Beamish in Mass?

Beamish used to be my favorite of the big three (Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish), but unfortunately they stopped importing to the US years ago.

At least last time I checked...and I don't think the market is necessarily ripe for Dry Irish Stouts...

 

I'm not being a wise-guy, but given the quality of modern stouts, is there still an appeal of any of those beers among craft beer folks other than for nostalgia's sake? I suppose the low alcohol levels are a difference from the typical craft stouts/porters.

 

Beamish was my go to back in the mid 2000's. Always slightly cheaper than Guiness and much better IMO. Sadly they were purchased by Heiniken and closed their Cork brewery. Right around the same time they stopeed sending beer to the US. Sad. I'll take Guinness over Murphy's, but every so often I find myself buying O'Hara's, but would like to see it in a pub can. I wish Harpoon would make nitro cans of their Boston Irish Stout.

 

I would replace the word "quality" with "popularity" of modern stouts. And I don't think you can even begin to compare the two styles. The only thing they have in common is a roasted malt character and the word "stout" in the name.

Most of today's stouts are imperial, and the large majority have so many adjuncts thrown in them along with barrel-aging that they're nothing like a Dry Irish Stout. Add in the drastic difference in mouthfeel and ABV, and you have two completely different styles.

Are they incredibly popular like barrel-aged stouts? No way. But as @DroppinBiscuits points out, I think there's some interest as I believe Harpoon's does well.

 

Yep. I'm sure the broad usage of the beer types (IPA, Stout etc...) strikes again here. I used the word quality since I think Guiness gets its sweetness and some of its texture from High Fructose Corn Syrup...not an ingredient that folks should find encouraging. I haven't had Harpoon's, but I suppose I should...

 

I fondly remember drinking Beamish at Cornwalls in Kenmore on multiple occasions...probably 10+ years ago.

I think O'Hara's is very good, I wish it was cheaper. I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurgence on low-abv dry stouts in due time, kind of like how the pilsner is seeing a bit of that. I do think there's a market for dry stouts, maybe not with the geek crowd....maybe among people who routinely drink Guinness out of habit but are open to other brands. If Ohara's was commonly found on tap and priced well, I wonder if it could cause ripples.

 

I haven't been in quite some time, but I think O'Hara's is on tap routinely at Lord Hobo, and maybe even Deep Ellum.

 

Yeah Deep Ellum has it often enough. Can't speak to LH. But I wonder if it was routinely available at less geeky places, could it develop a following...for some reason I think it could. But I admit I'm picturing local joints in the Irish dominant West Ireland neighborhoods of Boston

 

Routinely on at publick house

 

yep another casualty of the never-stopping Euro amalgamations & buyouts. Use to buy it by the case, tad sweeter than Guinness & Murphy's. Typical big brewery mind-set, after two years in the US, Heineken stopped importing it into the US, wankers...

 

Strangest thing about Heineken and their two "Irish" stouts, Beamish and Murphy's, is that while they do still export Murphy's to the US (now via their new secondary import division, Five Points* ), the stout shipped here isn't brewed in Ireland, but in a Heineken brewery in Holland (detail from current keg label):

* note that they claim it's "Brewed in Cork, Ireland" on the Five Points webpage

Last I looked, the canned Murphy's exported to the US was being brewed in the UK at Heineken's Edinburgh brewery, which was also the case with the previous owner, Scottish & Newcastle. (Heineken and Carlsberg bought S&N and divided the company up in '08). But at least with the cans, the consumer can read the fine print - draught, all one sees is the tap handle.

Well, Beamish was early to the buy-out aspect of the global brewing industry- having been purchased by Canada's Carling-O'Keefe back in the 1960s. After that, they and parent C-O were absorbed by the Australian Elder IXL, and then to Scottish & Newcastle.

"Traditional", when? Those figures are kind of contrary to the concept that stout started as "stout porter".... Certainly the Guinness stouts (Extra, Foreign Extra) brewed and exported to the US before the creation of "Guinness Draught" in the late 1950s all were, and still are, higher in alcohol that 5%.

 

From Ron Pattinson's Homebrewer's Guide to Vintage Beer: 1880 Whitbread Porter was 5.9% ABV, while 1883 Guinnes Extra Stout was 7.6%.

Stouts of the mid 1800s could easily get over 9% ABV. @OzmanBey : not sure where you're getting your history from but it does not seem to align with anything I have read on the subject.

 

He's one of the most well respected beer historians, has written multiple books and articles on the subject, including articles on this web site.

His most recent one on the history of Fuller's London Pride is particularly interesting, it's the first article in that link.

I don't know if he has a history degree or not, but it certainly seems like he knows his stuff. I'm also not sure if getting a degree in history would necessarily qualify one to be an expert on beer history specifically.

"Ron Pattinson is a beer historian and travel writer. Check out his blog, barclayperkins.blogspot.com, for info on his books and the history of beer."

https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/author/ron-pattinson/

 

Just returned from a trip back home and being the contrarian that I am, I spent the best part of an afternoon in a wee local pub next to Guinness St James Gate, drinking Beamish. Lovely.