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"sinbad":30o92k1q wrote: Irish party ale i noticed that myself, i emailed them ages ago and they said they would put me on the distribution list for when they wer announcing the homebrew competition plus i emailed them again still to hear from them but sure.[/quote:30o92k1q]I tried to get the brewers to give me a shout back but Im sure they had plenty of other things to do not to be worrying about the homebrew contest!

&amp;quot;sinbad&amp;quot;:30o92k1q wrote: there is the last saturday in august band parade in lisburn for all to enjoy, so why not sample a bit of culture while your here enjoying the beer[/quote:30o92k1q]I was in Bangor for the Black Boys parade, which was pretty disappointing - the gentlemen in question were neither youthful or dark of complexion <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

&amp;quot;Irish Party Ale&amp;quot;:24jez22b wrote:

&amp;quot;sinbad&amp;quot;:24jez22b wrote: Irish party ale i noticed that myself, i emailed them ages ago and they said they would put me on the distribution list for when they wer announcing the homebrew competition plus i emailed them again still to hear from them but sure.[/quote:24jez22b]I tried to get the brewers to give me a shout back but Im sure they had plenty of other things to do not to be worrying about the homebrew contest!

&amp;quot;sinbad&amp;quot;:24jez22b wrote: there is the last saturday in august band parade in lisburn for all to enjoy, so why not sample a bit of culture while your here enjoying the beer[/quote:24jez22b]I was in Bangor for the Black Boys parade, which was pretty disappointing - the gentlemen in question were neither youthful or dark of complexion <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->[/quote:24jez22b]

The black boys <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: --> thats a new one on me <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

I think you might be getting confused between the black preceptory and the apprentice boys. Although you are right about the names being a misnomer, they should be up in front of trading standards <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

So is there only me and big ears throwing our hats into the homebrew competetion, anyone else entering?

&amp;quot;bigears&amp;quot;:1aj9883d wrote: It would certainly be awkward if they spotted you staggering up to your car with keys in hand <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->[/quote:1aj9883d]

Honestly oshifer I just going sleeping.

Well i entered a pale ale and won <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> (the prize was a sack of grain which should come in very handy). I can't really let it go to my head though as there was only one other beer to beat. I was hoping jymbo or more of the irish craftbrewers would have entered to get the numbers up.

I got to meet a few of the lads from the website (beer nut, irish party ale, sauraman and big ears) all seemed decent spuds. I got to try a bottle of the pale ale i was up against (brewed by big ears) it was very good, certainly as good as the commercials and i'd have been quite happy to pay for it, if it had been on tap. My own effort was a tad darker than big ears which meant i was able to get away with bunging lots of hops in. So all in all it was a small field but still stiff opposition.

This may or may not be of interest to you but i was talking to one of the local camra reps about the belfast beer festival, he confirmed that there was no beer festival this year (i think they lost money at the kings hall). But they are negotiating with the ulster hall for the year 2010 and onwards, so hopefully it'll be back in its rightful place slap bang in the middle of the city centre next year <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Nice meeting you yesterday, delboy. And congrats. Next year won't be so easy a victory (no offence, bigears <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->).

The location of the King's Hall festivals never bothered me because Balmoral station's as handy as any. But the venue did leave a lot to be desired. Looking forward to the Ulster Hall next year -- I was told it's definitely definitely on.

I was quite happy with second place given it was such a strong field (cough). <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

Nice meeting you Delboy and hopefully we'll get more brewers to enter next year. I enjoyed a few of the festival beers, including Hilden's own Barney's Brew, and most notably of all Carlow's Goods Store IPA which was fantastic.