Award logoFor the second year, members of Irish Craft Brewer attending the Easter Beer Festival at The Franciscan Well in Cork selected their favourites from among the Irish craft beers exhibited. (Results for 2007 are here.)

The contenders included cask beers from Carlow, Franciscan Well, Hilden, Hooker and White Gypsy (Messrs Maguire). All brought keg beers too, as did UCC Pilot Brewery and The Porterhouse. Whitewater were represented in bottled form only, and other bottled contenders included White Gypsy's Black Pearl and O'Hara's Celebration from Carlow, both stouts.

The judging panel was made up of ten members of ICB:

  • Beer is the Reason
  • Bog Myrtle
  • A Friend in Mead
  • Ger Cork
  • Hendrixcat
  • Ichiban
  • Noby
  • Plysu
  • Rebel
  • The Beer Nut

Three awards were given based on the numerical ratings voted to each beer by the panel: an overall Beer of the Year and two runner-up prizes.

A handful of beers received no votes, and with these excluded, the field consisted of 23 candidates. Each of these beers received an average of 4.2 votes, though the average among the three eventual winners was a much higher 7 votes. The few beers which narrowly missed winning prizes also received votes from almost all judges.

From quite early on in procedures it was clear that there were a handful of serious contenders, but the exact order of ranking remained to be decided. When the votes were tallied, the result was not a surprise to anyone who had tasted the beer:

Cask Purgatory: Beer of the Year 2008ICB Beer of the Year 2008
Cask Purgatory
by The Franciscan Well

The judges regarded this pale ale as a beer of amazing balance, hitting the sweet spot between bitter and fruit flavours, full-bodied yet easy drinking. It's an example of a beer brewed to an excellent recipe, conditioned to perfection and served at just the right time. The superiority of cask Purgatory to its kegged variety was remarked upon by many.


MM Imperial: 1st runner-up1st Runner-up
Messrs Maguire Imperial
by White Gypsy

There was a time when all malt was smoked by default as no smoke-free method of malting existed. Technology has put this behind us and our stouts are blander as a result. MM Imperial smoked stout brings us back to Irish beer as it once was: heavy of body, powerfully flavoured and utterly delicious.


Galway Hooker: 2nd runner-up2nd Runner-up
Galway Hooker
by Hooker Brewery

Last year's champion beer was always going to be in the running for a prize. Though, for avoidance of controversy, it should be noted that only a minority of the judging panel benefitted from the brewery's hospitality last month. Significantly, this unique hoppy-yet-malty beer is the only award winner available all year round. That many of us have been drinking it all year, and still wanted to drink it at this festival speaks volumes for its quality.


In addition, the group presented a merit award for the Beer of the Festival. The field was limited to those beers produced especially for the event, and no formal vote was taken. Instead, there was back-and-forth discussion among the membership all evening and it became clear that, as long as it didn't walk off with the grand prize, one beer in particular was proving to be the drinkers' favourite.

Galway Hooker: 2nd runner-upBeer of the Festival
Druid's Brew
by Carlow Brewing Company

Carlow make this for the festival every year and it was a close contender in last year's awards. Here, much was made of its super-smooth texture, the sort of thing one normally only gets with nitrogenation, and even then at the expense of flavour. Druid's Brew packs in the flavour as well: a tangy bitterness in addition to the roasted coffee and chocolate notes which are the foundation stones of good stout.


Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to the judging panel -- particularly Bog Myrtle for her calligraphy work on the certificates.

Special thanks are also due to The Franciscan Well for providing the venue for this event which means so much to the small-but-growing community of Irish craft beer fanatics.

All photos from the event can be viewed here .
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