free