August, 2022 | WeirdBeerGirl.com

After nearly two and a half years of living in Dublin, we finally had the chance to take the train up to Belfast. We had been told that it was a magical city full of cask ale (OK, I confess, that’s a slight exaggeration – we were told we could find some without looking around too hard, and that it would be in good shape) and that there would be some interesting museums. Also: ice hockey, though we aren’t quite there yet, season-wise. But perhaps the most exciting part of the journey itself was that we were promised an actual trolley on the train, with tea and snacks – something sadly still absent from non-border-crossing Iarnród Éireann trains since Covid began. As it turns out, much of this was, indeed, true.

First, though, the train – the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, so there were a few nods to that in the Special Waiting Area within Connolly Station. That said, it’s not in any way an especially unique or well-appointed waiting area, and the train itself was not of the latest vintage, though it was nicer than some local trains I have used – no USB charging points, but the standard plug options were working well enough. The reservation displays were broken on our carriage, so our queuing to board turned out to be a good move; it was something of a free-for-all (‘just sit anywhere!’ we were told as we boarded). That hiccup aside, the journey was speedy and pleasant, and the aforementioned trolley did appear; it shouldn’t be so exciting to buy tea and a KitKat on the train, but we felt we had to, since it’s not an option on any other service. Payments were accepted in both Euro and Sterling, although card payments were pounds-only, so it was a useful prompt to swap to a credit card that doesn’t charge for currency conversion.

We got into Belfast around lunchtime, and after dropping off our bags, headed out to find some cask get lunch. We had been recommended The Crown Liquor Saloon for cask and food by many people, and during pre-trip planning, I was excited to update my Nicholson’s Pub app so that we could order from our eventual table (especially handy when you have a hungry child in tow). Although their dining room was closed and it was a bit crowded in the bar area as a result (soooo many people looking for the perfect Instagram shot without even getting a beer), we did manage to score one of the very pleasant snugs and ordered away. There were not a huge number of cask options, but what they did have was very good and the food was an order of magnitude better than anything you’d find in the otherwise-similar Wetherspoon’s app. As an aside, my Grand Unified Theory of Everything is that the world would be a more pleasant place if we could replace all ‘Spoons with Nicholson’s pubs, but maybe I simply haven’t been in enough of the latter to have had a bad experience. At any rate, I had a cask stout from Whitewater Brewing in the form of their Belfast Black, and also got to sip on an always-welcome Timothy Taylor Landlord.

We were recommended The Woodworkers, and after a somewhat sketchy walk – Google Maps is missing a little bit of nuance when it comes to Belfast directions – we ended up there for dinner. It was a fabulous suggestion; in some ways, it was as though a casual Brooklyn or Philadelphia bar had been teleported to Northern Ireland – there was a great selection of local beer, games and puzzles and fantastic food. There were also welcoming, inclusive signs (breastfeeding welcome, unpleasant behaviour very much not) and knowledgeable staff who really knew the beers on tap. Tasting flights and a variety of measures were available, so it was ideal from a visitor’s perspective. We especially enjoyed two beers – Our Brewery’s Modern Love and Bullhouse Brew Co’s Love – Pride, both great pale ales. We also got to sample a number of new-to-us beers from across (mostly) the north of England that we rarely see in Dublin. This was very much the kind of place we would be thrilled to have in our own neighbourhood, and will certainly become a regular place to tick off when we get back for another visit. Very impressive.

We only had time for a flying visit with a quick pint to the Sunflower Pub (but we did get the photo, above, that I am reasonably sure you are required to take when in Belfast – alas, the cask not up and running), but we went back several times to The Deer’s Head. While planning our visit (this is a very loose employment of the term, to be fair), we enjoyed watching Get ‘Er Brewed’s YouTube channel, with a special focus on their own Our Brewery and a wonderfully brewing-geeky walkthrough of the kit at Bell’s Brewery (no, not that one) at The Deer’s Head. Happily, the beers were all fantastic, and the pub and brewery within are beautifully appointed. The one downside is that food was not on for any of our visits (this kept happening to us – we had the same issue at The Sunflower with no pizza, which I assume is down to the currently-usual Covid-related staff shortages), and I’ve heard so many good things about their pie flight (PIE FLIGHT) – so, something for another time. But as far as the beer, I especially loved Capstan, an Australian Pale Ale, and the Berliner Lager. Also very worth your time was the Red Cow Red Ale – quite tasty indeed. They are naming beers after the disappeared pubs, brewers and spirit dealers of the local district from the 19th century, and it’s a fantastic tribute to those vanished businesses – that likely were not nearly as nice!

Outside the pubs, the Ulster Museum was very good (a thylacine! A coelacanth! A Game of Thrones Bayeux Tapestry-thing!), and the smallest member of our party was obsessed with W5, something of a combination science museum and climbing facility aimed squarely at her age group. W5 was also where we found some better tea; I must confess I found the Lyons at our hotel a little lightweight. We found even better tea at The Dock Café, a donation-box affair where you pay what you wish or can – they served Suki Teas, whose Belfast Black (so yes, we had tea and beer with the same name) was delicious. I must confess that the Titanic museum was impressive; nothing like the tacky displays that travel across the US (and, one presumes, other places), but a proper local social history museum, with a surprise dark ride thrown in the middle.

The only thing we missed (well, only thing apart from the PIE FLIGHT) was the chance to catch a Belfast Giants hockey game – something we are keen to rectify next time…along with visiting Boundary in person! And, yes, getting that pie flight…

Another beer festival, just weeks after the first in years? Yes, indeed!

