 | |
| Inception | 1960 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Diageo |
| Website | Diageo.com: Harp lager |
| Notes Pale lager | |
Harp Lager is an Irish lager created in 1960. It is produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo, Formerly produced at the Great Northern Brewery in Dundalk, it is now brewed at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. It is a major lager brand throughout most of Northern Ireland, but is now rarely available in the Republic of Ireland outside Dundalk, where most bars offer it on tap.
Harp Lager was first produced in 1960 as a bottled beer by Guinness, in response to the trend among drinkers in Ireland and Britain towards Continental lager. Guinness converted its Dundalk brewery into a lager production plant with the guidance of Dr. Herman Muender, a German brewer. [1] Various names were considered for the brand, including Atlas, Cresta and Dolphin, before Harp was chosen. [2] The brand was marketed with the Brian Boru harp as its emblem. The Dundalk or Great Northern Brewery soon became the second largest brewery in Ireland while producing Harp during the mid to late 20th century. [3]
By 1961 a consortium of brewers, Courage, Scottish & Newcastle, Bass, Mitchells & Butlers and Guinness, grouped together as Harp Lager Ltd to brew and market the beer. [4] [5] Courage's Alton Brewery was rebuilt to produce the lager in Great Britain. [2]
By 1964, the product was being sold on draught and led in its category for sales. Members of the Harp consortium changed over the years, with Courage and Scottish & Newcastle leaving in 1979, but becoming franchisees. [6] Currently available on draught, and in 330ml and 500ml bottles, its top market is Ulster, especially Northern Ireland and County Donegal as well as in its original home Dundalk, County Louth where it still maintains a cult status due to the company's once significant role in the community through sponsorship at a number of levels, particularly the Dundalk Maytime Festival and Dundalk FC. [7] In 2005, Harp saw a makeover as Diageo Ireland separated the brand from Guinness.
The last Harp was brewed at Great Northern in 2013, after which production moved to St James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. [8]
In Australia, distribution is handled by Carlton & United Breweries. In North America, exports are labelled "imported from Ireland" lager from St. James Gate, Dublin on its packaging.
For many years the slogan "Harp stays sharp" was used in advertisements. It was written by the advertising executive Rod Allen. [9] Recently[ when? ] it has used the slogan "Look on the Harp side" and in Northern Ireland it’s began to use “Harp, Pure here”.
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the European rights to the brand are owned by Heineken International.
Smithwick's is an Irish red ale-style beer. Smithwick's brewery was founded in Kilkenny in 1710 by John Smithwick and run by the Smithwick family of Kilkenny until 1965, when it was acquired by Guinness, now part of Diageo. The Kilkenny brewery was shut down in 2013 and production of all Smithwick's and Kilkenny branded beers moved to Dublin; parts of the old brewery were later converted into a "visitor experience".
Diageo plc is a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits. Distilleries owned by Diageo produce 40% of all Scotch whisky with over 24 brands, such as Johnnie Walker, J&B and Old Parr.
McEwan's is a brand of beer owned by Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company. It was originally brewed by William McEwan's Fountain Brewery in Edinburgh, Scotland. The McEwan's brand passed to Heineken in 2008 after their purchase of Scottish & Newcastle's British operations. Heineken sold the brand to Wells & Young's in 2011, who sold their brewing operation, including the McEwan brand to Marston's in 2017. Cans and bottles are now brewed in Bedford, England.
St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Draught Guinness.
Guinness Nigeria, a Nigerian-based subsidiary of Diageo Plc of the United Kingdom, was incorporated in 1962 with the building of a brewery in Ikeja. The brewery was the first Guinness operation outside Ireland and Great Britain. Other breweries have been opened over time: Ogba brewery in 1963 and Benin City brewery in 1973.
The Carib Brewery Limited is headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It produces Carib and Stag beers and a range of shandy products. The main brewery is located in Champs Fleurs, Trinidad, while Carib also has breweries in Saint Kitts and Nevis and Grenada, as well as a United States affiliate brewery in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and indigenous people also make varieties of beer. Beer is served in various locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, so when buying beer at a store, people often must pay a deposit on the bottle and the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.
Brewing in Ireland has a long history. Production currently stands at over 8 million hectolitres, and approximately half the alcohol consumed is beer.
East African Breweries Limited, commonly referred to as EABL, is a Kenyan-based holding company that manufactures branded beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages.
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is a stout produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo, a drinks multinational. First brewed by Guinness in 1801, FES was designed for export, and is more heavily hopped than Guinness Draught and Extra Stout, which gives it a more bitter taste, and typically has a higher alcohol content. The extra hops were intended as a natural preservative for the long journeys the beer would take by ship.
Kilkenny is a nitrogenated Irish cream ale from Guinness, which originated in Kilkenny, Ireland. The brand is produced and managed by Guinness owner, Diageo. It is available in draught, bottles and cans. It is brewed in Ireland. Kilkenny is similar to Smithwick's Draught; however, it has less hop finish, and it has a nitrogenated cream head similar to Guinness. The 'Kilkenny' name was originally used during the 1980s and 1990s to market a stronger version of Smithwick's for the European and Canadian markets due to difficulty in pronunciation of the word 'Smithwick's'. It now refers to a similar yet distinct beer.
The Great Northern Brewery, on the Carrick Road, Dundalk, County Louth, was an Irish brewery. It was home to Harp Lager, and was formerly owned by Diageo. In 2015 the brewery closed, and production of Harp Lager and other products was moved to St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. The site has since been bought by John Teeling, and converted for operation as a distillery, the Great Northern Distillery.
Caffrey's Irish Ale is an ale launched in 1994 by Bass Brewery and currently owned by Molson Coors.
Guinness is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 litres. In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually.
Wells & Young's Brewery was formed in 2006 from a merger of the brewing operations of Charles Wells Ltd and Young's Brewery. Charles Wells initially had a 60% stake and Young's 40%. In 2011, Charles Wells took full control when it bought Young's 40% stake. Wells & Young's is now responsible for brewing, distributing and marketing Charles Wells' and Young & Co's brands at the Eagle Brewery in Bedford.
Guinness Black Lager is a black lager beer produced by Guinness, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo.
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.
The Great Northern Brewing Co., commonly known as Great Northern, is a brand of full and a mid strength lager beer, owned by Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), and is brewed in Queensland at the CUB Yatala Brewery. It comes in 330mL "stubbies", 375mL "tinnies" and 700mL "tallies" at 3.5% Abv or 4.2% Abv.
Hop House 13 is an Irish lager produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)