So, after getting ahold of some O’Hara’s Irish Red which was less-than-stellar, I made a concerted effort to try again, but from a different retailer.

This time, I went to my favorite retailer. To my delight, they had both the Red and the Stout available. Always up for a good stout, that’s what I picked up.

Here’s what Carlow Brewing has to say:

Full bodied and luxuriously smooth it is the combination of traditional stout hops, an extra pinch of roast barley and crystal clear Irish water that make O’Hara’s Celtic Stout a delicious stout with just enough malt sweetness to balance that discernible roast bite.

Pours a deep brown, with some ruby highlights, with a finger’s-width of light brown head. It seems more carbonated than most stouts I drink. Aroma is distinctively nutty, and the flavor follows suit. It is surprisingly light on the tongue.

So light, in fact, that I finished my first while I was still writing this. At 4.3% ABV it certainly lends itself to another.

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It’s Saint Patrick’s Day.

Much has already been written about the overcommercialized exploitation of what used to be a rather pleasant holiday. I’m one of the 30+% of Americans who can claim Irish heritage (my maternal Grandmother, Anna Dowd, was processed through Ellis Island) but I’m a little saddened that it has turned into a “drinking” holiday. (See other opinions from: The Beer Nut, Jay Brooks, The Potable Curmudgeon)

I’m not Catholic, so we’re not celebrating the feast day. (Even if I were, it was moved to last Saturday as not to interfere with Holy Week.) And the last place I want to be is out on the town dealing with faux-irishmen who have had a few too many green beers. So, it’ll be a quiet evening in. Well, as quiet as it could be watching a friend’s three daughters (as well as my two). My wife informed me that I needed to pick up my prescription, drop off the dry cleaning, and oh by the way could I pick her up some beer.

She likes Harp Lager, which is what she requested, so I figured the local, but usually not so good, liquor store would be fine. Lo and behold, they actually had O’Hara’s Irish Red in the cooler. So, I bought the wife her Irish beer from Canada, and I bought myself some Irish beer from Ireland.

Over on the other side of the Big Water, they apparently call it it used to be called Molings Traditional Red Ale. From the outdated Carlow Brewing Company website:

Inspired by the beauty of their natural surroundings and an ethos of care and dedication, the Celtic monks of the 6th century St Molings monastery in south Carlow produced the Book of Moling, a book of great craftsmanship and artistic achievement. A product of this same environment Molings Traditional Celtic Beer is brewed with the same care and dedication and strives for the same achievement. Molings is a fruity and aromatic beer with a distinctive coffee like finish. The traditional hop flavour balances the sweet malty caramel taste. Brewed with pale malt , torrified wheat crystal malt and generous portion of roasted barley, Molings is an excellent accompaniment to roast dishes.

Ruby red in color, with a pretty hefty malt character. Hop bitterness is understated, and I’m getting some caramel flavors. Unfortunately–and unsurprising for this retailer, which is why I try not to go there–it’s a little too old and/or hasn’t been well-treated, as I’m getting some off-flavors as well.

But I will enjoy these in the comfortable surroundings of home. And to raise a toast to my dear departed Grandma Hubbs.

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While Ron and Al take a little break, please enjoy this guest post from The Beer Nut, who is based in Dublin.

I suppose it’s our reputation as drinkers that does it. That, and the fact that our principal export for a very long time was people, thus creating a global market for Irish-related drink. What worries me is the increasing trend in fake Irish beer. Of course, there’s always been the execrable Killian’s Red from Coors, and all of the “O’Somebody’s Irish Stout” produced by microbrewers worldwide, but these aren’t really pretending to be Irish. In Ireland now there are two native “brewing companies” who produce not a drop of beer. Both claim to be on the cusp, the verge, of setting up a real brewery making (of all things) beer, and that having it contract brewed in Belgium or England or California is just a stepping stone to get them off the ground. But I find it unsettling that both have obviously put a hell of a lot of effort into their marketing, their presentation and their distribution that it seems the beer will always be an afterthought, the last stage in the commercial process.

The brands in question are Strangford Lough Brewing Company, based in south Ulster, and Árainn Mhór Brewing Company, who claim to be based on an island off the west coast of Donegal, despite giving an address on the mainland. The latter has its two products, Rua and Bán, made in Belgium, while the former has a sizeable range, mostly named after St Patrick and brewed anywhere they can get a franchisee close to a market for pseudo-Irish beer. Anywhere except Ireland, that is.

Of course this latest non-Irish Irish beer trend shouldn’t be surprising, since for decades we’ve lived with foreign companies brewing in Ireland (among other places) and passing off their branded wares, under heavy marketing, as being genuinely Irish. I’m thinking in particular of the UK’s monster drink-maker Diageo, brewers of a stout called “Guinness” which you may have heard of; but Dutch giant Heineken do it as well with their Murphy’s stout, and Scottish & Newcastle with their Beamish brand. All of them trade heavily on a supposed Irishness that belies where the company executives count the advertising expenditure out and the merchandising revenue in. They may even think about beer from time to time, but I suspect that’s left to the marketing team.

All is far from lost, however. In Ireland, if you know where to look, there are real gems to be found. The Carlow Brewing Company, for example, is a six-person operation and as far as I know the only Irish brewery making beer for export. Their O’Hara’s stout is excellent, too: much closer to the real Irish stouts which the big brewers are slowly killing off in favour of bland beers with wider appeal. The brewpubs are doing well also: Dublin’s Porterhouse has expanded into a chain and had to move brewing to a dedicated microbrewery near Dublin. Cork’s Franciscan Well brewpub is now supplying beer to dozens of other bars around Cork city, and a handful in Dublin now too.

The Irish microbrewing movement is only about a dozen years old, but already it has its traditions. One of which is the portfolio: starting out you must have a lager, a stout and a red ale, these representing the most popular styles in the country and effectively making every craft brewer a clone merchant. Which is why the newest arrival on the brewing scene has shaken the local beer world to its foundations. Galway Hooker (named for the fishing boat, and for the name’s vast potential for ribaldry) don’t make a stout. Or a lager. Their one beer is an ale which is red, but it’s nothing at all like Smithwick’s or Kilkenny or Beamish Red. Galway Hooker is based on the American model typified by the likes of Sierra Nevada: there’s a touch of crystal malt for that Irish red ale sweetness, but mostly there’s a full-on hops taste explosion. They call it an Irish Pale Ale, though taxonomic questions don’t really matter when there’s only one beer of the style. It’s a little over a year old now, and storming across the pub scene, on draught only.

The only thing more refreshing than a pint of Galway Hooker beer is its presence on the otherwise staid Irish market. Look out for it if you’re in these parts and seeking that real Irish beer experience. You can get Guinness at home.

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