Upon arriving in Blarney, my wife and I set forth to find a pub to grab some dinner and a few drinks.  It was there that I was encouraged to try the other major Irish stouts: Murphy’s and Beamish.  Up until that point, it had been strictly Guinness all the way.

Still, I started the night off with a Guinness.  Then, I let myself venture off and try a Murphy’s.  Thought the Murphy’s was pretty good — but didn’t have that creamy flavor in the head and as smooth of a finish as Guinness.

Seeing that I had an empty pint of both Guinness and Murphy’s, the bartender suggested I round out the trio and try a Beamish — then compare them.  I obliged.  He noted that Beamish is correctly pronounced by spitting out the “ish” — as my wife found out.

Never hearing about Beamish, Anna’s curiosity was peaked.  We were told that Beamish was the recession proof version of Guinness.  It had once been brewed in Cork County along with Murphy’s.

However, due to the recession, Heineken came in and bought Beamish — and continues to produce it at a relatively lower cost than Guinness allowing pubs to charge less.

He went on to say that the recession has had a huge impact on breweries.  A lot of breweries were bought out or went bankrupt — like Beamish and Murphy’s.  Interestingly enough, many young unemployed men and women — with no job prospects — decided to start their own microbrews.  Thus, Ireland is quickly expanding its own microbrewery base — much like that which started in America with Sam Adams.

While the bartender pointed out that these craft brews were not quite as good as the major labels — a lot of them being IPAs — he and his fellow drinkers down them with the hope of acquiring a new taste while trying to support the local budding entrepreneurs.

At the Financial Bin, we are interested in hearing about any of you out there who may be witnessing this in your respective country.  Please share with us and your fellow Financial Binners the list of craft brews or wineries popping up in your towns and localities, so that we all can support them worldwide and keep entrepreneurship blossoming.

Email us at Ireland@FinancialBin.com, find us on Twitter, or leave a comment!