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Irish Beers That Aren’t Guinness: The Best Alternatives to Try

Thomas Short — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:59:04 +0000

Walk into any pub in Ireland and order “a pint,” and yes, there’s a decent chance you’ll get a glass of Guinness (especially if you’re a tourist like me). But Ireland’s beer culture stretches far beyond “The Black Stuff”. From Cork to Kilkenny, and a new wave of craft breweries producing everything from IPAs to barrel-aged porters, there’s never been a better time to try an Irish beer. Whether you don’t like Guinness, want to broaden your knowledge of Irish brewing, or just want to try something new on St. Patrick’s Day, here are some good Guinness alternatives to try. Irish Stouts That Aren’t Guinness Don’t want to stray too far from stouts? Don’t worry, there are some awesome Irish stouts that aren’t Guinness you can try. Murphy’s Irish Stout Brewed at the Lady’s Well Brewery in Cork since 1856, Murphy’s is probably the closest you can get to Guinness without actually getting a Guinness. It’s a nitrogen-poured dry stout with a smoother, slightly sweeter profile than Guinness. So, if Guiness is just a little too dry, or if you want something slightly different, Murphy’s is a good alternative. It’s also widely available across Ireland and in Irish pubs internationally. Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.0% | Brewed in: Cork Beamish Irish Stout Also brewed in Cork (and now under the same ownership as Murphy’s: Heineken), Beamish is bolder than Guinness. It’s rich and malty, and it has notes of chocolate and coffee akin to many stouts in the United States. It’s also not a nitro pour, so it’ll be less smooth and creamy than Guinness or Murphy’s. If you can find this, give it a try! Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.2% | Brewed in: Cork O’Hara’s Irish Stout From Carlow Brewing Company (one of Ireland’s first modern craft breweries, founded in 1996), O’Hara’s Irish Stout is the flagship beer. O’Hara’s is brewed using classic Irish brewing methods, so you could make an argument that it’s the most traditional style stout of anything listed. Give it a try if you’re in Ireland, and try to find it if you’re not! Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Carlow Porterhouse Plain Porter If you’re in Dublin, stop by Porterhouse Brewing Company. They make a lot of tasty brews, but their Plain Porter is the best Guinness alternative to try. No, this beer isn’t plain; it has a nice toffee flavor and bitter notes. Also, it’s poured as a traditional cask ale, so no artificial carbonation! It’s a great beer to try if you have the chance. Style: Porter | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Dublin How Do Irish Stouts Compare to Guinness? To make things easy (because I love tables), here’s a quick comparison of these stouts and porters. Beer Flavour Profile ABV Best For Guinness Draught Dry, roasted, slightly bitter 4.2% The benchmark Murphy’s Irish Stout Smoother, slightly sweet, less bitter 4.0% Guinness-disliker’s first try Beamish Rich, chocolate, malty, dense 4.2% Stout lovers who want more body O’Hara’s Irish Stout Dry, roasty, strong bitterness 4.3% Craft beer drinkers Porterhouse Plain Porter Toffee, light smoke, chocolate 4.3% Traditional / cask-style fans Other Irish Beers Worth Drinking Maybe the reason you want an Irish beer that isn’t Guinness is that you don’t want a dark beer. If that’s the case, there are some awesome Irish ales you can try instead. Smithwick’s Red Ale I couldn’t make a list without Smithwick’s! Brewed in Kilkenny since 1710, Smithwick’s (pronounced “Smitticks”) Red Ale is as Irish as Irish beer gets. This malty red ale has plenty of sweet caramel flavor, and it’s really easy to drink. It’s my go-to when I want an Irish beer that isn’t Guinness. It’s also available across Ireland and in many international markets. Style: Irish Red Ale | ABV: 3.8% | Brewed in: Kilkenny Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale Kilkenny is a nitrogen-poured cream ale that’s soft and…well, creamy. It’s a really approachable beer if you don’t love beer like Guinness. Personally, I don’t love cream ales, but this one gets a pass because it’s so well done. Style: Irish Cream Ale | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Kilkenny Harp Lager Harp is Ireland’s best-known domestic lager, maybe because it’s bascially the lager version of Guinness; after all, they are owned by the same parent company. It’s a clean, light, crisp pale lager, perfect for anyone that wants something a little easier to sip on than a Guinness. You’ll find it on draught in most Irish pubs and in cans at grocery stores in the United States. Style: Pale Lager | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Dundalk / multiple sites Where to Find Non-Guinness Irish Beers Where you can find these beers depends on where you are: In Ireland: Irish beers are found in Irish pubs pretty much everywhere. If you want a specific beer, you’re best off visiting the city where it’s brewed. Craft beers are often served in pubs dedicated specifically to craft beer, so look out for those in major cities. In the United States: Irish pubs are your best bet for finding any alternative to Guinness. Smithwicks, Murphy’s and Harp are the easiest to find, and some of them are available in grocery stores and liquor stores. Frequently Asked Questions

