Get ready for St. Patrick’s Day with O’Hara’s Irish Stout
Carlow Brewing Company, also known as O’Hara’s Brewery, is an independent, family-owned business established in 1996, and one of the pioneers of Irish craft brewing. Located in the heart of Ireland’s traditional malt and hop-growing “Barrow Valley” region, which has strong historical links to the Irish brewing industry, we are proud to have been at the forefront of the new wave of Irish craft brewing for almost 25 years.
Carlow Brewing Company first opened their doors in 1996 after signing a lease on the nineteenth century “Goods Store” on the railway station grounds of Carlow, Ireland. With it’s limestone-rich hard water supply, this location was particularly suitable for brewing traditional Irish stouts and ales.
The independent Irish brewing culture had been in a steady decline for almost 100 years after the Irish beer market was dominated by internationally owned breweries. Fortunately, the tables are slowly turning thanks to the new Irish Craft beer revolution. For 27 years, Carlow Brewing has been on the forefront of bringing true traditional brewing back to Ireland. “Brewing in the flavour” relays exactly what Carlow brewing stands for: bold, real Irish craftsmanship.
We craft brew traditional Irish beers and our own interpretation of international beer styles, including our stouts and ales, wheat beers and lagers, all carrying the brewery founder’s family name, (Seamus) O’Hara’s.
Each beer is crafted using classic brewing methods to create the traditional Irish beers styles that have long since been forgotten by many of the larger breweries. And we use only four main ingredients: water, malts, hops, and yeast to produce the highest quality craft beer range.
We wanted to give an authentic Irish flavour to our stout that can only be created by craft brewing with locally sourced Irish malts. We use no less than five malt and wheat varieties to make our traditional dry Irish stout. This diverse malt combination is brought to life through our carefully managed mashing and boiling process. The fabulous flavours and aromas are offset by a number of select old-style hop varieties to create this truly complete Irish Stout.
While the term stout is reputed to have applied to higher alcohol by volume (ABV) porters in Britain, it is said the “stout” style that evolved in Ireland originates from the use of heavily roasted malts, introduced in Irish breweries after the famine. While not strong in terms of ABV, the stronger roasted malts lend a more robust flavour to the style, giving a dry finish – hence the term Dry Irish Stout.
Nitrogenation was used in stouts to approximate the smooth carbonation typical of cask conditioned ales, and has become the norm for kegging Irish stout, giving a smooth creamy texture to the head. Whether you order it on tap or enjoy the award-winning O’Hara’s Nitro Irish Stout at home, we hope you appreciate the flavours, and the hypnotic sight as it cascades into a creamy head.
Share in our passion, taste our beers, explore a brief insight into O’Hara’s Beers through our website or our importer’s site, McClelland Premium Imports in Canada and we’d be happy to have you join us one day at the brewery in Ireland.
O’Hara’s Nitro Irish Stout
Colour: Deep black colour with reddish hue when held to the light. It pours with a thick creamy head from the keg, the carbonated bottle pours with a thick fluffy head that is almost tan in colour.
Scent: Rich and complex coffee aroma with light liquorice notes.
Flavour: This Stout has a robust roast flavour with a full-bodied and smooth mouth feel. A generous addition of Fuggles hops leads to a tart bitterness, which mingles with the roast espresso flavours on the tongue.
Food Pairing: Excellent with seafood, particularly shellfish and smoked salmon. Also pairs well with strong flavoured cheeses and dry cured meats, such as Parma ham.
Alcohol by volume: 4.3 %
— Michael Grieve, McClelland Premium Imports
