Beer of the Week! 03/17/20

O'Hara's Irish Red / O'Hara's Irish Stout

Regularly $10.99  / Now on sale for $9.96
Irish Red Ale / Dry Irish Stout

We get it. Trust us; we get it. St. Patrick's Day -- though America's biggest beer holiday -- is not the time for craft beer. It's the time for green food coloring and plastic shamrock hats and kissing people because their tee-shirts are Irish (... except not this season because we're all being responsible and practicing social distancing, right?). However, after the festivities, in the calm, take a moment to pour yourself a real Irish beer. 

Unfortunately, the brewing history of Ireland follows Irish history in general, seeing local culture pushed out or stomped by foreign invaders. By the 1980s, three multinational corporations operated six breweries, and that was the state of beer in the Emerald Isle. Fortunately, Ireland experienced its own craft beer movement, and in 1996 family-owned Carlow Brewing Company was at its forefront.

Originally Moling's Red Ale, O'Hara's Irish Red is a semisweet, malt-centered red ale with toffee and dark caramel notes. Medium bodied, it is still smooth and rich with a dry hop finish. The award winning O'Hara's Irish Stout was designed to bring back "what Irish stouts used to taste like." Roasted malts predominate this dry stout with just a touch of caramel notes. Fuggle hops tip it over to an "espresso-like finish." 

True to form, both of these beers have only 4.3% ABV. So they're eminently drinkable. They're both good enough to make you say "Erin go Brew!" (But, of course, you wouldn't because you have too much class for that bad a wordplay ... we don't, but you do.)