Irish beer
Encyclopedia
Brewing in Ireland has a long history, and by the beginning of the nineteenth century there were over two hundred breweries in the country, fifty-five of them in Dublin. During the nineteenth century the number of breweries fell to about fifty, and today only about 12.
Historically Ireland produced ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
, without the use of hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
as these are not native to Ireland. Large quantities of hops were imported from England in the 18th century. In 1752 more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone. In the second half of the 18th century beer, mostly Porter, was imported from England in increasing quantities: 15,000 barrels in 1750, 65,000 in 1785, and over 100,000 in 1792. In the 1760s about 600,000 barrels of beer were brewed annually in Ireland.
During the 18th century the Irish parliament used taxation to encourage brewing at the expense of distilling, reasoning that beer was less harmful than whiskey. In the 1760s the Royal Dublin Society offered prizes to brewers who used the most Irish hops and those that produced the most Porter.
Brewing prospered in the early decades of the 19th century and by 1814 Ireland was exporting more beer to England than it imported.Irish exports to England accelerated as the century progressed: 1828 11,328 barrels; 1861 255,576; 1871 421,952; 1881 508,035; 1891 691,478; 1898 552,942; 1901 689,796.
Lager brewing
The first lagerLager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
brewery in Ireland was set up in Dartry
Dartry
Dartry is a suburb of Dublin. Among the locations in Dartry are Dartry Road, Temple Road, Orwell Park, and Palmerston Park.-Dartry Road:In the part of Dartry Road between Palmerston Park and Temple Road is located Trinity Hall, the most prominent student residence for students of the University of...
, Dublin, in 1891, but did not survive very long. Lager was later brewed for a short period in Kells
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
, in the Regal Brewery. Harp Lager
Harp Lager
Harp Lager, is a pale lager brand created in 1960 by the Guinness Brewery in their Dundalk brewery. It is a leading lager brand in Ireland, and is also popular in Australia, Canada, Africa and the United States...
has been brewed in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
since 1968.
In 1959, the consumption of lager in Ireland and United Kingdom was five times greater than the 1950s figure elsewhere, and the potential of brewing and marketing lager with a traditional continental character in the islands was realised.
Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
Ireland, based at the Murphy Brewery in Cork, have the largest share of the lager market. In addition to Heineken, they brew Amstel and Coors Light, as well as the brands they acquired from Beamish & Crawford including Fosters and Carling.
Irish red ale
The ales produced in Ireland are now largely in the Irish red ale style, with a slight red colour, generally in the 3.8 - 4.4% ABV range (although export versions are often stronger). The largest national brand is Smithwick'sSmithwick's
Smithwick's is an Irish red ale style beer from Kilkenny in Ireland. Smithwick's is listed in the top five best tasting beers by the McHale beer rating club of Ireland. As of Autumn 2010, Smithwicks continues to be brewed in Dundalk and Kilkenny but tankers are sent to Dublin to be kegged for the...
, by Diageo. Others include Diageo's Macardle's
Macardle Moore Brewery
MacArdle Moore Brewery was a brewery in Dundalk, Ireland, formed in 1850 from the merger of two older breweries, McAllisters and Wynnes. Over the years it was to become almost synonymous with brewing in Dundalk...
, Franciscan Well's Rebel Red, Carlow Brewing Company's O'Hara's Irish Red and Messrs Maguire Rusty. Ireland's second-largest brewer, Heineken, no longer make a red ale in Ireland, having discontinued local production of Murphy's Red and Beamish Red. Dungarvan Brewing Company's Copper Coast red ale was released in 2010, along with Clanconnel Brewery's McGrath's Irish Red.
One major variant is Galway Hooker
Galway Hooker Beer
Galway Hooker is a brand of Irish Pale Ale, brewed by a microbrewery in Roscommon, Ireland. It was created by two cousins, Aidan Murphy and Ronan Brennan, in 2006 and their name of the beer was decided by a public competition to choose a name....
