Beer in Ireland

[4] In the second half of the 18th century, beer, mostly porter, was imported from England in increasing quantities: 15,000 barrels in 1750, 65,000 in 1785, and over 100,000 in 1792.

[5] In the 18th century, the Irish Parliament used taxation to encourage brewing at the expense of distilling, reasoning that beer was less harmful than whiskey.

[5] In the 1760s, the Royal Dublin Society offered prizes to brewers who used the most Irish hops and those that produced the most porter.

[6] Brewing prospered in the early decades of the 19th century and by 1814 Ireland was exporting more beer to England than it imported.

In the early twentieth century, Guinness became the largest brewer in the world, exporting the Irish style to many countries.

[10] Draught Irish stout is normally served nitrogenated, to create a creamy texture with a long-lasting head.

Heineken Ireland, based at the Murphy Brewery in Cork, have the largest share of the lager market.

[14] In addition to Heineken, they brew Amstel and Coors Light, as well as the brands they acquired from Beamish & Crawford including Fosters and Carling.

[17] The surge of new breweries is largely a result of changes in excise requirements, access to EU funding,[18] and an increase in government-funded brewing education courses.

Heineken Ireland began marketing a pale ale, "Cute Hoor", distributed in the craft beer sections of supermarkets and off licences and without plainly identifying the brewer.

Heineken also briefly deceptively marketed "Blasket Blonde", in Kerry, from March 2015 to September 2016, and "Beanntrai Bru" in Cork in August 2016, as locally-made craft beers, from invented breweries.

It continues to brew the main Franciscan Well beers, but now also markets a mainstream lager, "Archway" with the parent firm name abbreviated to "MCBC" on packaging.

Their primary goal is to support and raise awareness of Ireland's native independent microbreweries and craft cider-makers.

Today, the Strangford Lough Brewing Company produces a concentrated wort which they export to Great Britain and the US where contract breweries turn it into finished beer.