Athlone Beer Cup 2014

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Last night we held the first ever Athlone Beer Cup in Maguire’s. There were one or two who couldn’t make it and for a few minutes I thought I was going to have to drink all of the beer myself. Perhaps I was a little foolish planning an event in an Irish pub for 9 o’clock when nothing ever starts until 10 bells!
In the end I shouldn’t have been worrying as all of my fellow tasters arrived at once. (Pictured above looking fresh, the ‘before’ shot) We decided on eight beers that were reasonably ‘sessionable’, so that none of them would completely overshadow all of the others.

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Flying Dog’s Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale was up first. This went down quite well with most of the group, the hoppy aroma was praised.

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Next we had the Czech Pilsner Urquell. I know this is a good beer and it’s very refreshing but it didn’t do well in this particular competition. 

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One of my own favourites was the third on our list; Founder’s All Day IPA. This was a popular tipple and got thumbs up all round.

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It was back to Ireland time and beer numbet four was Franciscan Well’s Rebel Red. It’s a very good example of an Irish Red Ale but it got a somewhat mixed reaction.

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We crossed the Atlantic again and headed for the US west coast and had the Sierra Nevada Flipside Red IPA. I have to say I liked this a lot, the lads of the group also enjoyed it.

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We returned to Ireland and headed up North to Hilden Brewery for their Twisted Hop. This is a fantastic beer but some of the crew were starting to show signs of fatigue.

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A Porterhouse Plain Porter was selected to complete proceedings. This is a great porter but it wasn’t a winner for the ladies.

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After much deliberation, debate and calculator usage we declared a winner. …
(Drum roll)
Founder’s All Day IPA!

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I can safely say that the evening was an unqualified success. Good beer and great company, you can’t go wrong! We will have to do it again sooner rather than later. Athlone Beer Club anyone?
I’d like to thank Barry from Maguire’s for sponsoring the plaque. Stephen and the other bar man who’s name I didn’t catch were very helpful and the entire team made us feel welcome.

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0 Responses to Athlone Beer Cup 2014

  1. The Beer Nut says:

    A very worthy winner there.

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