The Republic of Ireland is, of course, famous for the giants Guinness and Heineken, but this country is also home to roughly 75 significantly smaller breweries that are producing some really interesting craft beers.

Brewing and drinking beer have been a part of Irish culture since time immemorial, and a lot of traditional skills have been dusted off and turned into practice again with the increased interest in microbrewed craft beer – and interest that has been growing slowly and steadily since the 1980s and then picked up significant speed in the early years of the 21st century.

From an international perspective, the Irish are on the top-10 list of beer drinking per capita, so there has been plenty of opportunities for new breweries and brewpubs to find interested consumers without looking abroad or relying on tourism.

In 2014, craft beer represented 1.5% of total beer sales in Ireland. For the year 2017, the number had rosen to 2.8%.

Development

Naturally, many microbreweries and brewpubs have come and gone in Ireland since the 1980s. Established in 1981, Hilden Brewery in Lisburn is Ireland’s oldest non-defunct microbrewery, and from the 1990s, we have survivors such as Carlow Brewing Company and Porterhouse Brewing Company (the latter now runs its own chain of pubs).

The mid-2000s is generally seen as the start of the second-wave of microbreweries in Ireland, with companies such as Trouble Brewing, Metalman Brewing, Galway Bay, Galway Hooker, County Kerry, Dungarvan, Clanconnel, and Dingle Brewery entering the scene.

After a change in tax law, coupled with increased access to EU-level funding for microbrewers, a third-wave of microbrewing swept over Ireland starting in 2013 – partly boosted by government-funded brewing classes.

Irish craft beer on tap

Historically, it has been quite difficult for small independent breweries to get their beer on tap in pubs in Ireland. In response to this, several microbreweries started their own pubs – some of them with great success. Examples of breweries that operate pubs or on-site restaurants are Dead Centre Brewing, Brú Brewery, Rascals Brewing, and Rising Sons Brewery.

Reactions from macro-breweries

Even though craft beer makes up just a small part of the overall Irish beer market, macro-breweries have responded by launching their own craft-ish brands. Heineken has, for instance, start selling the pale ale Cute Hoor, with packaging that looks very different from the standard Heineken beers, and where the labelling is pretty coy about showcasing that this is indeed a Heineken product.

Some large corporations have also gone the route of acquiring or investing in independent craft breweries in Ireland. Molson Coors did, for instance, purchase Franciscan Well Brewery in 2013. The beer is still sold under the brand Franciscan Well, but with MCBC added to the packaging to identify the parent company.

Brewing associations in Ireland

The Irish Brewers Association was founded back in 1904. Today, it is a division of the large national lobby group Ibec, and only have five members – all of which are macro-breweries.

To better suit the needs of small-scale craft beer makers, two new organisations were formed in the early 2010s: “Beer Ireland”, “Beoir” and “Independent Craft Brewers & Distillers or Ireland”. The latter has since then dropped the distillers and is now focusing solely on beer making, having changed its name to Craft Brewers or Ireland.

Examples of craft breweries in the Republic of Ireland

Brewery	Town	County	Founded
The Porterhouse Brewing Company	Dublin	Dublin	1989
Carlow Brewing Company	Bagenalstown	Carlow	1996
White Gypsy Brewery	Templemore	Tipperary	1996
Whitewater Brewing Company	Castlewellan	County Down	1996
Franciscan Well Brewery	Cork	Cork	1998
Galway Bay Brewery	Galway	Galway	2005
Barrelhead Brewery	Dublin	Dublin	2006
Galway Hooker Brewery	Oranmore	Galway	2006
West Kerry Brewery (Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne)	Ballyferriter	Kerry	2008
Trouble Brewing	Kill	Kildare	2009
Bo Bristle Brewing	Banagher	Offaly	2010
Dungarvan Brewing	Dungarvan	Waterford	2010
Metalman Brewing Company	Waterford	Waterford	2010
Treaty City Brewing Co	Limerick	Limerick	2010
Burren Brewery	Lisdoonvarna	Clare	2011
Carrig Brewing Company	Drumshanbo	Leitrim	2011
Donegal Brewing Company	Ballyshannon	Donegal	2011
5 Lamps Brewery	Dublin	Dublin	2012
Brown Paper Bag Project	Dublin	Dublin	2012
Kinnegar Brewing	Rathmullan	Donegal	2012
Mountain Man Brewing Company	West Cork	Cork	2012
Rising Sons Brewery	Cork	Cork	2012
9 White Deer Brewery	Macroom	Cork	2013
Blacks Brewery	Kinsale	Cork	2013
Brú Brewery	Trim	Meath	2013
J.W. Sweetman	Dublin	Dublin	2013
Manor Brewing Company	Manor Kilbride	Wicklow	2013
Mescan Brewery	Kilsallagh	Mayo	2013
Rascals Brewing Company	Rathcoole	Dublin	2013
Stone Barrel Brewing Company	Dublin	Dublin	2013
West Mayo Brewery	Castlebar	Mayo	2013
Black Donkey Brewing	Ballinlough	Roscommon	2014
Brehon Brewhouse	Carrickmacross	Monaghan	2014
Carlingford Brewing Company	Carlingford	Louth	2014
Crafty Divils	Killorglin	Kerry	2014
Four Provinces Brew. Co.	Kimmage	Dublin	2014
McGargles (Rye River Brewing Company)	Celbridge	Kildare	2014
Muckish Mountain Brewery	Creeslough	Donegal	2014
Munster Brewery	Youghal	Cork	2014
N17 Brewery	Tuam	Galway	2014
O Brother Brewing	Kilcool	Wicklow	2014
Reel Deel Brewery	Crossmolina	Mayo	2014
St. Mel’s Brewing Company	Longford	Longford	2014
Torc Brewing	Killarney	Kerry	2014
West Cork Brewing Co	Cork	Cork	2014
White Hag Brewery, The	Ballymote	Sligo	2014
Wicklow Brewery, The	Redcross	Wicklow	2014
Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company	Bray	Wicklow	2014
12 Acres Brewery	Killeshin	Laois	2015
Drew Fox Brewing Company	Wexford	Co. Wexford	2015
Killarney Brewing Company	Killarney	Kerry	2015
Lough Gill Brewery	Sligo	Sligo	2015
Wood Key Brewing	Dublin	Dublin	2015
YellowBelly Beer	Wexford	Wexford	2015
Ballykilcavan Brewery	Stradbally	Laois	2016
Boyne Brewhouse	Drogheda	Louth	2016
Hope Craft Brewery	Dublin	Dublin	2016
Sullivan’s Brewing Company	Kilkenny	Kilkenny	2016