Craft beer subscription service Beer52 is giving beer fans the chance neck plenty of ales on St Patrick’s Day by hosting a “world first” virtual lockdown party to celebrate the event, with 24 curated Irish brews, and two evenings of entertainment, streamed live from an Irish theme pub.
The Irish Craft Beer Road Trip will feature Irish music, comedy, chats with the brewers, a pub quiz and celebrity cameos, to celebrate Paddy’s Day and meet other craft beer lovers without even getting off the sofa.
The event runs over two nights, from 6pm to a decidedly early 10pm on Friday March 19 and Saturday March 20, with special early-bird deals also available. Partygoers can also raise a glass in Beer52’s ‘Cyber Alley’ virtual video bars, continuing the celebrations into the “wee hours”.
The “party” is the latest online beer festival from the company, which last year ran four live streaming events, attracting more than 80,000 beer lovers. Irish Craft Beer Road Trip hosts Richard Croasdale and Doug Garry will be joined in their custom-built home pub by some of Ireland’s most respected craft brewers, including White Hag, Whiplash, Boundary and Rascals, to discuss their beers live.
Beer52 co-founder James Brown said: “We all miss a good party, particularly on St Patrick’s Day, so we’re going to bring the craic straight into people’s homes. The line-up of beer and entertainment we’ve put together is our best yet, and the perfect way to get together with friends and family and blow off some steam in honour St Patrick.”
Founded in 2013, Beer52 was inspired by a motorcycle road trip that founder James Brown took with his Dad, during which he found his love of craft beer at breweries in Belgium. He then set out to visit a new country every month in search of the best beers.
Every month, members of the club receive a selection of beers from a new country, along with Beer52’s in-house magazine, Ferment, whose contributors include Melissa Cole, Pete Brown, Roger Protz, Mark Dredge and Matt Curtis.
According to a study independent media agency The Kite Factory, almost 2 in 5 (37%) UK consumers have signed up to at least one new subscription service since the first lockdown in March and the prolonged Covid-19 measures are driving consumer loyalty, with nearly three quarters of new subscribers (72%) likely to continue.
The number of consumers who have signed up to physical subscription boxes jumped from 7.9 million to 8.2 million (+3.3%) from February to October 2020, with the largest growth in those aged over 55, up 74% from 590,000 to 1 million.
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