A Small Rant

I was at Lou Reed in The Marquee in Cork last night. There was a big Budweiser Tent. I know that this is too big for The Beer Revolution to fight but my complaint is quite specific. I grudgingly accept that bars at big events like this are going to be dominated by the multinational breweries. I know that there will be no real choice. I've come to expect that despite a captive audience and a complete lack of competition, the prices will be somewhat inflated (€5 for a Guinness - not too bad). But what I do not accept is the refusal to sell half pints.

This didn't really affect me personally. I chose not to drink at all. But why couldn't my friend who just doesn't like drinking pints get a half pint of Guinness in a plastic glass?

I've written on this subject before here.

Great gig, by the way (apart from the awful Mick Jagger & Tina Turner meets James Last version of The Velvet's Rock 'N Roll during the encore).

My last drink was not a pint of Budweiser or Guinness from a plastic glass.

And Then There Were Two?

This article may not be news to many readers but in conversation with people, I've found that there is much unawareness of what is happening in the mainstream brewing world.

For as long as I can remember the stout market in Ireland has been almost exclusively dominated by three brands; Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish.

Over the years Guinness sold out to Diagio, Murphy's to Heineken and Beamish to Scottish & Newcastle.

Now a rather worrisome development is about to take place.
Heineken and arch rivals Carlsberg have joined forces to take over Scottish & Newcastle in a €10.44 billion deal.

The effects of this will see Heineken take over S&N's operations in UK, Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, USA and India. The result of this will be that Heineken will own Beamish.
ie Murphy's and Beamish having the same owner.

It seems that the Irish part of the deal has yet to be passed by the Irish Competition Authority.
There has been talk of a management buy out or, if the deal is blocked, then the Beamish brewery would be offered up for sale. But can we trust the Competition Authority to prevent the smaller two of the three big stout producers in Ireland being under the same owenership?

One can't but help speculate that one of the two brews will be axed. Which one? My bet is that Beamish will go. Murphy's is brewed in Heineken's modern Lady's Well brewery Cork, while Beamish is brewed across town on a city centre site I assume to be much more valuable. Take into account that stout sales are falling, will a corporate brewer keep two stouts that struggle to compete in a lager market.

What is interesting to note is that, should the deal go through, Heineken will be the brewers of six lagers: Heineken, Amstel, Fosters, Miller, Kronenburg 1664 and Coors. Will it keep all of them? Who cares?

Now, I'm not a huge lover of the modern draught stout. Over the years it has been tweaked to deliver a pint that is more about coldness and creaminess than flavour. This has happened all three of the big stouts and even the likes of O Hara's Stout, while having a bit more going on, still falls into the nitrogenated, cold, rather bland model of Irish stout. (Draught stout uses nitrogen to force the beer through a fine holed plate in the tap to produce the much loved creamy head.)

I do , however, have a fondness for Beamish. I went for the price and stayed cause I liked it. I would now pay more for Beamish over Guinness or Murphy's if I had to. Beamish is not my beer of choice but given the dismal choice of beer in so many Irish bars, it is my best option. Beamish and boiled bodice.....mmmmmm.

Will Murphy's be axed? Will Beamish be no more? Will the South Main St. brewery (pictured) which employs 160 staff be turned into apartments? Along with the news that Diagio could close St. James' Gate Guinness brewery, things look bleak for the future of what's left of the Irish Stout Industry.


On The Pint Bottle issue;
I was in the iconic Mc Carthy's Bar of Catsletownbere, made famous by the late Pete Mc Carthy's book Mc Carthy's Bar. Very nice bar with grocery section and friendly staff.
But did they have The Pint Bottle?
No.
But they did have Guinness Extra in 33cl bottles.
Now that's plain odd.

My last drink was; Glass of Cote Du Rhone 2006, 14%abv

The Pint Bottle & The Sunny South East

Aside from the alleged finer weather in the South East corner of our damp isle the thing I like about visiting Waterford and Wexford is the proliferation of The Pint Bottle Of Guinness.

Staying in the Brandon House Hotel, New Ross, last night I had high hopes, considering the location, of finding The Pint Bottle behind their bar.
I was only slightly disappointed.
The Bottle was there but only in the fridge.
Ah well, it'll always warm up.

Taking into account that Guinness Extra is far from my favourite beer, why get so excited?

Think of a typical hotel bar. If I want to drink beer, the average pub or hotel has nothing to offer me - several mainstream long-necks, industrial draught (and I include Guinness,Beamish and Murphy's as the best of a bad lot here) and nothing else. Okay, maybe (and a big maybe) Erdinger will be there but I just don't really like Erdinger.

But..
If in The South East, then the Pint Bottle of Guinness is a saviour.
A proper, full flavoured, slightly challenging beer with a lot of tradition behind it. It's what one imagines Guinness should taste like. Oh, and trust me, it really is much, much nicer off the shelf - smoother and fuller flavoured as opposed to a little thin and bitter when cold.

So, people of the South East;
Drink The Bottle!
If you don't, publicans will stop stocking it as they have in most parts of the country and I'll stop visiting and Guinness will probably stop making it - the one product that hasn't been tweaked beyond recognition to suit the ever changing taste of the fickle consumer.

I thank you, Waterford and Wexford and I thank all the other pups around the country that still stock The Pint Bottle.

Try one - off the shelf, with a half-pint glass and if you don't like it, try mixing it with a Pint Bottle of Smithwicks to make a Black & Tan.
Nice