Caffrey's Irish Ale is an

ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...

launched in 1994 by

Bass Brewery The Bass Brewery () was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with ...

and currently owned by

Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

History

The Caffrey brewing family first brewed beer in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the late 18th century, about thirty years after the Guinness Brewery was founded. They too sited their brewery on the River Liffey, a few hundred yards east of the Guinness site. Caffrey's Irish Ale was re-launched in 1994 and marketed as a beer which combined features from other types of beer: it could be served as cold as

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

, its texture would be as smooth as

stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

, while its taste was that of an

. Though launched with little advertising, it was priced at the top end of the market and was made available in over 7500 pubs. Sales of Caffrey's for the first year were higher than expected for a new product, at around 150 000 barrels in its first year. It was designed to appeal to "the ageing lager drinker...looking for a mature pint." Coors Brewing Company acquired the US distribution rights to Caffrey's in December, 2001 when they purchased UK based Carling Brewers who owned the rights previously. Sometime in 2002, after Coors purchased Caffrey's from

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, Star ...

, it ceased importation of the beer into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

market. Coors decided that continued sale of Caffrey's in the US would interfere with the branding of

Killian's George Killian's Irish Red is a red beer, produced and sold in France by Heineken France, and under license in the US by Molson Coors. Despite the differences in the brewing methods, the marketing of both beers claim legacy to an Irish "original rec ...

as Coors's premier Irish brew. Many Irish bars around the US still have Caffrey's

paraphernalia Paraphernalia most commonly refers to a group of apparatus, equipment, or furnishing used for a particular activity. For example, an avid sports fan may cover their walls with football and/or basketball paraphernalia. Historical legal term In l ...

, but no longer sell the beer. Coors's decision to sell Killian's over the

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

charged Caffrey's in the US market allowed

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

, makers of

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

, to gain market share with its

Smithwick's Smithwick's () is an Irish red ale-style beer. Smithwick's brewery was founded in Kilkenny in 1710 by John Smithwick and run by the Smithwick family of Kilkenny until 1965 when it was acquired by Guinness, now part of Diageo. The Kilkenny br ...

brew in Irish bars throughout the US. Caffrey's is still available in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2011, Caffrey's sold around 35,000 barrels in the UK, down from 200,000 in 2002. From 2000, the popularity of Caffrey's rapidly declined, despite a relaunch in the UK in 2010. After this date, it is apparent that there was a strategic decision by Coors to concentrate on other brands, although no official announcement was made.

Product

At its launch Caffrey's was brewed to 5.2% ABV. In 2001 it was reduced to 4.2% and to 3.8% in 2010 in an attempt to halt declining sales. It is based on an 1897 recipe and is designed to be served between 4 and 6 degrees Celsius. Caffrey's was later launched in 14.9 oz cans, featuring a nitrogen pocket that agitates the beer when you open it giving it a characteristic closer to a draught beer. Nitrogen is less soluble than

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

, which allows the beer to be put under high pressure without making it fizzy. The high pressure of dissolved gas is required to enable very small bubbles to be formed by forcing the draught beer through fine holes in a plate in the tap, which causes the characteristic "surge" (the widget in cans and bottles achieves the same effect). The perceived smoothness of Caffrey's is due to its low level of carbon dioxide and the creaminess of the head caused by the very fine bubbles that arise from the use of nitrogen and the dispensing method described above.

Brewery

Thomas Caffrey first established the Ulster Brewery in Queen Street,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, in 1897. The brewery was sold to the Ulster Brewing Company in 1950. The last member of the family to have been active in the business, Nicholas James Caffrey, died in 1984, survived by two daughters, Virginia and Bridget (since deceased) and one son, Nicholas Philip Caffrey. The brewery was acquired by Charringtons (later Bass Charrington) in 1964 and then by Interbrew in 2000. On July 6, 2004, the owners of the former Caffrey's brewery, Interbrew, announced their intention to dispose of the site of the brewery. Having no takers, they closed the brewery in 2005. The Caffrey's Ulster Brewery, established in Belfast in 1897 and taken over by Bass in 1974, closed in 2004, so ending big company brewing in Northern Ireland.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Beer in Ireland Molson Coors brands

History

Product

Brewery

See also

References

External links