Irish whiskey is loved by many, as is the culture of pubs and beer in Ireland. We experienced Ireland as one of Europe's most beautiful islands, with its intense green colours and dramatic nature. We travelled around Ireland for three weeks and we got to experience fantastic ruined castles, castles, breathtaking nature and of course the pub life with the laughter, music, whiskey, beer and drinks. Here is some liquid from Ireland!
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Irish whiskey
Both Helena and I (Peter) like whiskey and beer. Helena can't handle the smokiest varieties that you find in Scotland, for example, so Ireland suits us both very well. I have been drinking whiskey all my "almost" adult life, because my father offered me a little Jameson whiskey now and then when it was cold in winter when I was 15 years old (1975).
When I bought my first boat (a second-hand Flipper) in the countryside with my brother, we put big stripes on both sides of the boat and named it Jameson. Here are some varieties from Ireland for those who like mild whiskey. Many whiskey varieties are made at large distilleries like Cooley Distillery, Middleton, Pernod Ricard and Bushmills, but there are also those made at small distilleries, independent of the big producers.
Mild and tasty Irish whiskey
- Connemara - Peat-smoked single malt
- The Wild Geese - Double slow distillation process
- The Irishman - Triple distilled and aged in sherry and bourbon casks.
- Shanahan's - Made for Shanahan's restaurant in Dublin.
- Michael Collins - Hard to find
- Merrys - Hard to find in Europe ... go to Ireland!
- Loke's 8 - Has double distilled with 10 % peat, and has won an award.
- Bushmills - Triple distilled and matured in sherry casks.
- Telling - Renowned award-winning and rum barreled.
- Knappogue Castle - Triple distilled and aged in Bourbon barrels.
- Tyrconnell - Slow Double Distilled
- Berry Bros & Ruda - Known from the legendary Doug McIvor
- Hyde - 10 years in Bourbon casks and 10 months in Sherry casks
- A Drop of the Irish - Old tradition of manufacturing
- Clontarf - Distilled three times and four years in oak barrels.
- Peaky Blinder - Triple distilled in sherry casks.
- Redbreast - Triple distilled in copper vats and matured in sherry casks.
- Greenore - Made from maize with lots of prizes
- Tullamore Dew - Triple distilled with a blend of Bourbon and Sherry casks.
- Paddy's - Triple distilled and then in three different oak barrels.
- Power's - First whiskey to be bottled - legendary
- Killbeggan - Double distilled from its own waterwheel, oldest in Ireland.
- Black Bush - Triple distilled and from sherry casks
- Midelton - Jameson's super brand made in the traditional way
- Jameson - Triple distilled from malt and barley
Jameson Distillery
The Jameson Distillery is located on Bow St, Smithfield Village in Dublin. Here you can take the opportunity to taste and learn more about whiskey while in the city. Or why not go for a whisky tasting at the Jameson distillery and take a guided tour.
Irish Coffey
Irish coffee is a world-famous drink and the perfect dessert in one. The coffee, whiskey (Jameson), cream and sugar make it my absolute favourite.
Irish whiskey + stout = true
Ordering 'a drop' or 'half one' means you want half a measure of Irish whiskey in a pint of stout.
Beer in Ireland
Who hasn't heard of Guinness and Kilkenny beer? I had never in my life been fond of dark beer. I have tried many times in Sweden for Christmas, but it has always been too sweet and bad tasting. I gave up dark beer completely for 25 years but the Irish opened my taste buds again when we travelled around the island in 2017. It's still not my favourite but it's ok!
Stout
Stout is a top-fermented and very dark type of beer common in Ireland, but also in the UK. This type of beer is made, among others, by the Guinness brewery.
Guinness - Irish beer with 250 years of history
Guinness was introduced in 1759 by Arthur Guinness and is brewed in Dublin and elsewhere. The Guinness brewery also makes Kilkenny and there is a lavish museum at the brewery. St James Gate Brewery is the second most visited site in Ireland.
Guinness is world-famous for its stout and has its main production facility in Dublin. Here is the large museum Guinness Storehouse with its own Skybar and views of Dublin at St. Jame's Gate 8. This is my next stop in Dublin!
