The wonderful Smithwick's is one of Ireland's most iconic brands. It is deeply connected to its hometown of Kilkenny and is particularly well celebrated by the local hospitality community there. Kilkenny also boasts a highly active festival circuit so we wanted to tick a couple of boxes while down there. A fantastic trip was had where we hung out in The Smithwick's Experience to learn more about their beers, sampled some excellent food pairings and got the inside scoop for this week's hugely popular Kilkenomics Festival.

Upon arrival to The Smithwick's Experience we were given a tour by their beer expert Simon Walsh. After familiarizing ourselves with the incredible legacy of the Smithwick's family and their brewery that goes back to 1710, Simon opened up the podcast recording by sharing even more of his beer and history knowledge.

We were then joined by Kilkenomics Festival co-founder and Kilkenny native Naoise Nunn. He detailed not only what the very unique festival is all about but also gave us his recommendations for must see shows that are taking place across the city from November 7th to 10th.

If you're one of the thousands heading to the festival this week, we strongly suggest you pay a visit to The Smithwick's Experience and while you're in the city - enjoy some Smithwick's food pairings served up in two of Kilkenny's best bars & restaurants. We were lucky enough to taste them and they are superb!

The first pairing came courtesy of Paris, Texas - the wildly successful bar and smokehouse on 92 High St.

Their in house flavour fanatic and head mixologist, Chris Hennessy came along and brought with him some southeast pork ribs that were abundantly spiced and smoked in house for 8 hours with wood chips from Highbank Orchard just outside of Kilkenny. They were the perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of Smithwick's Pale Ale, cutting through the richness of the meat.

Our second pairing was focused on the classic Smithwick's Red Ale and was brought in by Emma Teesdale, head chef of Langton's Bar & Restaurant, a Kilkenny institution and a major hub for the Kilkenomics Festival. Her dish was locally reared feather blade beef that was not only marinated overnight in Smithwick's Red Ale but it is also slow cooked in it too. She served it with a Smitwick's Red Ale sauce, colcannon and root vegetables. Needless to say, sipping the same ale alongside it was tremendously exciting. It is a remarkable Kilkenny dish and hugely popular in Langton's.

The Smithwick's Experience runs tours 7 days a week and the Kilkenomics Festivalis on from Nov 7th to 10th. So now's the perfect time to visit Kilkenny for some festival action with some great beers & food.