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.
With Irish people being the world's sixth biggest drinkers of beer, [1] there has been plenty of opportunity for new breweries to gain a share of the market, and a wide range of craft beers began appearing in the early years of the current century, produced at microbreweries and in brewpubs across the country.
As of mid-2018, in addition to international/macro-breweries such as Guinness and Heineken, there were 75 independent craft breweries in operation in the Republic of Ireland, with around 35 in operation in Northern Ireland. [2] [3] [4] They include:
Brewery (Owner) | Town | County | Founded |
---|---|---|---|
12 Acres Brewery [5] | Killeshin | Laois | 2015 |
9 White Deer Brewery [6] | Macroom | Cork | 2013 |
Barrelhead Brewery | Dublin | Dublin | 2006 |
Beer Hut Brewing Company [7] [8] | Kilkeel | Down | 2017 |
Ards Brewing Company [9] [10] | Greyabbey | Down | 2011 |
Ballykilcavan Brewery [5] | Stradbally | Laois | 2016 |
Black Donkey Brewing [1] [6] | Ballinlough | Roscommon | 2014 |
Boundary Brewing [11] [12] | Belfast | Down (on the County Down side of the River Lagan) | 2015 |
Armagh Brewing Company [13] | Armagh | Armagh | 2020 |
Blacks Brewery [6] | Kinsale | Cork | 2013 |
Brehon Brewhouse [14] [15] | Carrickmacross | Monaghan | 2014 |
Brú Brewery [16] [17] | Trim | Meath | 2013 (bought out by Galway Bay Brewery) |
Bullhouse Brewing Company [18] [19] | Belfast (originally based in Newtownards) | Antrim | 2016 |
Kinnegar Brewing [20] [1] [6] | Rathmullan | Donegal | 2011 |
Lacada Brewery [21] [22] | Portrush | Antrim | 2015 |
Bridewell Brewery | Clifden | Galway | 2006 |
Burren Brewery | Lisdoonvarna | Clare | 2011 |
Canvas Brewery [23] | Aglish | Tipperary | 2018 |
Spade Town Brewery | Lurgan | Armagh | 2021 |
Carlingford Brewing Company | Carlingford | Louth | 2014 |
Farmageddon Brewing Company [24] [25] | Comber | Down | 2014 |
Carlow Brewing Company [1] [6] | Bagenalstown | Carlow | 1996 |
Crafty Divils [6] | Killorglin | Kerry | 2014 |
Crew Brewing Company | Limerick City | Limerick | 2020 |
Donegal Brewing Company [26] | Ballyshannon | Donegal | 2011 |
Dungarvan Brewing [6] [17] [15] | Dungarvan | Waterford | 2010 |
Eight Degrees Brewing [1] [6] [27] [17] | Mitchelstown | Cork | 2010 |
Five Lamps C&C Group [28] | Clonmel | County Tipperary | 2014 |
Four Provinces Brew. Co. [1] | Kimmage | Dublin | 2014 |
Franciscan Well Brewery (Molson Coors) [1] [29] [17] [15] | Cork | Cork | 1998 |
Galway Bay Brewery [1] | Galway | Galway | 2005 |
Galway Hooker Brewery [6] | Oranmore | Galway | 2006 |
Guinness (Diageo) [30] | Dublin | Dublin | 1759 |
Hillstown Brewery [31] [32] | Randalstown | Antrim | 2014 |
Hope Craft Brewery [5] | Dublin | Dublin | 2016 |
Heaney Farmhouse Brewery (Heaney Brewing Company) [33] [34] [35] [36] | Bellaghy | Londonderry | 2016 |
Hercules Brewing Company (brewers of the Yardsman range) [37] [38] | Belfast | Down (on the County Down side of the River Lagan) | 2014 |
Hilden Brewery [39] [40] [41] | Lisburn | Antrim | 1981 |
Inishmacsaint Brewing Company (Fermanagh Beer Company) [42] | Derrygonnelly | Fermanagh | 2010 |
Killarney Brewing Company [6] | Killarney | Kerry | 2015 |
Lough Gill Brewery [1] [6] [15] | Sligo | Sligo | 2015 |
Manor Brewing Company [6] | Manor Kilbride | Wicklow | 2013 |
Rye River Brewing Company [6] [17] | Celbridge | Kildare | 2014 |
Mescan Brewery [1] [43] | Kilsallagh | Mayo | 2013 |
Metalman Brewing Company [1] [6] | Waterford | Waterford | 2010 |
Muckish Mountain Brewery [44] | Creeslough | Donegal | 2014 |
McCracken’s [45] | Portadown | Armagh | 2018 |
Heineken [46] | Cork | Cork | 1856 (as Murphy's) [47] |
O Brother Brewing [6] [15] | Kilcool | Wicklow | 2014 |
Porterhouse Brewing Company, The [6] | Dublin | Dublin | 1989 |
Rascals Brewing Company [1] [6] [17] | Rathcoole | Dublin | 2013 |
Reel Deel Brewery [1] | Crossmolina | Mayo | 2014 |
Rising Sons Brewery [17] | Cork | Cork | 2012 |
Rough Brothers Brewing [48] [49] [50] | Derry | Londonderry | 2018 |
St. Mel's Brewing Company [1] | Longford | Longford | 2014 |
Torc Brewing [51] | Killarney | Kerry | 2014 |
Trouble Brewing [1] [6] | Kill | Kildare | 2009 |
West Kerry Brewery (Beoir Chorca Dhuibhne ) [1] [6] | Ballyferriter | Kerry | 2008 |
Western Herd Brewing Company Ltd | Kilmaley | Clare | 2015 |
Whitewater Brewing Company Ltd. [1] | Castlewellan | Down | 1996 |
Whitefield Brewery [6] | Templemore | Tipperary | 1996 (renamed from White Gypsy in 2020) |
White Hag Brewery, The [1] [6] [15] | Ballymote | Sligo | 2014 |
Wicklow Brewery, The [6] | Redcross | Wicklow | 2014 |
Wicklow Wolf Brewing Company [1] [6] | Newtownmountkennedy | Wicklow | 2014 |
Wood Key Brewing [52] | Dublin | Dublin | 2015 |
YellowBelly Beer [15] | Wexford | Wexford | 2015 |
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, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
Stone Brewing is a brewery headquartered in Escondido, California, United States. Founded in 1996 in San Marcos, it is the largest brewery in Southern California. Based on 2020 sales volume, it is the ninth largest craft brewery in the United States.
The Porterhouse Brewing Company is a brewing company based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1996 by cousins Oliver Hughes and Liam Lahart who opened Ireland's first craft brew pub in Dublin. The company's brewery is now in Glasnevin, providing beers to its outlets in Dublin, London and New York. It also sells its products via several supermarket chains. It was reported, in 2023, that Conor McGregor had "agreed to buy the Porterhouse Brewery"
The beers of the Caribbean are unique to each island in the region, although many are variants of the same style. Each island generally brews its own unique pale lager, the occasional stout, and often a non-alcoholic malta beverage. Contract-brewing of international beers is also common, with Heineken Pilsener and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout being the most popular. The beers vary between the islands to suit the taste and the brewing method used.
Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. is a beer brewing company that originally was composed of five beer and cider brands: Redhook Ale Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewery, Kona Brewing Company, Omission Beer, and Square Mile Cider.
Beer in Northern Ireland has been influenced by immigration into Ulster, especially from Scotland, and the drinking habits in Ireland until the partition of Ireland. Whiskey drinking was always a tradition with Guinness from Dublin 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 (CAMRA) was founded in 1971; however, it was 10 years before the first new brewery, Hilden Brewing, opened its doors.