150 pints every second
On St Patrick's day, 13 million pints of Guinness are drunk. That's triple the amount of Guinness than the usual crazy 5 million pints.
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is owned and made by Guinness. There are so many varieties of Kilkenny and some of them are Stout, Extra Stout, Bitter Stout, Dry Stout, Foreign Stout, Irish Stout and you can try them in the candy aisle.
Smithwick's beer in Ireland
Smithwicks beer has been brewed in Ireland since 1710. When they started exporting beer to the European and Canadian markets, the name 'Kilkenny' was chosen because 'Smithwicks' was difficult to pronounce... Today, both names refer to two different, but similar, beers. Incidentally, the beer is brewed by the St Francis Abbey Brewery, which is owned by Guinness.
Some types of beer in Ireland
Guinness
Special Export, Special Export Stout, Foreign Extra Stout, Dublin Porter, Milk Stout, Draght, West Indies Porter, Draght Blik, Original, Nitro Ipa, Citra Ipa.
O'hara's
Irish Red, Leann Follain Barrel Aged, Irish Stout, Irish Pale Ale, Double Ipa, O'hara's 51st State
Porterhouse
An Brainblásta, Wrasslers Xxxx Stout, Oyster Stout, Hop Head, Celebration Stout, Red Ale
Even more Irish beers
- Hop House 13 Lager
- Murphy's Irish Red
- Curim Gold
- Galway Bay of Foam And Fury
Hop House is a good stock
I think Ireland has a lot of good IPAs that are coming more and more, and a lot of great lagers.
Pubs in Ireland
What would Ireland be without the pub? This is where all the crazy stories are told and all the good laughs are heard. It's also where the folk dancing and the lyrics to the music show the history and community of the Irish. After an evening in an Irish pub, you go home with a big smile on your face, and whether it's because of the music and the people or because you had a few too many beers, no one can say.
Peadar O'Donnell's Bar in Derry
The Duke of York in Belfast
The Dirty Onion Bar in Belfast
Tigh Neactain in Galway
Quays bar in Galway
The Temple Bar in Dublin
O'Donoghue's Bar in Dublin
The Brazen Head I Dublin
Fitzsimmons Temple Bar in Dublin
Lanigans Bar in Kilkenny
Ireland's pub life
There are over 1000 pubs in Dublin so you never have to worry about not getting a pint or a good laugh.
Spirits in Ireland
Irish people like beer and whiskeybut there are of course other drinks as well. For example, cocktails are very popular in Ireland.
You will certainly run into Poitin which is a traditional Irish spirit with an alcohol content of between 40-90%.
Ireland has long won major awards with the finest gin in the world, but in 2017 and 2018, Sweden came first. Gin & Tonic is high on the list of Irish favourites.
You can visit the Buddha Bar at 14 Mary St if you want to cosy up with a cocktail in Galway. Klaw at 5A Crown Alley in Dublin is super hip and more like a hole in the wall with fresh seafood and cocktails.
Wine in Ireland
Wine production is really wrongbecause Ireland is too far north and it gets too cold. There are vineyards in Cork but it's not a huge production.
The red dry wine Lusca is a Cabernet Sauvignon from County Dublin and Llewellyns Orchard. From Wicklow Winery come three award-winning fruit wines: Moinéir Irish Strawberry, Blackberry and Raspberry Wine. Fantastic!
Mead wines from honey Winery Bunratty Castle makes Bunratty Mead today and it remains a top seller for weddings and romance in general.
Other drinks in Ireland
Cider is very popular throughout Ireland both cold in summer and warm in winter.
The Irish drink lots of tea and are the best in the world at it. They drink about 1200 cups of tea a year and that's three times a day between beers. Coffee is perhaps best enjoyed in cocktails and not drunk just for the sake of it.
Please share your experiences about Irish whiskey or beer from Ireland!
This is just some of what we've picked up about Irish whiskey and beer from Ireland. We have missed all the lovely pubs in smaller towns, so we have a good reason to go back. If you have any tips, we'd love to hear them and if you haven't been to Ireland... go when you can because you won't regret it.
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Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:
How nice that we both write about whisky/whiskey. You from Ireland, me from Wales.
