Guiness, beer, stout---help
 

We plan to eat---and drink---at many pubs while in Ireland. I have drank more than just Bud and Coors---like Heineken, Samuel Adams, Ziegenbock,etc. and a variety of Mexican beers. I like dark beer, light beer, ambers, wheats but am bumfuddled by the Irish choices. Could y ou share with me what some of these varieties are--like Guiness--and what they are like. I want to try a variety but don't wan't to be choosing something way outside of my enjoyment level or range.

Well I'm a Guiness fan (Guiness is a stout) myself. But I'll be blunt here. Don't ask yet and don't worry yet. Somehow that will take all the fun out of it. It is also not unusual to ask the bartender for a taste of the house special or a particular type of beer on tap. They oblige and you get a free sample.
Since it seems your tastes are varied, I think you'll have more fun finding out for yourself what your favorites will be.

By and large beer drinking in the British Isles isn't too technical, unless the hobbyists have taken over a pub, giving you more information than you need.

Beer here comes in three and a half varieties.

First there's stout, That's Guinness. Stout experts, esp in the SW, sometimes prefer Murphy's or Beamish, but to most of us it's a distinction without a difference.

Then there's lager. The generic word for everything that's golden, chillyish - and in Ireland usually pretty tasteless. All so-called beer from America is in this class, as is Harp and - if it's sold in Ireland, but I can't remember - Carling. As well as all those OK-ish European things like Carlsberg and Heineken. Bottom fermented, technically speaking. And, if you can find them, the world's really great beers - like the real Budweiser (generally marketed here as Budvar) or Pilsner-Urquell - are all lagers. Though lightyears from Harp.

Third is just beer. Traditionally served at room temperatures, amber coloured, and the dominant product in Britain, where it's given the generic title 'bitter' by ordinary drinkers and 'ale' by visitors and beer obsessives. Mediocre versions of it (best known Irish version, Smithwicks) brewed industrially in Ireland: invented, cleverly marketed variations (like Cafferty's), often needing to be chilled to be palatable, have come on the Irish market recently.

Third and a halfth are Real Beers (British term). Generally beers/ales rather than lagers or stouts, they're produced artisanally, often in microbreweries. Have interesting tastes, and sold only by enthusiasts.

HI
Why don't you try a Guinness in the US. Go to a good bar that has many beers on draught and try it out before you go. I usually order it at a bar when it's available. I started to drink it when I lived in Boston years ago and continue to in the Atlanta area.
alan

Not all beers in the USA are lagers. The better known mass-produced beers are (e.g., Coors, Budwieser, etc.), but you can certainly find all sorts of American-brewed stouts, porters, ales, and other varieties of beer throughout the USA.

Chances are you will enjoy everything. You should definitely try Guiness here, but it will taste different over there. I worked at brewpub through college, and would always ask people who said they didn't like dark beers/stouts if they drank coffee-- the malt in dark beers is roasted and has a very similar sort of flavor to coffee.
Know that most beers in the British Isles are considered "session" beers-- meaning that they are lower in alcohol and you can sit and have a few. My favorite is McEwan's 70 shilling. Too bad they won't export it.....
Do not worry, I'd wager that you'll like most (if not all) of the beers you try!

flanneruk has wriiten a fine dissertation on the kinds of beers available in the British Isles. Unfortuantely, the best of them, "real ales" won't be something that you stumble across unless you hit the few microbreweries in Ireland.

This is what you will generally find by name:

Stouts: Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish
Red Ales: Smithwicks (a Guinness product)
I never have heard the perfect name for those beers sometimes refered to as "Blonde Guinness" like Caffrey's and Kilkenny (another Guinness product).

Then there are the imports like Bud, Carling, and Heinekin. Bud is pretty popular in Ireland, believe it or not.

Microbrewery wise, there are two that I know of in Dublin, Messrs. MaGuire and the Porter house. Both serve fine beers though the stuff at the Porter House is actually brewed in the burbs of Dublin. I understand that on Dublin's north side is a pub called The Cobblestone that serves brews from Dublin's oldest microbrewery, The Dublin Brewery.

The only other micro I know of in Irealnd is in Inagh between Ennis and Doolin. They whip up a couple of fine brews that you might want to try if you are in the area. When there, I asked if I could have a small taste of each to decide what I wanted and they brought me three (free) half pints of beer. I felt obliged to actually pay for one so I had a full pint after that.

Have fun!

Bill

Just ask to taste some. I never drink beer here at home and drink it a lot in the UK. Just more variety and more flavor there i think. I will now and then share a Newcastle with my brother here at home but it's ever so much tastier in London. Has good flavor but not too heavy. If you do want to order something you might get a "half" to start instead of a whole pint so you aren't wasting it if you don't like it. My brother kept ordering pints of various beers and then if he didn't like it..usually too bitter.. he wouldn't drink it. I know he paid for it but I was kind of embarrassed to just leave it there so I would end up drinking it..I actually like some of the bitterness. When my lip started getting numb I asked him if could PLEASE stop ordering pints and get a half to try...I wanted to have SOME recollection of my trip!!!!!! Drunken American tourist was seen reeling around Covent Garden..dragged away in the "paddy wagon"...film at 11:00!!!! I'm sure the beers in Ireland will be just as good so try some and enjoy.

Two concerns: taste and alcoholic content. Beer is a generic term. An objective term might be stout or ale. These can be defined further by body content and alcoholic content. Natural brewing can produce 'beers' at maybe 14%! Get the details on the beer you are sampling. Serving temperature is important as well as the condition of the dispensing equipment. Today I had to wait service as the brewery appointed cleaner was busy flushing the lines. I had a great experience in Scotland. I asked the man next to me what I should try. Two hours later my wife found me and rescued me. "How much does he owe?" "Nothing! We like Americans!"