BEAMISH BONDERS
Criteria: Any pub that serves Beamish.
(This guide has an obvious bias! See list below…)
Sadly, some pubs on this list may no longer sell the joyous liquid. This is a result of four factors. Firstly, Covid-19 restrictions were devastating for pubs, especially ‘wet pubs’ which had to shut their doors for long periods of time. During this time many took advantage of the dormancy and undertook to decorate and revamp. Some pubs (such as The Clock of Thomas Street) decided to modernise their menu and replace Beamish with a trending craft beer or an expensive IPA. Rolling with the times meant rolling away their barrels of Beamish.
Secondly, during this time of uncertainty for pubs, Heineken (who own Beamish and Murphy’s) created a new stout called Island’s Edge. In our opinion, their aim was to completely replace Beamish by driving it out of the pubs in favour of their new stout which was heavily advertised across all media. This was Heineken trying to compete with Guinness. According to the Island’s Edge website their goal was to ‘evolve’ stout proclaiming that ‘Island’s Edge is a modern new take on stout for the next generation of stout drinkers.’ So, what’s the magic ingredient in this fresh and forward-thinking stout? Old fashioned black tea. Some overpaid marketing genius had the bright idea of asking - what two drinks do the Irish love most? Stout and tea! Let’s combine the two and throw in some basil while we’re at it. We can’t lose, right? Wrong. With Island’s Edge, Heineken have created an inferior stout - weak, sweet and watery with tea too far in the foreground. Only tourists are curious enough to drink the stuff.
Let’s look at the third factor as to why we’re seeing Beamish dry up in so many pubs. Heineken had their new stout ready to take on the market, and Covid restrictions had all but starved publicans of business, when pub owners found themselves confronted with an irresistibly fat carrot. A fat carrot in the form of free kegs of Island’s Edge stout courtesy of Heineken. How about TEN free kegs. How about ten free kegs and a load of free merchandise such as huge umbrellas for outdoor cover, massive window stickers and thousands of beer mats (all adorning the Island’s Edge colourful branding). It was too good to be true! What was the catch? The complete removal of Beamish stout from the Irish pub - just a small sacrifice to make in order to keep up with the times.
“Now that Island’s Edge is in, and Beamish is out, there’s only one winner - Guinness.”
Lastly, we can’t ignore the fact that there’s an elephant in the elevator: Wetherspoons. The UK giant now has several pubs in Dublin, and Wetherspoons sell only one kind of stout - Beamish. One can order a Beamish in the Keavan’s Port Wetherspoons of Camden Street for as little as €3.05 (at the time of writing). While that price is fantastic for Beamish drinkers it has upset the apple cart amongst publicans struggling to compete. It seems Wetherspoons have struck up a lucrative deal with Heineken for the cheap sale of Beamish which is quite unique, and all the while, publicans across the capital are still paying Heineken top dollar on the keg. It’s one price for Wetherspoons, a different price for everyone else. Traditional pubs are struggling as a result, and they’re angry. So angry in fact, that some (McNeill’s of Capel Street for example) are removing Beamish out of protest.
But in the end, it seems nobody is drinking Island’s Edge. We Publopedians have been to hundreds of pubs in Dublin hundreds of times, we’ve spoken to many barmen and women - and we have never witnessed anyone drinking the stuff, save the odd tourist or the odd auld-fella smartly quaffing a freebie. Several bar staff have revealed it’s so seldom that they pour from the tap that they’re concerned about giving out free samples. The evidence is clear – people don’t like it. Now that Island’s Edge is in, and Beamish is out, there’s only one winner - Guinness. Heineken have shot themselves in the foot by inadvertently helping their own rivals, the very company they tried to compete against in the first place. So much for marketing genius. But there is hope on the horizon. A few pubs, such as The Swan Bar of Aungier Street, have reinstalled Beamish and are selling it again in response to the cries of their customers. Patrons want Beamo back, that much is clear. While Beamish will never be as successful as Guinness, it will always be better than Island’s Edge.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this blog represent personal opinions and perspectives only. Read more.
