Discover the World of Kilkenny Media Dinner

[Event]

In all my years in the media, I have never been to a Kilnenny event. Sure I have been drinking Kilkenny for many years and kinda moved on to other imported beers but every now and again I will still have a pint or two at my neighbourhood pub.

So I gleefully jumped at the chance to attend the “Discover the World of Kilkenny” media dinner on 19 July 2013 at The Bee, Publika. Kilkenny is distributed in Malaysia by GAB – Guinness Anchor Berhad which also brews and/or distributes other brands such as Guinness (duh), Tiger, Anchor, Heineken, Paulaner, and Strongbow cider.

73336_558023640910774_840438612_n — Kilkenny® is a fine Irish ale brewed by monks using natural ingredients and water from the St Francis Well and was first launched in 1710. Kilkenny comes from a brewing heritage dating back to the 14th century in Ireland’s oldest operating brewery, St Francis Abbey.

968828_558022290910909_280767877_n — The ingredients – malted barley, water, hops, roasted malted barley (and yeast which is not in the picture)

1011333_560609307318874_1516450408_n — That’s me in the Kilkenny Master Class Experience which was facilitated by Ben Ng from GAB Professional Solutions

995751_558021197577685_487796101_n — The glass of Kilkenny (on the right) was deliberately left to warm which a little shot glass in the bowl of dried ice was kept below 4 degrees Celcius.

946301_560609653985506_386820954_n — Ben taking us through the different tasting notes from both thw warm and cold Kilkenny. Unlike most beers which become impossible (and quite disgusting) to drink when not cold, Kilkenny imparts different flavours at a higher temperature ensuring that it’s still drinkable. In fact some might actually enjoy drinking it at higher temperatures.

1013207_560609657318839_254165913_n — Then it was back to the dining room for more Kilkenny this time paired with some food. Notice the colour of the Kilkenny? It has an amber red hue and rich, creamy head that’s comes from a 2-part-pour and it being nitrogenated (similar to Guinness) rather than fully carbonated.

1001535_560609803985491_300075741_n — Battered fish together with home made tartar sauce

971876_560609787318826_999765887_n — Mini onion & bacon quiche

935070_558022617577543_1449679458_n — Chicken kebab with roasted capsicums

1013093_558022907577514_337083432_n — Braised beef meatballs in a tomato consumme

1012025_560609907318814_2029040968_n — Homemade churros with caramel sauce

1004092_558023070910831_266442342_n — There was even a little contest running at the Sensory Station whereby there were 7 little glass jars containing different aromas which comes from Kilkenny and whoever managed to guess all 7 correctly wins a prize. Trust me it’s really not easy!

73355_558021824244289_1012163128_n — These are some of the aromas/ flavours that one might find in Kilkenny. Everyone’s nose has different sensitivity so you might pick up aromas that others can’t or vice versa.

999691_558023300910808_941605951_n — Finally (with some help hahaha) May managed to get all 7 correct!

971523_558022750910863_1530036796_n — There was a special performance by Loong Bee, a renowned local sand artist who used sand to tell the story and history behind the Kilkenny® brand in a most unique manner accompanied by narration by the MC.

1013108_558022564244215_1037296451_n — What is a sand artist you say? Well a sand artist uses sand on a white board to create a picture.

999978_558022937577511_1699988440_n — Loong Bee took it a step further by creating picture after picture and watching him do it was pretty captivating (wish I took video, Michael Cheang did though although I can’t find his video on YouTube).

969926_558023314244140_1559964144_n — May and I enjoying our Kilkenny. It was a good experiential and informative event and I hope there will be more in the future.

995750_560609287318876_781479034_n — Here’s to the the crème de la crème of Irish Ales – Kilkenny!

During the night I also got the opportunity to meet the new marketing/ brand team from GAB.

Chew Lee Min, Marketing Manager of GAB gave a short speech and shared this with the guests: “Brands that have endured centuries have enduring value. You will find that Consumers are loyal to tried-and-tested brands that have remained constant and aren’t fleeting or going to disappear when hard times come. Kilkenny® is one of those brands. It is one of Ireland’s oldest brands and it wears that heritage proudly”.

For more information on Kilkenny® head over to http://www.facebook.com/kilkenny.my

Photo credits: GAB (by Bonnie Yap http://www.bonnie-yap.com) and author’s own

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