Opened: 1711

Contributors: Brendan Halpin, Dave Rosenberger, J-C Scholtes, jarobb, Stephen Judge

Here's a 2001 field report from Dave Rosenberger:

I recently toured this brewery with my father-in-law (who worked for AB in St.Louis for 38 years). This brewery's production is 80% Bud. 54 brews a day of Bud. They also produce Smithwicks, some Guinness, Kilkenny and a couple of others that I can't remember. I asked Howard (the brewmaster) if the Irish were drinking more beer or did Bud grab some market? He said that they have taken a huge chunk of the Heineken market. It's a beautiful brewery, built around the ruins of a 12th century abbey. The tasting room is right next to the ruins and built to look similar. No bottling there, all kegged. I would believe that they are now producing more that 1,000,000 bbl/year. Howard showed us the new holding tanks, about 30 of them, he said going from producing ales to lagers automatically gave them less storage room because of the time difference in production. In three years the production of Bud has gone from 5 brews a day to 54.

Updated: January 2, 2015

• 
  Authentic Irish Ale
  Irish-Style Red Ale
  • Date: October 26, 2009 (#7983)
    Package: nitrogenated
    Place: Legends Bar, Dublin
    Score: 18½ points
    Appearance (3)
    Bright red. Dense head.
    Aroma (3½)
    Spicy, biscuity, toffee.
    Mouthfeel (9)
    Medium body, fairly fizzy. Rich caramel and toffee. Mild earthy hop flavor, mildly bitter. Very dry finish.
    Overall Impression (3)
    Real good beer.