ICB Awards: Rated by Members 2007

The Easter Festival run by the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork provides a unique opportunity for people to experience a huge range of quality Irish Craft Beers in one location. With this in mind, a group of ICB members converged on the Well to sample with gusto. This fantastic festival also provided an opportunity to compare and contrast the beers made available by the various breweries on that weekend, which is exactly what the ICB members present did. The result of this was a set of ratings by our members which, we feel, recognises of the quality work Professional Craft Brewers are doing in this country; so much so, that it has spawned the first Awards that IrishCraftBrewer.com is proud to present.

While the award process was very organic this year, it reflects the excellent choice and variety of Craft Brews that are available in this country, if only people knew about it! We aim to regularise the award process and use it as a means of promoting the excellent work carried out by the Craft Brewers of Ireland. We believe that this recognition, by a group of Irish consumers interested in quality Irish beers, is important, as it provides the Professional Craft Brewers with acknowledgement from the consumer, not necessarily the industry, and that is something any producer is concerned with.

So, without further ado, here are the results of the deliberations of the ICB jury present at the festival that Easter weekend. Many thanks to Cormac O'Dwyer, Níall Feeney, Thomas Prior and Brian Wilson who compiled this list and planted the seeds for future consumer awards to a great indiginous industry.

	Galway Hooker Pale Ale This was a flavour packed hoppy pale ale with a refreshing citrus finish. This is a rarely explored style in this country and was a welcome addition to the existing beer styles on offer. www.galwayhooker.ie
	Boh Pils (Franciscan Well Brewery) A great example of a Bohemian Lager, this was up there with the finest the Czechs have to offer. Malty with a delicate hop flavour, this was beautifully balanced. www.franciscanwellbrewery.com
	Headless Dog (College Green) Of particular note was Headless Dog, a fine English Bitter. Brewed by College Green, this walked away with the Best Ale award. www.hildenbrewery.co.uk
	Druid's Brew Stout (Carlow Brewing). This was specially brewed for the festival and the effort was greatly appreciated by those in attendance. The stout was velvety smooth with chocolate and coffee flavours, this pushed very hard for Beer of the Festival. www.carlowbrewing.com
	Hilden Brewery. Hilden picked up this award quite simply for the range of quality beer that they brought along to the event, including 3 cask conditioned ales, something we don't often see in Ireland. www.hildenbrewery.co.uk

Of honourable mention were the UCC Pilot Brewery's Bock and Messrs Maguire IPA.

We should point out that these awards are not in any way connected with the festival organisers themselves and are purely the views of Irish Craft Brewer members.

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