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Food That Goes With Beer

Thomas Short — Sat, 27 May 2023 19:15:27 +0000

Forget about pairing your white wines with whatever type of food goes with white wine. We’re here to talk beer! Finding foods that go with beer isn’t as easy as “white beers for fish” or “red beers for steak.” Alas, if only it were that easy. Beers are complex, and different styles can have wildly different flavors. Honestly, the flavor from one IPA to another IPA can be so different that it’s tough to accept that they are both IPAs. The best we can do is generalize the styles and find out what works well with them. Don’t worry, you don’t need to sit down and come up with your own pairing list – I’ve done it for you. Food and Beer Pairing: The Basics I’m sure that some culinary experts could create a list of fantastic basic rules for beer paring with food, and I’m also sure that experts can disagree on just about every point. So, here’s my amateur opinion on food and beer pairing that, considering my years of experience, holds some value. Think About Regional Trends Having sausages? Try something German. Eating a burger? An American ale or lager would be great. Cuisine isn’t just some happy accident — experts in flavor and taste have spent years honing in on regional ingredients to create the perfect dishes. It only makes sense that beers from the same region would match the broader taste profile. Drink What You Enjoy If you absolutely hate sours but some random internet article is telling you that you have to pair your meal with a sour, just don’t. Trust this random internet article instead and drink what you enjoy. Just don’t mistake this tip for “don’t try anything new,” since I encourage trying new things. But I don’t encourage intentionally having things you don’t like. Don’t Do Too Much Don’t do too much. Don’t maple syrup on a steak. Don’t deep-fry fruit. Don’t pair a DDH IIIPA with a funnel cake. Just don’t do it. Too much is too much, and you’re going to literally destroy your ability to ever taste anything again if you do too much. You’ll also gross out everyone around you, and maybe even yourself. So just don’t do it. Trust Your Gut If it sounds good, it’s probably good. If it sounds bad, it’s probably bad. Truly, pairing beer and food can be this simple. Beers to Pair with Foods Instead of doing a long list of foods and saying “drink this and that,” I’m going with the quicker, more sensical route of starting with the type of beer and suggesting the foods that pair with it. This just seems so much simpler to do, and it saves you from having to scroll down a full page of text looking for some specific meal. What to Pair with Ales The trusty ale should be paired with trusty foods, and nothing is trustier than a hamburger. Also, good with ales are just about any fried food, anything with nuts, cheddar cheese, nachos…basically anything that you’d find on a traditional pub menu. What to Pair with Lagers Lagers are going to be your closest thing to white wine, and by that, I mean you should drink a lager if you’re eating seafoods, sushi, shellfish, etc. Also, good with a lager: chicken and spicy foods, as well as many pasta dishes. What to Pair with IPAs The bitterer brother of the ale, IPAs are going to pair well with the same foods as ales. I’d also say that spicy food work well with IPAs since the bitter hoppy flavor and the spice can really pack a 1-2 punch. What to Pair with Pilsners Like lagers, pilsners will go better with seafood than most beers. However, if you’re planning a salmon dinner then you should definitely pick a pilsner. Spicy foods pair will with pilsners as well, so Mexican or Asian dishes with spice will taste even better. What to Pair with Porters Anything that feels heavy should go with a porter. Chili, barbecue and most meats are going to be good compliments to the classic porter style. What to Pair with Stouts Because stouts and porters have so much in common, you can easily get away with substituting one for the other in a beer pairing. Since stouts can sometimes run a little sweet, salty foods might taste particularly good. What to Pair with Hefeweizens Light beers like hefeweizens deserve lighter fare. Any type of salad should go well with a hefe, as well as different types of fruits. There’s a reason people put citrus in hefes, you know! What to Pair with Barleywines I’m not sure how anyone can make room in their stomach while drinking barleywine, but the only way to pair with this has to be a dessert. Something decadent and small might be good, like a cheesecake, something with cinnamon or even cookies. Just grab some dessert!

