Craft beer in Ireland
The New York Times (free registration) tours Ireland’s microbreweries, arguably Ireland’s breweries (micro or macro).
None of Ireland’s big stouts, Guinness, Murphy’s or Beamish, are Irish-owned today. Guinness (along with Smithwick’s Ale and Harp lager) is owned by the British beverage conglomerate Diageo, Murphy’s by Amsterdam-based Heineken and Beamish by the British brewer Scottish & Newcastle. Budweiser and the Danish beer Carlsberg typically round out taps in Irish pubs from Dublin to Doolin.
But craft beer does still exist in Ireland — helped in part by a tax break for small brewers that the Irish government put into effect in 2005 — and the best way to find it is to go straight to the source. On a recent trip to Ireland, my husband and I sipped our way across the country, sampling smooth stouts, crisp ales and bold lagers, all made by small, independent brewers.
Yes, you can still get a stout.
