Beer in Ireland: history, traditions and breweries
Ireland is inseparable from stout – and from the pub as a place for music and stories.
History
The early Irish monasteries already brewed beer. A 10th-century poem attributed to Saint Brigid wishes for “a great lake of beer for the King of Kings”.
In 1759 Arthur Guinness took over a disused brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin and signed a 9,000-year lease for 45 pounds a year. With dark porter and stout his brewery became the largest in the world in the 19th century.
Cork has its own stouts too, Murphy’s and Beamish, and in Kilkenny the Smithwick family brewed their red ale from 1710. In 1960 Guinness launched its own lager, Harp.
In the late 1980s Guinness put the “widget” into its cans: a small capsule with nitrogen that creates the creamy head when the can is opened. Since the 2010s a craft beer scene with over a hundred small breweries has grown in Ireland.
Traditions and drinking culture
A Guinness is poured in two steps and rests in between until the creamy head has settled. Nitrogen in the beer creates the fine bubbles. On St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March, the world celebrates Irish style.
Fun facts
- The Guinness harp faces right, the harp of the Irish state faces left. Guinness registered its harp as a trademark as early as 1876.
- For a perfectly poured pint, Guinness recommends 119.5 seconds.
- The Guinness Book of Records came about because Sir Hugh Beaver, the brewery’s managing director, could not find an answer after an argument about Europe’s fastest game bird. The first edition appeared in 1955.
- Guinness is not actually black: held up to the light it glows a deep ruby red.
- The brewery at St. James’s Gate once had its own narrow-gauge railway that carried malt and casks around the site.
Typical beer styles
Beer cities and their stories
Dublin
The lease for the brewery at St. James’s Gate runs for 9,000 years. From the rooftop bar of the Guinness Storehouse you can see across the whole city.
Cork
The city has its own stouts, Murphy’s and Beamish, which many locals prefer to Guinness. The Franciscan Well Brewery (1998) brews on the site of a former Franciscan monastery whose well was believed to have healing powers.
Kilkenny
From 1710 Smithwick’s brewed next to the ruins of a Franciscan abbey where monks had already brewed beer in the Middle Ages.
Dundalk
Harp Lager was created here in 1960, Guinness’s answer to the growing success of lager.
Breweries and their stories
Guinness
Arthur Guinness leased the brewery at St. James’s Gate for 9,000 years. His dark stout became Ireland’s national drink. Since 1959 Guinness Draught has been dispensed with nitrogen, which creates its creamy head.
Known for: Guinness Draught, Foreign Extra Stout
Smithwick’s
Ireland’s oldest beer brand still in existence, known for its red ale.
Known for: Smithwick’s Red Ale
Murphy’s
Stout from Cork, a little milder and sweeter than Guinness.
Known for: Murphy’s Irish Stout
Beamish
Long-established stout from Cork.
Known for: Beamish Irish Stout
Franciscan Well
Small brewery on the site of an old Franciscan monastery.
Known for: Rebel Red
Porterhouse
Pioneer of the Irish craft beer scene with its own stouts and porters.
Known for: Oyster Stout
Timeline
- 1710Kilkenny
The Smithwick family starts brewing next to the ruins of a Franciscan abbey.
- 1759Dublin
Arthur Guinness leases the brewery at St. James’s Gate – for 9,000 years at 45 pounds a year.
- 1792Cork
The Beamish brewery is founded in Cork.
- 1856Cork
The Murphy family starts brewing in Cork. Its stout is a little milder and sweeter than Guinness.
- 1876Dublin
Guinness registers its harp as a trademark. It faces right; the harp of the Irish state faces left.
- 1959Dublin
Guinness Draught is poured with nitrogen for the first time – hence the creamy head.
- 1960Dundalk
Harp Lager is created in Dundalk, Guinness’s answer to the success of lager.
- 1996Dublin
The Porterhouse opens in Dublin, a pioneer of the Irish craft beer scene.
- 1998Cork
The Franciscan Well Brewery starts brewing on the site of an old Franciscan friary in Cork.
- 2000Dublin
The Guinness Storehouse opens. From the rooftop bar you can see across the whole city.