Here are the pubs where we’ve enjoyed Beamish:
1.) The Long Hall
2.) The Lord Edward
3.) Grogan's
4.) The Ginger Man
5.) J. O'Connell
6.) Molloy's *
7.) Mulligan's
8.) McNeill's *
9.) Grace's
10.) Birchalls (of Ranelagh)
11.) M. Hughes ~~
12.) The Lower Deck
13.) The Leeson Lounge ~~
14.) The Clock (now LoveTempo)
15.) The Swan*
16.) The Harold House
17.) The Leonard's Corner
18.) Cumiskey's
19.) Walsh, J.
20.) Tommy O’Gara’s
21.) Murphy’s
22.) Peadar Kearney's *
23.) Baker's (now Dudleys)
24.) Fitzgerald’s *
25.) Lloyd’s
26.) The Terenure Inn
27.) Brady’s
28.) Vaughan’s Eagle House
29.) Kavanagh’s *
30.) Clarke's City Arms
31.) The Temple
32.) The Metro ~~
33.) Maye's ~~
34.) Delany's
35.) The Blue Haven
36.) The Morgue
37.) Connolly’s The Sheds
38.) Pebble Beach
39.) The Flowing Tide
40.) The Auld Triangle
41.) The Lamplighter *
42.) Tom Kennedy's *
43.) The Bohemian / McGeogh's *
44.) The Hut/Mohan's *
45.) The Brian Boru
46.) The Dominick Inn
47.) Ryan's
48.) Grainger’s of Marino
49.) Gaffney and Son
50.) Annesley House
51.) Donoghue's / Glen of Aherloe
52.) The Black Lion
53.) The Stoneboat
54.) The Gate Bar
55.) Birchall’s (of Crumlin)
56.) K.C.R. House
57.) The Breffni Inn
58.) The Halfway House
59.) Caulfield's ~~
60.) Bugler's Ballyboden House
61.) The Bird Flanagan
62.) The Viscount
63.) The Comet
64.) The Goose Tavern
65.) O'Riordan's
66.) The Shamrock Lodge
67.) The Village Inn
68.) Martin's Lounge
69.) The Willows
70.) The Autobahn Roadhouse
71.) The Slipper
72.) Darkey Kelly's
73.) McCloskey’s
74.) The Marble Arch
75.) The Silver Penny
76.) Meagher's
77.) Lowry's *
78.) The Bridge Tavern
79.) The Two Sisters
80.) The Pimlico Tavern ~~
81.) Scholar’s
82.) The Old Mill
83.) Aherne’s
84.) The Dragon Inn
85.) Foxes Covert
86.) The Penny Black Tavern
87.) Ryan's Arbour House
88.) Uncle Tom's Cabin
89.) Ryan's Dundrum House
90.) The Eagle
91.) The Willows/Macker's Bar
92.) McNeill's Top House
93.) The Waterside Lounge and Fisherman's Bar
94.) O'Connell's of Howth
95.) The King's Inn of Dalkey
96.) Finnegans of Dalkey
97.) O'Neill's of Dun Laoghaire
98.) McLoughlin's of Dun Laoghaire
99.) The Forty Foot of Dun Laoghaire
100.) The Wind Jammer
101.) Byrne’s Galloping Green
102.) The Grange of Kill of the Grange
103.) Baker’s Corner of Kill of the Grange
104.) Jack Ryan’s
105.) The Tolka House
106.) The Strawberry Hall
107.) Keavan’s Port
108.) Kitty Kiernan’s
109.) The Goblet
110.) The Ardlea Inn
111.) The Roundabout
112.) The Homestead
113.) McGrath’s, E.
114.) O'Neill's of Suffolk Street
115.) The Manhattan
116.) The Inn
117.) The Watermill
118.) The Cedar Lounge
119.) Drury Buildings
120.) Eleanora’s*
121.) Barnwell Bar
122.) The CherryTree
123.) The South Strand (Wetherspoon)
124.) Moss Lane
125.) The Speaker Conolly
126.) John’s Haberdashery
127.) The Blackbird of Rathmines
128.) The Hill of Ranelagh
129.) Slatterys of Rathmines
130.) Bowes of Fleet Street
* No longer serves Beamish, as of last visit.
~~ Pub is gone.
Here, dear reader, produced for your visual expediency, is a very carefully crafted BAR chart. Decipher if you dare, with care. It’s down there…