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What’s The Difference Between Stouts And Porters?

Thomas Short — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 19:30:25 +0000

Have you ever seen identical twins that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between even if your life depended on it? It’s pretty much impossible. Telling the difference between a modern stout and porter is probably harder. Why is it so hard to tell the difference between a stout and a porter? Because nobody really knows the difference. Brewers today can’t agree on what makes a stout a stout and a porter a porter. As a result, you can get a porter at one brewery that tastes exactly the same as a stout from a different brewery. Let’s explore why trying to find the differences between stouts and porters is so flipping complicated. Stouts And Porters: A Complex History Like any great drama, we set the stage with a complex history between our two characters. Like some great dramas, this takes place in England. Porters hail from an incredible drink called Entire Butt, a beer brewed to match the flavor of combining ale, beer, and twopenny (which was just a super strong beer). This style was popular, and it culminated in the creation of Guinness’ Single Stout Porter. Yes, a stout porter. So, Entire Butt could be described as the first porter/stout/stout porter. Why we never called the style a butt beer is entirely beyond me, and now we have to live with trying to define porters and stouts. Are Stouts And Porters Made With Hops? Nowadays, porters are generally made from malted barley. This comes from hundreds of years of tradition of trying to match the flavor of that awesome Entire Butt. As with any style of beer, hops are required — however, the hop profile in a porter is likely much subtler than anything you’d find in an IPA. Stouts are a little different. Not only can they use unmalted barley, but they also are sometimes made with malted barley. What stouts have in common with porters is the sparing use of hops. So, short answer: yes, stouts and porters are made with hops because all beers are made with hops. Which Is Stronger: Stouts Or Porters? Here’s a buzz word that always gets tossed around with beers. Some people are looking for beers so strong that the beer could pick up its drinker and carry them home. While this isn’t a thing (yet), the demand for strong beers persists. Historically, people in England called strong beers “stouts,” sort of like how you might call a strong guy a “stout chap” if you lived in England a few hundred years ago. It just so happens that during this time period super-dark porters were the strongest beers — AKA, the “stoutest.” At some point in time, people just decided that strong beers were the same as dark beers. So, all you strong beer drinkers, want to know which is stronger between a porter and stout? Neither, because strong is a highly subjective term and I could pick two stouts so unalike that you’d wish they were just called “Strong Butt” and “Weak Butt.” Same goes for porters. If you’re looking for la cerveza mas fuerte, I’d suggest something close to lighter fluid. Which Is Darker: Stouts Or Porters? Because the English language is a beautiful disaster and because strong and dark are synonymous in the world of Entire Butts…well, you can guess where this is going. Like everything else in the world of stouts and porters, the darker option depends entirely on where and how the beer is brewed. Here’s the nice thing, though — I can safely say that 9/10 times you order a stout or porter, it’ll be darker than nearly any other option on tap! It’s best to spend less time splitting the stout/porter hairs and more time drinking the hair of the dog. Am I Drinking A Stout Or A Porter? Here comes the answer you’ve been waiting for: what are you drinking? If your beer is made with malted barley, then odds are you’re drinking a porter. Today, many stouts use unmalted barley – which, fun fact, is where the coffee-like flavor of stouts comes from. Unless your brewer also added coffee. In that case, the coffee flavor comes from coffee. Keep in mind that stouts don’t always use unmalted barley. Sometimes they’ll use malted barley, depending on what the brewer wants to do. So to simplify: if you’re drinking a dark beer with unmalted barley, it’s probably a stout. If your beer has malted barley, it’s probably a porter. When in doubt, always remember this: the label on your bottle of beer should tell you exactly what your drinking. At the end of the day, your brewer probably knows what they’re doing. Just trust what they say. Unless they added pumpkin to the beer, but that’s for another post.

