European Beer Bloggers Conference 2014 Day Two (longer version )

Day Two started at the crack of ten in the morning. Surprisingly enough most of us made it in on time. The day began with a talk about the Irish Beer Industry by Dean McGuinness aka Beer Messiah from Premier Beers. He reminded us of the first wave of Irish microbreweries which included Biddy Earley’s (I’m not lamenting them) and The Porterhouse and Franciscan Well who are still with us.

I did find it a bit strange that he kept trying to find parallels with the Irish and UK beers, which coincidentally are the ones his company import. I know that no Irish industry works in a vacuum but still, a bit of a stretch I thought. No matter, I manfully drank the very fine beers he put in front of us.

After that we had Cindy Molchany from Zephyr Adventures (the company that did a great job organising the conference) talk to us about advanced social media for bloggers. She has a lot of experience in the field and I found it very useful. Then it was time for lunch with Pilsner Urquell.

After pouring myself a fresh pint of Pilsner Urquell with their Master Brewer Vaclav Berka (what a man!) it was time for some barbecue. Dave, The Church’s Executive Chef was manning the grill and he had some serious sausages and marinated ribs to keep us going well into the afternoon.

The Bretzel Bakery were there as well with their delicious bread, if I had thought it through I could’ve made a great sausage sandwich!

And there was cheesecake for dessert. Honestly Pilsner Urquell and The Church, you spoilt us rotten.

Back inside for the afternoon session. Derek Springer from Automattic, the people who brought us WordPress spoke to us about supercharging our blogs. It was very interesting (for us bloggers!). Next Tomasz Kopyra a Polish beer blogger spoke to us about incorporating video into our blogs. He has millions of views, so he’s obviously doing something right! Mhairi MacLeod from the Scottish creative agency Lux gave us some perspective on what the beer industry wants from bloggers. She started out beer blogging herself and has built a successful career from there, she’s living the dream.

Beer Ireland were hosting an Irish Craft Beer reception which showcased some of the finest beers in the country. I started with Rascals Wit Woo. She’s a beauty, well worth checking out.

I had some of Independent’s limited stout which is very good, pick it up if you see it anywhere.

The Hurler from Four Provinces is a newcomer and a very welcome one at that. Soon to be pouring in GAA clubs across the land!

Franciscan Well were hosting the dinner. The main course featured their Chieftan IPA with a burger topped with blue cheese. Shane Long from Franciscan Well reckoned it was a winning combination and he knows his onions. He also talked about the Irish Beer Industry and painted a picture of a collaborative community. Which is great to hear.

We finished with the Franciscan Well that was aged in Jameson barrels. It’s epic beer.

To finish the event in style O’Hara’s hosted a party where you could speak with their brewers, enjoy their beers and listen to a bit of music. I was happy to finally be able to try the collaborative Lublin to Dublin. Pinta and O’Hara’s created an Irish Oatmeal Stout with Marynka and Lubelski hops. Lovely stout indeed! Thanks to everyone involved for making the event happen. It was great meeting fellow bloggers and I learned a lot! Sláinte.