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Session strength ales

Irish session ales

"Centuries of traditional Irish brewing were swept away in the 20th century by three multinational brewing companies, all but erasing the memory of local beer styles.  From the 1960s to the start of this century,…"
Centuries of traditional Irish brewing were swept away in the 20th century by three multinational brewing companies, all but erasing the memory of local beer styles.  From the 1960s to the start of this century, Irish beer consisted almost entirely of session-strength blond lagers, black stouts or reddish ales.  Even the first wave of new independent breweries, founded in the 1990s, mostly emulated this range.  The most Irish of styles are the ones that diverged furthest away from their English predecessors.

See also: Irish stout

Irish Red

Historically, pale ale brewing in Ireland differed little from that in England.  The roots of Irish Red can be traced to the 1961 consolidation of three breweries into a single entity owned, in effect, by Guinness.  Recipes became sweeter, prompting beer writer Michael Jackson in 1976 to suggest these might constitute a style of their own that he dubbed ‘Irish Red’ (4.0-4.8% ABV).  Larger brewers and some first wave independents still market this in Ireland.  Newer, smaller independents are less keen, though some have riffed on the concept and variations can appear with all-Irish ingredients, up-hopped, stronger, or even barrel-aged.

A sampler of Irish Reds at the Cotton Ball brewpub in Cork, Ireland (photo: André Brunnsberg)

About the Author

Tim Webb

The lead author and curator of The Beer Styles of Europe and beyond is Tim Webb, co-author of The World Atlas of Beer.

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