Ireland Only Brews?

There are, but many of them are draft only. If you want to get technical, there are some variations on Guinness beers that you won't find outside the auld country; I've never seen Smithwick's in a can off the island, for example - and the ABV is different as is the taste (slightly). Galway Hooker is now bottled, and the Porterhouse's chocolate stout rarely makes it to other countries mainly because it's a seasonal. Your best bet is probably Eight Degrees Brewing, which only just recently started bottling and distributing within the counties. That's about all I remember from when I lived there.

As an aside, I never actually saw Murphy's Irish Red in Ireland despite looking everywhere. I've only seen that in Germany and the U.S. Go figure.

 

In the US at least, the Murphy's Red (as well as the Stout) has been brewed in Heineken-affiliated S&N breweries in the UK or by Heineken itself:

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I'm pretty sure I saw Smithwick's in a can yesterday at the store. Have to double check next time I go. Love it on tap!

 

Smithwicks is available in cans in BC so probably in the US as well. I really like Black Biddy by Biddy Earl as an Irish beer.

 

Porterhouse bottles their beer and some were available at a bottle shop near my hotel in Dublin. Never seen Porterhouse state side.

 

There are definitely a bunch of Ireland only beers to bring back. I would check out the Ireland forum here on BA and see what the recommended bottle shops are and send him there. When I was in Dublin back in September I went to a bottle shop recommended by a local and found several Ireland only microbrews, a Black Ops (cant get in WA) , and a '10 Cantillon classic gueze. I cant remember the the name of the place unfortunately.

Good Luck, Cheers

 

B. United lists a number of Porterhouse beers (both draught and bottled) as their imports but I can't say I've ever noticed any on the shelves, either.

 

I've seen Porterhouse Wrasslers XXXX stout, as well as their oyster stout. The Wrasslers is pretty tasty...and they have really cool pull-off tops.

 

I can actually get bottles of almost all of their stuff, It's just absurdly pricey (Westchester) for the sizes I find. I've never even heard anything about them, Might be why you never see 'em.

 

The Biddy Early is closed. I discovered this when I hitchhiked there from Galway. There's just a regular pub there now.

I've seen the Porterhouse's beers available in a variety of stores in Los Angeles, but never the seasonal chocolate stout.

 

Aside from O'Hara's, I haven't seen any of Carlow Brewing's beers stateside. They recently moved to a new brewery that might be worth a visit. Dungraven Brewing Co makes some good beer as well.