Carlow Brewing Company

Why it matters

Irish stout is so dominated by a single brand that most drinkers have never tasted a second one. This brewery is the most widely distributed alternative, and its existence is what makes it possible to describe dry stout as a style rather than as a description of one beer.

Details

Reference beers

• O'Hara's Irish Stout4.3% ABV

  The most widely distributed Irish dry stout that is not Guinness, and the beer that makes the style describable.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• Dry stout — Sharp roasted-barley bitterness over a light body and a very dry finish — much lighter to drink than its colour suggests.

Traditions

• Irish stout brewing — The Dublin divergence from London porter, built on unmalted roasted barley and later on nitrogen dispense.