I do not drink whisky/whiskey or beer, but I have visited four distilleries in Ireland for work. The distilleries are not as many as in Scotland because some large distilleries produce several different types of whiskey.
Have also visited Guinness several times, like the sky bar there.
I have also visited some of the pubs. O'Donoghue's in Dublin is a favourite.
Happy Advent!
28 November 2020 - 10:51
Peter says:
Hi Lena! I/we have never been to Scotland but we are very keen to explore the island. The whiskey is a bit tougher there and it suits my taste when it comes to drinking. We hope to visit Scotland within the next 2 years. Now for a big secret that some people don't believe is that I have never set foot in England. Suck on that you?
28 November 2020 - 19:29
BP says:
What an interesting, informative and fun post with great pictures! Well done there - a feast for the eyes:-) Must say that I recognised three names throughout the post - Jameson, Tullamore Dew and Guinness. Do not like whiskey - okay then an Irish Coffee I might get down;-) I also did not know that Ireland has so many beer varieties ....
Oh the mixture of a stout with whiskey - well, why not. My husband likes Guinness, but I think that beer tastes like a throat medicine;-)
28 November 2020 - 17:00
Peter says:
Hi PB! It's been a long time since we talked and we always try to meet but we don't have the right timing?
I didn't like dark beer either because in Sweden you can't, or couldn't, brew it without a hell of a lot of sugar. Maybe your throat medicine works better with Jameson and a Guinness? I am happy that my post works because you get a little rusty when you do not write as often, but stick to what is not visible on the blog. Glad that you are alive and well because it is not something you take for granted "these days".
28 November 2020 - 19:35
Christian says:
As a whiskey lover, Irish whiskey is not very popular, but I'm dying to have a few pints in an Irish pub after this delicious post!
28 November 2020 - 19:46
Peter+Wolgast says:
Impossible to choose between two favourite drinks! Irish beer, apart from Guiness & Kilkenny, is a blank spot for me, but one of the best whiskey I've had is a Jameson Blender's Dog. Jameson is otherwise best known as what you use for Irish coffee but that variety is really good, unfortunately not available on the system in Sweden.
Nice to have a retrospective and summary!
28 November 2020 - 19:20
Peter says:
Thanks Peter and what fun that it touches as with me. Next time I will buy Blender's Dog with me and really compare with several friends at the same time. Thanks for the tip and take care of yourself.
28 November 2020 - 19:38
Ann-Louise Paulsson says:
Longed very much for Ireland even before and now I long even more after reading this. I used to be fond of whiskey but now it's probably at least five years since I last drank it. Have been to Guinness and learnt to pour a Guinness in the perfect way (have a diploma on it somewhere) at a Christmas party with my former job a few years ago but can't get a single sip, however, I like Irish Pale Ale. 🙂 The Brazen Had is one of my favourite places in Dublin but last time we were there we also visited Sheehans Pub which was very nice.
28 November 2020 - 21:36
Mr Lars-Åke Svensson says:
We have been with both motorbike and motorhome to England, Wales and especially Scotland where we visited many distilleries and pubs. Ireland, however, we have only visited once and that was by plane to Dublin. To our great joy, the snowstorm of all time hit the island and we stayed an extra 4 days because all means of transport were cancelled.
Our favourite distillery in Dublin is now Teeling and our favourite pub in Dublin.
Darkey Kelly's.
That pub served what we thought was the best Irish coffee ever served and they kindly shared the recipe.
4cl Teeling Smal Batch (Available at Systembolaget)
2cl Stout syrup
2dl of coffee
top with very lightly whipped cream.
The original recipe for stout syrup contains many ingredients but I have tried to make a simplified version that works really well.
Mix equal parts Gunniess and raw sugar.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently until reduced by half.
There is a lot to read on the 'Our trips' blog from our previous trips to GB and Ireland.
choken.blog.se
30 November 2020 - 8:34
Lena - good for the soul says:
Wow, 150 pints per second! What a fact-packed post. I like both beer and whisky. Especially smoky wirre. I don't know much about Irish beer. You aroused my interest in Ireland when you offered fantastic pictures from there. Let's see when it can be relevant to get out on a trip again.
Hug Lena
09 December 2020 - 20:45