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.

Related posts

• O’Hara’s Irish Stout (3)
• O’Hara’s Irish Red…sort of (4)