Brewery festival to mark White Hag’s 3rd birthday
THE White Hag Irish Brewing Company of Ballymote, Co. Sligo has announced it will host an International Brewery Festival on July 29th of this year.
The brewery expects a 1000 capacity crowd to attend the event, with 85% of guests expected to come from outside Sligo, bringing a huge boost to the county for a full weekend.
Having won the inaugural Oliver Hughes ‘ Best Brewery in Ireland’ award from Beoir, the national craft beer organisation, the team at The White Hag have decided to host an innovative beer festival to celebrate.
The event will coincide with the brewery’s 3rd Birthday and aims to become an annual event.
‘ Beers not poured in Ireland’ is the theme for the event which will see over 60 beers available for the first time to Irish craft beer fans, from around the world.
As the brewery has expanded to distribution in 10 countries, they have met with many other breweries across the world. As part of the event, they will be bringing 20 breweries from 10 countries to Ireland to pour their beers for the first time.
This unique selling point will appeal to craft beer fans across the country, and indeed from abroad.
Managing Director Paul Mullin said: “We’ve been very fortunate with our progress to date exporting our beers into Europe. Over the last two years, myself and our team have travelled to over 12 countries promoting and showcasing our beers.
“We have met some great people along the way and developed long lasting relationships with brewers in these markets. These relationships usually end up as collaborations for new beers, and this all feeds our constant desire to make great craft beer available to beer fans.
Brew Master Joe Kearns said: “The festival will be a fantastic opportunity for beer fans from Ireland and abroad to experience some of the most innovative breweries from around Europe in one unique location. We will also be hosting the first tasting of our crowdfunded barrel programme, with funders getting to visit their barrel on the morning of the festival for the first time. Along with the chance to taste some extremely unique beers, there will also be music, beer talks, games, and the rare opportunity to experience all this inside an actual working brewery instead of some sweaty old rental hall”
Some of the best food outlets from the Sligo Food Trail and the local Strandhill People’s Market are going to be feeding the attendees. The event will also host the first ‘ Irish National Cornhole Championship’ amongst many other attractions.
The First four breweries to be announced are: * Stone Brewing ( Berlin) * BRLO Brewhouse ( Berlin) * 40ft Brewery ( London) * Oersoep ( Netherlands)