We’ve previously participated in Hagstravaganza via their virtual/at-home Boxtravaganza option, but being in person is a very different beast, in all the best ways. Well, most of the best ways – there were so many people to catch up with and so many breweries I adore, but rarely get to see here in Ireland that there simply wasn’t time to really say hello to everyone nor savour everything, but this is a Good Problem to Have.

First, though, to the logistics; while Fidelity was an easy stroll from my house, The White Hag’s brewery is located in Sligo, so a good 2-hour-plus train ride from Dublin, each way. However, this proved to be very simple indeed, thanks to some good advance planning and – shock – actual communication about how to get to and from the location via public transit; this is not at all a given in Ireland, even though it certainly should be. Train options and their timing were clearly described, as were the ‘stay local’ alternatives, complete with themed pub crawls for those up for continuing their tasting journeys after finishing up at the festival. I certainly don’t have the stamina for staying out late even without all-day drinking, but fair play to those who can! I was very pleased to be able to take my time in the morning – get in a run and copious amounts of tea before meandering to the train – and still arrive shortly after Hagstravaganza kicked off. Even better, I could catch the train by my house, rather than having to go into Connolly; this was even better coming home, though with slightly more drama than expected, but more on that later.

So, on to Hagastravaganza itself – the festival is spread across the brewery’s indoor and outdoor spaces, with both tented and full-sun picnic tables. We were in the sun, and it did get a bit warm, but luckily we brought plenty of sunscreen with us, and we kept topping that up. Given that this is Ireland, in most circumstances it would be unseemly to complain about the sunny weather (though as I write this, I’m struggling to recall what rain is like), and it was by no means quite as hot as it has been here in Dublin, but it would have been an easy day to get a bad sunburn and/or get very dehydrated, so I’m glad we planned ahead in that regard.

Rather than being an all-you-can-consume for a single entry fee festival like Fidelity, Hagastravaganza gives you tokens for your entry, which you exchange for beer and food, and it was very simple to top up tokens later; I’ve been to some US festivals run this way that end up having very, very long queues to get more tokens, but this was not an issue at all. I had an amazingly good toastie – is there a more perfect food for any festival? – and good pizza, too; for an all-day beer festival, having these sorts of substantial options was essential (although again, we did bring along snacks, both for the festival and the train, since it’s still not possible to buy food onboard – but that’s another story).

And so, on to the beer set-up: most of the options were poured from a 30-odd tap bar, with a special barrel-aged room off to the side. Water – for both rinsing and staying hydrated – was just outside the main bar. If I had a minor quibble or suggestion, it would be to have had a second water station near the other end of the brewery, but I did quickly develop a rinse/hydrate/queue routine that worked perfectly well. And there were some very exciting beers indeed – I would have bought tickets just to have Green Cheek and Maui Brewing beers in any instance, since they aren’t typically available here, and they did not disappoint, even if the Maui beers were ‘old faves’ vs new oddities – no complaints in that regard, though I am always missing their top-notch Pueo Pale Ale – but it was a perfect day for Pineapple Mana Wheat, which I last had by a pool in Hawai’i. I’m hopeful their recent Modern Times Brewing deal means both brands may be more available on this side of the Atlantic in due course…well, we’ll see what happens there.

Other ‘bests of the fest’ for me included the aforementioned Green Cheek from Southern California, but especially their Bier – a gorgeous, clean Helles, ideal for a summer day. Radiant Beauty was also a perfect, old-school West Coast (and, let’s be real, best coast) IPA. I knew nothing of Italy’s Birrificio Vetra, but their Vetra Black was a beautiful dark lager, full of toasty goodness and very refreshing. Locals didn’t miss out on my ‘best of’ listing – Trouble Brewing’s Harry’s Peanut Butter Brown Ale was absolutely delicious. Fun fact: I don’t like peanuts, or peanut better – but I’ve really enjoyed most peanut butter-adjacent beers I’ve tried. This was another, and I’m glad I got to try it, after missing out on it at Fidelity. My ‘thought-I’d-hate-it-but-loved-it’ beer – there always seems to be one at a festival – was Siren’s Caribbean White Chocolate Pancake Stack. Listed as ‘a tropical white stout with cacao and maple,’ I was expecting a sweet, viscous mess (after all, what would an English brewery ‘understand’ about these ingredients?), but it was all perfectly balanced. It’s possible witchcraft was involved.

@beerladiespod

At Hagstravaganza!

♬ Seven Drunken Nights – The Dubliners

In both layout and ‘vibe’ (sorry), Hagstravaganza reminded me of Kennett Brewfest (now in its 25th year – good lord), an event we used to regularly attend when we lived on the US Right Coast. This similarity was possibly heightened by the absence of working wifi, so Untappd check-ins in real time were not an option; this was back to old-school notes in the printed program, and I’m not remotely mad about it.

The only thing I am very slightly annoyed about is that I didn’t immediately buy a festival t-shirt when I arrived; they were sold out of all the smaller sizes by the time I tried to snag one later in the afternoon. I’ve more typically seen plenty of leftover smalls and mediums at the festivals I’ve attended over the past two decades, so that was a bit of a surprise, though I did get a ‘normal’ White Hag shirt and a handy bag, so I certainly did not come home empty handed, though there wasn’t the sheer amount of beer mats, stickers and other generally portable swag you sometimes find. I’ll know better for next year.

Finally, the train ride home was very merry indeed, though again, I kept running into people I hadn’t had a chance to see all day, so clearly, we need more festivals! The burning dumpster behind the pub around the corner from our house was a bit of a surprise as we walked home from the train station, but I’m sure those who stayed over in Sligo had more dramatic stories to tell…if they can remember them.

All in all, an excellent event – well done to all who worked behind the scenes to make it come together. Let’s do it again!

A Belfast Beer Break

Hagstravaganza 2022