Porterhouse Brewing

This weekend, everyone will be Irish for a day as we celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick, more commonly known as St. Patrick’s Day (though I prefer the alternative, ‘All Hangovers’ Eve’).  Folks will don their green garb, raise a pint, & shed a tear for dear old Eire, or maybe just yell WOOOOO!!! a lot & then post it on YouTube.  Whether celebration are reverent or revelrous, chances are many will lift a glass & toast with the black stuff, a Pint of Plain, as Guinness has become almost as iconically Irish as Saint Patrick himself.

But did you know that Guinness is no longer fully Irish?  Though all the Guinness distributed in Ireland & the UK is brewed at St. James’s Gate in Dublin, Guinness belongs to Diageo, a multinational headquartered in London.  And chances are (if you’re a Yank) that the Guinness you’re drinking is brewed in Canada.  And of the three other “big” Irish stouts producers – O’Hara’s, Murphy’s, & Beamish – only O’Hara’s is Irish-owned (from County Carlow, to be precise).  Murphy’s & Beamish are both owned by Heineken.

Whether this is an issue to you is entirely at your discretion, of course.  Some cry ‘foul’ at beers owned by the big boys, & can taste the taint of big business in every sip; others say it’s what’s in the glass that really matters, & good beer is good beer, politics be damned.  But for those who’d like to try a wholly independent Irish brewery, we’d like to shed some light on Dublin’s Porterhouse Brewing Company.  Proprietors  Liam LaHart & Oliver Hughes (with the help of architect Frank Ennis) opened Ireland’s first brewpub in 1996, set on broadening the drinking culture of that fair city to a variety of beer styles.  Their enterprise grew to include two more Dublin locales, & one each in London & New York.  They pride themselves on brewing a variety of ales & lagers, & won awards for that most representative of Irish styles: stout.

Several years ago they began importing to the U.S., & The House proudly carries beers from this great Irish craft brewery.  On our shelves, you can find their Oyster Stout, a balanced 4.6% ABV stout conditioned with freshly shucked oysters; Wrasslers XXXX Stout, with that characteristic rich roast taste; their Red Ale, well-balanced with caramel notes; & their strong ale, An Brainblasta, “thrice-hopped” & weighing in at 7% ABV.  Look for the bottles with the cool peel-off caps.  If it’s tradition you’re looking for, Guinness will do.  But if you’re looking to try an authentic Irish product, made by an Irish-owned company passionate about what they do & with an eye on the future, give a Porterhouse a crack.  And we at The House bid good craic to you this St. Paddy’s Day – Slainte!