Though Ireland is better known for stout, 63% of the beer sold in the country is lager. Stout makes up 32% of the market, with ale the remaining 5%.[1]
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, without the use of hops 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[2]. 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[3]. In the 1760s about 600,000 barrels of beer were brewed annually in Ireland[4].
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[5]. In the 1760s the Royal Dublin Society offered prizes to brewers who used the most Irish hops and those that produced the most Porter[6].
Brewing prospered in the early decades of the 19th century and by 1814 Ireland was exporting more beer to England than it imported[7].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[8].
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The first lager brewery in Ireland was set up in Dartry, Dublin, in 1891, but did not survive very long. Lager was later brewed for a short period in Kells, in the Regal Brewery. Harp Lager has been brewed in Dundalk 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 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.
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's, by Diageo. Others include Diageo's Macardle's, 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, a highly-hopped ale more reminiscent of US pale ales.
In 1756 Arthur Guinness set up a small brewery, moving to Dublin in 1759. Having initially brewed ale, he switched to producing porter, 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[9]. 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 (and the smaller brewers Murphy's and Beamish) once dominated domestic beer consumption in Ireland, with lager and ale 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.
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 Cork and Dublin's Porterhouse have both celebrated 10 years in business, while the Hilden Brewery in Lisburn is Ireland's oldest independent brewer, having been established in 1981.[10] 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 and Galway Hooker brewery, based in Roscommon. From 2010 new breweries include Dungarvan Brewing Company, Clanconnel Brewery, Trouble Brewing, 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.
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.
A spirit grocery combined a public house and an ancillary retail 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.
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