Caffrey’s
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| Caffrey's Irish Ale | |
|---|---|
| Location | Belfast Northern Ireland |
| Owner(s) | ? |
Caffrey's Irish Ale is a beer that comes from Belfast, Northern Ireland where it is brewed by the Thomas Caffrey Brewing Company (formerly Thomas Caffrey & Son). Caffrey’s Irish Ale was launched in 1994 and marketed as a beer which combined features from other types of beer: it could be served as cold as lager, its texture would be as smooth as stout, while its taste was that of an ale. Though launched with little advertising, it was priced at the top end of the market and was made available in over 7500 pubs. Sales of Caffrey's for the first year were higher than expected for a new product, at around 150 000 barrels in its first year.
Caffrey's was later launched in 14.9 oz cans, featuring a nitrogen pocket that agitates the beer when you open it giving it a characterisitic closer to a draft beer. Nitrogen is less soluble than carbon dioxide, which allows the beer to be put under high pressure without making it fizzy. The high pressure of dissolved gas is required to enable very small bubbles to be formed by forcing the draught beer through fine holes in a plate in the tap, which causes the characteristic "surge" (the widget in cans and bottles achieves the same effect). The perceived smoothness of Caffrey's is due to its low level of carbon dioxide and the creaminess of the head caused by the very fine bubbles that arise from the use of nitrogen and the dispensing method described above.
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[edit] History
Thomas Caffrey first established the Ulster Brewery in Queen Street, Belfast in 1897. The brewery was acquired by Charringtons (later Bass Charrington) in 1964 & then by Interbrew in 2000. On July 6th 2004, the owners of the former Caffrey's brewery, Interbrew, announced their intention to dispose of the site of the brewery.[1] Having no takers, they in turn closed the brewery in 2005.
Coors Brewing Company acquired the US distribution rights to Caffrey's in December, 2001 when they purchased UK based Carling Brewers who owned the rights previously. Sometime in 2002, after Coors purchased Caffrey's from Interbrew, it ceased importation of the beer into the US market. Coors decided that continued sale of Caffrey's in the US would interfere with the branding of Killian's as Coors' premier Irish brew. Many Irish bars around the US still have Caffrey's paraphernalia but no longer can sell the beer. Coors' decision to sell Killian's over the nitrogen charged Caffrey's in the US market allowed Diageo, maker's of Guinness, to gain marketshare with its Smithwick's brew in Irish bars throughout the US). Caffrey's is still available in the United Kingdom & Canada. U.S. consumers are encouraged to call Coors customer service and request to have Caffrey's redistributed.
