The Irish Craft Beer & Cider Festival gets off to a flyer!

Day one of the Irish Craft Beer & Cider Festival was an absolute blast with a bumper Thursday crowd checking out the 50-plus stands in the RDS.
Peruse the photo gallery at [link]www.hotpress.com/photos/photo_st.php?id=15006441[/link]
Our Hop Press Talks got off to an equally lively start with Stuart Clark discussing the Beer Necessities of life with 2fm DJ and beer blogger Rick O'Shea, Rick LeVert from Kinnegar Brewing, Eight Degrees Brewing's Caroline Hennessy and White Gypsy head honcho Cuilan Loughnane.
It's the Beer Necessities Part 2 tonight at 7pm with Metalman Brewing's Grainne Walsh, Lagunitas' Fraser Murray, Dingle Brewing Company's Jerry O'Sullivan and Manor Brewing's Michael Cowan having the chats.
The rather grand room where the Hop Press talks are taking place can be accessed via-the door next to the Galway Hooker stand, which is on the right-hand side near the glass wash station as you enter the hall.
Meanwhile, we've answered the pleas of those who want to watch the rugby and attend tomorrow's Hop Press Talks by kicking the first one off at 4.30pm rather than 3.30pm. The Brew Kids On The Block will be Wicklow Wolf's Quincey Fennelly, RadikAle's Alain Dekoster, The White Hag's Joe Kearns and Long Meadow Cider's Pat McKeever.
After a beer break, Saturday's Hop Press Talks resume at 5.30pm with Craft Pioneers Cormac O'Dwyer from Dungarvan Brewing Company, Seamus O'Hara from O'Hara's, the Porterhouse Brewing Company's Oliver Hughes and Galway Hooker's Aidan Murphy.
Admission is free and you're very welcome to quiz the panel during the Q+As.
Obviously it would have been imprudent to try all the beers debuting at the RDS in one session but we loved our first tasters of RadikAle's 6.6% Curious Brew collaboration with Blackwater Gin; Manor Brewing's 5.1% Mont Lager; O'Hara's remarkable Rhubarb & Strawberry Curim; Wicklow Wolf's mighty 6.3% Free Ranger IPI; Black Donkey's 4.6% Scythe Belgian Pale Ale and the White Gypsy 5.6% Cream Ale.
We were also delighted to make the acquaintance of Simon Lambert & Sons, the Wexford pub and brewery whose Sweet Stout is a thing of wonderment; the Killarney Brewing Company whose Extra Stout is also damn tasty and Boyne Brewhouse who've only been going a few months but have it nailed with their Australian Pale Ale. The Boyne crew have some very big plans for the future, which we'll be talking to them about soon in Hot Press.
If we haven't tried your new beer yet, fear not, we'll be in top quaffing form again tonight.
Don't forget there's also an outsize hamper of craft beer to be won at our RDS stand.