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Beer in Northern Ireland has been influenced by immigration into
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, especially from
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, and the drinking habits in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
until the
partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...
. Whiskey drinking was always a tradition with
Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
from
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
being a strong influence in the style of beer drunk in the 19th and 20th centuries. Brewing traditions almost ceased to exist as smaller breweries closed, or were taken over, and then the large breweries in turn closed down their facilities. The
Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founded on 16 ...
(CAMRA) was founded in 1971; however, it was 10 years before the first new brewery, Hilden Brewing, opened its doors. Most
microbreweries Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
in Northern Ireland find it difficult to sell beer in draught form due to the local tied-pubs issues, where most pubs are owned by
Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...
(Guinness),
C&C Group C&C Group plc (known prior to its flotation as Cantrell & Cochrane Limited) is an Irish manufacturer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic drinks, particularly cider, and soft drinks. It has production facilities across Ireland, Great Britain ...
( Tennent's) or
Molson Coors Brewing Company Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American multinational drink and brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States. In 2016, ...
.


History

The Celtic tradition of brewing beer almost certainly existed in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
from before 1,000 BC using barley. The Roman Emperor
Julian the Apostate Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...
, in a 1,600-year-old poem, described Celtic beer as smelling “like a
billy goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bo ...
.” Historically Ireland produced ale without the use of hops, as the plant is not native to Ireland, which led in the 18th century to importing quantities of hops from England. During the 18th century, the Irish Parliament used taxation to encourage brewing at the expense of distilling, reasoning that beer was less harmful than whiskey. In the 1760s about 600,000 barrels of beer were brewed annually in Ireland. In the 1760s, the
Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...
offered prizes to brewers who used the most Irish hops and those that produced the most Porter. During the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
in Northern Ireland, "many drinkers preferred whiskey to beer." The Caffrey's Ulster Brewery, established in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
in 1897 and taken over by Bass in 1974, closed in 2004, so ending big company brewing in Northern Ireland.
Stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...
is the most preferred beer in Northern Ireland, with
lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...
second and
bitter beer Bitter is an English style of pale ale that varies in colour from gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense ...
as a distant third preference. Guinness, brewed at
St James's Gate Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...
in Dublin, is still a popular stout beer in Northern Ireland. Hilden Brewing Company claims to be Ireland's current oldest microbrewery, founded in 1981. In 2007, Clotworthy Dobbin, produced by Whitewater Brewing Company, was judged one of the best 50 beers in the world. The number of microbreweries in Northern Ireland has significantly increased in recent years, from five in 2012 to a peak of thirty in 2018. For many years Northern Ireland's craft breweries called for a change in the law, which prevented them selling their produce directly to the customer on site or online. This also incurred additional costs using a third party for sales. In 2023, an Amendment to the 2021 Licensing and Registration of Clubs Act (Northern Ireland) created a new category of license for local producers, allowing them to sell directly to the public.


List of Northern Ireland breweries


See also

*
Beer and breweries by region This is a list of articles and categories dealing with beer and breweries by region: the breweries and beers in various regions. Beer is the world's most widely consumed alcoholic drink, and is the third-most popular drink overall, after water and ...
*
Beer in the United Kingdom Beer in the United Kingdom has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions. Historically the main styles were top-fermented Bitters, Porters, Stouts and Milds, but after World War II lagers took over half the market by volume. The Campaign ...
*
Beer in England Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with ...
*
Beer in Scotland Beer in Scotland is mostly produced by breweries in the central Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands, which also contain the main centres of population. Edinburgh and Alloa in particular became noted for the export of beer around the world in the 19 ...
* Beer in Wales *
Beer in Ireland Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer. Lager accounts for 63.5% of the beer sold. The market share for stout is 29.3% and ale is 6.2 ...
*
List of breweries in Ireland This is a list of breweries in Ireland. Brewing has a long history in Ireland; the country's largest city, Dublin, is home to one of the largest breweries in the world, St James's Gate Brewery, founded by Arthur Guinness more than 250 years ago ...


References


External links


Society of Independent Brewers

Campaign for Real Ale Northern Ireland

NI Breweries - Quare Swally NI

NI Breweries - Tilt n Pour

Craft Beer in Belfast, Northern Ireland - Craft & Slice
{{Northern Ireland topics, state=collapsed
Northern ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...