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 recipe".

George Killian's Irish Red

George Killian's Irish Red: Premium Lager is a 5.4% abv amber lager brewed by

Coors Coors Brewing Company, or Coors, is now part of the Molson Coors Beverage Company. Coors may also refer to: Companies *Adolph Coors Company, a former holding company controlled by the heirs of founder Adolph Coors *Coors Brewers, the UK arm of th ...

. The brand name was purchased only for sale in the North-American market by Coors from the

Pelforth Brewery Heineken N.V. is a Dutch brewer which owns a worldwide portfolio of over 170 beer brands, mainly pale lager, though some other beer styles are produced. The two largest brands are Heineken and Tecate; though the portfolio includes Amstel, Fo ...

(Heineken France), who had previously bought it from

Lett's Brewery Lett's Brewery (officially Mill Park Brewery) was a beer manufacturer based in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. It opened in 1864. Owned by G.H. Lett & Co., Ltd. which still remains a wholesale beverage distributor in Ireland, the brewery halt ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, which had closed in 1956.

History

George Killian's Irish Red is a beer with an Irish heritage, allegedly based on a recipe created at

in Enniscorthy,

, in 1864. The beer is named after George Killian Lett, the great-grandson of George Henry Lett, who founded the brewery in Enniscorthy. George Killian Lett died at the age of 84 in Enniscorthy, Ireland in December 2010. It was originally an Irish red ale called "Enniscorthy Ruby Ale," and brewed from 1864 to 1956, when the brewery closed and it was discontinued. It is no longer sold in Ireland. The brand name "George Killian's" was purchased by the Pelforth Brewery in France. In the mid 1980s Coors bought the rights to use the brand name "George Killian's Irish Red" in America. While the name is most often associated with a 5.4% abv amber lager which had become very popular, it was originally marketed by Coors as a 4.9% red ale, George Killian's Irish Red: Red Ale. Due to its popularity, Killian's is credited with popularizing the term " Irish red ale", despite the fact that it is a lager. George Killian's is currently available in bottles, cans, and kegs. A 12-ounce (355 ml) serving of George Killian's has 162 calories (677 kJ) and 5.4 percent alcohol by volume.

Awards

*1998 - Brewer's Association Beer Cup gold medalist, American-Style Amber Lager *1998 - Great American Beer Festival silver medalist, American-Style Amber Lager *1997 - Great American Beer Festival silver medalist, American-Style Amber Lager

George Killian's Bière rousse

Heineken France's brand is a 6.5% abv Irish red ale by the name George Killian's Bière Rousse: Bière Spéciale de Tradition Irlandaise. It is currently brewed in the Heineken breweries of

Schiltigheim Schiltigheim (, , and sometimes by non-local speakers of French; Alsatian: ''Schelige'' ; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Schilikois'' in French and ''Scheligemer'' ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

References

{{Molson Coors Brewing Company Molson Coors brands Heineken brands