, a highly-hopped ale more reminiscent of US pale ales.
Stout
In 1756 Arthur GuinnessArthur Guinness
Arthur Guinness was an Irish brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery business and family.He was also an entrepreneur, visionary and philanthropist....
set up a small brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, moving to Dublin in 1759. Having initially brewed ale, he switched to producing porter
Porter (beer)
Porter is a dark-coloured style of beer. The history and development of stout and porter are intertwined. The name was first used in the 18th century from its popularity with the street and river porters of London. It is generally brewed with dark malts...
, which was a style from London. In the early twentieth century, Guinness became the largest brewer in the world, exporting the Irish style to many countries. Although no longer the largest brewer in the world today, it remains the largest brewer of stout in the world today.
Stout brewed by Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
(and the smaller brewers Murphy's
Murphy's Irish Stout
Murphy's Irish Stout is a dry stout brewed in County Cork according to the original recipe by Murphy's Brewery since 1856.In comparison to its heavier and more bitter chief competitors, Guinness and Beamish, Murphy's is a lighter and sweeter dry stout. Its flavour is evocative of caramel and malt,...
and Beamish
Beamish and Crawford
Beamish and Crawford is the longest-established brewery in Cork, Ireland. Established in 1792 by William Beamish and William Crawford on the site of an existing porter brewery, it has had a number of owners over the centuries...
) once dominated domestic beer consumption in Ireland, with lager
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
and ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
having much smaller shares. However, lager has subsequently become Ireland's favourite beer style.
Draught Irish stout is normally served nitrogenated, to create a creamy texture with a long-lasting head.
Craft stouts available in Ireland include Shandon Stout by the Franciscan Well in Cork, O'Hara's Irish stout by Carlow Brewing Company and Black Rock Irish Stout by Dungarvan Brewing Company.
Irish craft beer and real ale
Beginning in the 1990s brewpubs and microbreweries began to emerge. While some, such as Biddy Early, Dublin Brewing Company and Dwan's, have since ceased production, the Franciscan Well Brewpub in CorkCork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
and Dublin's Porterhouse
The Porterhouse Brewing Company
The Porterhouse Brewing Company is a chain of bars in Ireland, London, England and New York in the Financial District. It was founded in 1989 by Liam La Hart and Oliver Hughes and now has 6 premises.-History:...
have both celebrated 10 years in business, while the Hilden Brewery in Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
is Ireland's oldest independent brewer, having been established in 1981. Carlow Brewing Company, makers of the O'Hara's range, is another survivor of the first wave of Irish craft brewing.
The second wave began in the mid-2000s and has included the Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne brewery in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
and Galway Hooker brewery, based in Roscommon
Roscommon
Roscommon is the county town of County Roscommon in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 5,017 . The town is located near the junctions of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.-History:...
. From 2010 new breweries include Dungarvan Brewing Company, Clanconnel Brewery, Trouble Brewing
Trouble Brewing
Trouble Brewing is a 1939 British, black-and-white, comedy, musical, romance, racing film, directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Ronald Shiner as Bridgewater, George Formby, Jr. and Googie Withers. It was produced by Associated Talking Pictures and Ealing Studios...
, Metalman Brewing, Breweyed and Eight Degrees Brewing.
The British-based pub chain "J D Wetherspoon" has about 9 outlets in Northern Ireland selling real ale.
Pseudo-Irish beer
A number of beers claim an Irish provenance, and are commissioned by Irish companies, but are actually produced outside of Ireland. In the past these have included Árainn Mhór beers and Time Lager. Today the Strangford Lough Brewing Company produces a concentrated wort which they export to the US and UK where contract breweries turn it into finished beer.Many breweries outside Ireland produce Irish-themed beers which are not commonly available in Ireland, such as Killian's Irish Red and Wexford Cream Ale.
Spirit grocery
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
and an ancillary retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
business, usually grocery or hardware, in Ireland in the 19th century and early to mid 20th century. Several spirit groceries can still be found in remote areas.