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Breakfast Beers and Coffee Stouts

Thomas Short — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 18:30:42 +0000

It was only a matter of time until beer tackled the most taboo meal for a drink: breakfast. Beer, as you’re well aware, goes best with things we closely associate with the afternoon or night, such as warm weather, dinner, bars, sporting events…the list goes on. But when was the last time you cracked a cold one at breakfast? Poured that Coors Light into your bowl of cereal? Put some milk stout into your coffee instead of creamer? Ya, I didn’t think so. Here’s the big news: your life is about to change. Sort of. Breakfast beers are on the rise, and by the year 2022 they’re going to be a balanced part of your breakfast. You know, since alcohol extends your life. I mean shortens it. Ugh. So, in order to prepare you for the future of breakfast, I’m going to talk about some of the different breakfast beers you’ll encounter in the wild. The Coffee Stout There’s nothing mysterious about coffee stouts. These are literally just stouts with coffee in them. Here’s something to keep in mind, however: not all coffee stouts actually use coffee. Malts, one of the main ingredients of beer, are roasted, much like coffee. And, much like coffee, the roasted flavor sticks out, and the aroma is roasty – like coffee. However, coffee can be added to a beer to change the flavor and aroma, while also adding a different consistency. In honesty, the difference between a coffee stout with real coffee and a fake phony coffee stout is night and day (in my opinion). What’s cooler is that your local craft brewers tend to use local coffee grounds. Win-win! The Breakfast Beer Such a vague term for such a vague idea. Breakfast beers are technically any beer you have with breakfast. But I’m going to redefine this term to in such a non-strict way that it’s bound to cause frustration and confusion. A while back I went to Great Notion and had a beer called Double Stack. It tasted like a liquid-gold version of chocolate chip pancakes, complete with the sweet syrup flavor and the feeling like you had way too many pancakes to eat. A perfect breakfast beer. I’ve also seen breakfast themed IPAs, usually loaded with lactose. Lactose is one of the types of yeast brewers use, and to be completely honest I don’t like the flavor. However, plenty of beer drinkers do, and that milky flavor in an IPA is perfectly suitable for breakfast. Another suitable breakfast IPA is something so juicy that it reminds you of orange juice. Yes, I’m talking about those hazy IPAs so thick with juice flavor that they can cure the common cold. These are perfectly suitable for breakfast since they don’t blow your palate into smithereens. Also, many hazy IPAs don’t use lactose. I suggest gunning for those ones. Pastry Stouts Now, dear reader, I need to bring up the most deceiving beer for breakfast delights: pastry stouts. A pastry stout is a stout so sweet that you would expect to have to chase the beer with a shot of insulin. They usually hit the 8-10% ABV range (so dangerous for so sweet), and I can shamelessly say that I absolutely love them. But, for the most part, pastry stouts do not belong with your breakfast. Pastry stouts are dessert. There are exceptions. I would say that the Double Stack from Great Notion is a pastry stout. However, the flavor profile allows it to pass as breakfast – sort of like how pancakes are breakfast but any other cake is dessert. “But Thomas, people eat pastries for breakfast.” Ya, well I’ve had cake for breakfast, but that doesn’t make it a breakfast food. No human in their right mind would consider eating a pastry for breakfast every single day. They’re basically the dessert of breakfast. The dessert. Dessert. Also, I would not recommend having a beer with breakfast every day. Why? Because it spoils the novelty. Beer is fun, but if you have one with breakfast every day, at some point it becomes a routine. You’ll get in a rut, and your breakfast beer will start to blend with your Wheaties and cantaloupe. So, there you have it. You’re now ready for the future of beer and, by default, your life. Go forth and enjoy the occasional breakfast beer, but please, PLEASE pay close attention to your palate.

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