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Seamus elevates the humble pint with first Belfast Craft Beer Festival

Belfast's first Craft Beer Festival takes place this weekend
Belfast's first Craft Beer Festival takes place this weekend Belfast's first Craft Beer Festival takes place this weekend

BELFAST beer drinkers will be raising a glass to the city's first craft beer festival which takes place this weekend in Custom House Square.

Event organiser Seamus O'Hara said the three-day extravaganza would provide the perfect platform for craft breweries, cider makers and distillers to showcase their finest produce - and would also give him an opportunity to meet his Northern Ireland customers.

As founder and owner of Carlow Brewing Company - which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year - Seamus has been selling his craft beer in Belfast restaurants, off licences and bars for just four years and is "excited" to meet the local clientele.

"I'm really excited to see what's been happening on the ground in terms of beer tastes in Belfast which has been enjoying a revival of its night-life recently," he said.

"In restaurants people are starting to ask for specially brewed craft beer with their meal, so that change in tastes is great for the industry.

"Beer drinkers are becoming more refined in their tastes and are no longer satisfied with just having a standard pint pulled at the bar."

Alongside a selection of over 150 top beers and ciders from local breweries in the north and Republic, Seamus will be showcasing some of his own drinks from the eponymous 'O'Hara's Irish Craft Beer' range, including the 'Hop Adventure' and 'Opsession'.

A graduate in Biotechnology and enthusiastic home brewer in his student days, he said the growing popularity of craft beers signified a swing back to traditional brewing methods and a move away from modern industrialised practices.

"A craft beer can take two-to-three times as long to brew but that time is reflected in the taste which is more flavoursome," he said.

"It is all about capturing the natural flavours of the four basic ingredients - malt, hops, water and yeast.'

After working in the pharmaceutical industry in England - first with ICI in Cheshire and then with Glaxo in Cumbria - "two good beer-drinking areas" - Seamus, the new chairperson of the Irish Brewers Association (IBA), was amazed to find a decline in small local breweries on his return to Ireland.

"Coming back was a real eye-opener," he said, "as there was a really limited range of beers on offer. With brewing part of my studies and having - probably illegally - supplied fellow students with my first home-made efforts, I thought it was the right time to do it properly.

"A lot of people feel the same and are starting to make their own craft brews, so the festival will be a great way for them to connect with each other and with customers."

The festival, which kicks off tomorrow, includes live music, brewer talks, artisan food and 'silent disco' .