Irish Beer and Whiskey

While most people have been consumed by a taste for whiskey or beer due to the recent St. Patrick’s Day commemoration, I thought that I’d see if some sort of Irish contingency for wine existed. The results, the climate and mineral content of the soil in Ireland are not conducive to growing grapes for fine wine.

However, there is a group of Irish émigrés that call themselves the Wild Geese that do produce wine in other regions such as Bordeaux. These vineyards would bear names such as: Lynch, MacCarthy, Dillon, Phelan, Hennessy and Barton according to the website AllAboutIrish.

Also included is James Concannon, of the Aran Islands who relocated to California in the 1880s. “Other vintners of Irish heritage in California include Murphy-Goode and Kenwood and New Zealand’s Hunter and Forrest houses” (AllAboutIrish). However, there are numerous Irish Whiskeys and beer varieties to make up the difference.

Most people have, at one time or another, tried Guinness. In fact, if you go to Ireland, you find out that Guinness is a major sponsor of many sporting events etc. (and over 240 years old). But there are other Irish breweries including: Beamish & Crawford- brewed in Cork since 1792; Biddy Early; Carlow--one of the newest breweries producing using ancient Celtic-based recipes; Dublin-a micro-brewery; Irish Brewing Company which produces a German-style pilsner lager; and Murphy’s (Irish Stout) which has been brewed in Cork since 1856. Not to mention Bulmers or Magner’s Irish ciders, which can be drank alone or blended with a stout such as Guinness. But don’t forget to consider the most popular blend option usually made with Guinness—the traditional black and tan.

Black and tans supposedly originated Britain pubs by drinkers who ordered a mix of dark stout and draught bitter. Many American breweries currently make premixed Black and Tan, and it is a popular blend at American bars. One of the oldest commercial examples is Yuengling’s Original Black and Tan (they also produce a pilsner that’s quite good). Some other premixed black and tans available in the US include: Gray’s out of Janesville, WI; McSorley’s made by Pabst; and Black Eye Ale by Mendocino Brewing Company—but most aficionados will tell you that they prefer mixing it themselves. And then there’s the Irish whiskey.

Probably the best-known Irish whiskey is Jameson’s, around since 1780 and in three versions—the basic (Jenny), 10 year, and 12 year (1780). Irish whiskey as a whole, according to the Tastings website, began with “the Scots most likely learned about distilling from the Irish (though they are loath to admit it).
The Irish in turn learning about it, according to the Irish at least, from missionary monks who arrived in Ireland in the seventh century. These first distillates were probably grape or fruit brandy rather than grain spirit.

Barley-based whiskey (the word derives from uisce beatha the Gaelic interpretation of aqua vitae) first appears in the historical record in the mid-1500s when the Tudor kings began to consolidate English control in Ireland.” Whatever the actual inception of Irish whiskey, today it still holds a place in the American market.

Whether it’s being used for a traditional Irish coffee (hold the Bailey’s, just put a shot of Irish whiskey and a cube of sugar in your coffee), or drank neatly on its own, this blend of malted and grain whiskey holds a place in my own heart.

I have attempted to develop a taste for potcheen—the moonshine version of Irish whiskey, but, as it’s high on alcohol, the flavors (some may even say nuances) completely elude me.

If you didn’t try any of the Irish libations described above on St. Patrick’s day—try one on the next gray day that you’d like a quick warm up. As always, have fun and be safe.