Every 17 March, our de facto beer is Guinness Draught, the classic stout pulled in a “two-part” pour to achieve its signature creamy head. About 13m pints of the “black stuff”, as it’s sometimes called, are sold worldwide on St Patrick’s Day alone. That’s an 819% increase over a usual day.
However, plenty of other Irish beers – not to mention lots of styles other than stouts – are worth enjoying out there. Irish brewing tradition goes back at least 5,000 years, and while the country’s brewing scene thrived in the early 1800s (around 200 breweries), about 70 breweries still operate across Ireland now, a recent report says.
