TOPIC:

I was down in Courtown recently on holidays, we rented a house and her family came over from UK and my family came from Roscommon and we stayed there for the week.

I had a keg of stout with me and a case of lager, all homebrew of course. One of the days we went to Ambrose Moloneys for a few pints, I was disappointed to see only standard macro taps and wondered if at least they had anything good in the bottles. I asked a lady who from her reponse I can only assume was an owner/manager if they had any decent beer, Irish micros, she laughed and told me I was the first one to have asked in 7 years. I said but if you don't have it you can't sell it, I was told that wasn't the way it worked around there.....this was followed up by a "I support ye all the way, by the way", my thoughts were eh up until you have to put your money where your convictions lie and then don't even chance a change.
Are the Irish small boys not going enough to promote their brands or can they simply not fight the likes of a Diageo marketting budget?
I had one pint of some rubbish or other and then refused to drink any more there, due to what I actually considered a rant from yer wan after a simple request. I went back to my homebrew and that was it for spending my money on drink in Courtown.

"EoinMag":28gj1sic wrote: Are the Irish small boys not going enough to promote their brands or can they simply not fight the likes of a Diageo marketting budget?
[/quote:28gj1sic]


There's a limit to what you can do with two blokes and a Ford Transit. You'd need one hell of a budget to take on "our national drink". The Dungarvan guys are punching above their weight. They've managed to get themselves on Tv a couple of times.

What Diablo said.

The craft beer revolution is not about taking on the macros. In the countries where craft beer is most readily available, the most popular beers are still the multinational macro brands.

"EoinMag":37t4mwfz wrote: I was down in Courtown recently on holidays, we rented a house and her family came over from UK and my family came from Roscommon and we stayed there for the week.

I had a keg of stout with me and a case of lager, all homebrew of course. One of the days we went to Ambrose Moloneys for a few pints, I was disappointed to see only standard macro taps and wondered if at least they had anything good in the bottles. I asked a lady who from her reponse I can only assume was an owner/manager if they had any decent beer, Irish micros, she laughed and told me I was the first one to have asked in 7 years. I said but if you don't have it you can't sell it, I was told that wasn't the way it worked around there.....this was followed up by a "I support ye all the way, by the way", my thoughts were eh up until you have to put your money where your convictions lie and then don't even chance a change.
Are the Irish small boys not going enough to promote their brands or can they simply not fight the likes of a Diageo marketting budget?
I had one pint of some rubbish or other and then refused to drink any more there, due to what I actually considered a rant from yer wan after a simple request. I went back to my homebrew and that was it for spending my money on drink in Courtown.[/quote:37t4mwfz]

I'd hardly consider it a rant! And to be fair to the publican, it's all a bit chicken and egg for them, if no-one asks for craft beer (you were the second person in 7 years) and she's not aware of it's availability, why would they order it in?

I'd have engaged her in conversation and said, did you know there are 3 great beers being brewed in the next county over (and more coming soon)? would you get a case of them in? if not, why not?

[quote:2uuap6fq]Yes, it could provide a great opportunity for the conversation that starts "I see you have the new Smithwick's. Is there much interest? Would you consider putting on a tap from [insert local brewery here]?"[/quote:2uuap6fq]

I agree that I might try and tell someone about a good beer but I am not a missionary. I am not out to convert the natives away from their false religion of macro. I like good beer because its fun not because the clouds parted and a booming voice told me it was holy.

The Perlis quote below is what I mean. You would have to put in "craft beer" for "computer science" and "beer" for "computer" and "machine"

[quote:2uuap6fq]I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don't become missionaries. Don't feel as if you're Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don't feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What's in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.[/quote:2uuap6fq]

"TheBeerNut":1lu0lm1k wrote: What Diablo said.

The craft beer revolution is not about taking on the macros. In the countries where craft beer is most readily available, the most popular beers are still the multinational macro brands.[/quote:1lu0lm1k]

Yep look at gooses island only 1% of the market in Chicago yet available over here