Kilkenny (beer)

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One 0.33l bottle of Kilkenny

Kilkenny is an internationally sold beer brand from Diageo . The origins of beer go back to 1710, when the first beer was brewed in St. Francis Abbey in Kilkenny .

The beer

Kilkenny was the name given to a stronger variant of Smithwick’s red Ales sold in Ireland, produced for export . Both brands are now available in parallel in Ireland. The Kilkenny today is a red ale, which is slightly milder than the darker Guinness stout . Its color is brown with a slight shade of red. In Ireland it is also sold as a can beer , which with the addition of a so-called " floating widget " - originally developed to give Guinness from cans the typical head when poured - tastes and looks almost like being tapped from the tap. Smithwick’s cans no longer have this widget . For the German market, the beer has been imported by the Radeberger Group since 2013, previously it was the Warsteiner Brewery.

The brewery

St. Francis Abbey Brewery

The brewery was founded in 1710 by John Smithwick in St. Francis Abbey. In 1965 Guinness took over the brewery , which had previously been known as Smithwick & Sons . Guinness, the origin of today's Diageo Group, decided in 2012 to close the brewery in Kilkenny at the end of 2013. Since then, Kilkenny beer has been brewed at St. James Gate Brewery in Dublin . At last 44 workers were employed in the St. Francis Abbey Brewery.

Naming

It is unclear where the different name for the export comes from. The name Smithwick’s reads in some language areas in such a way that it seems obscene. This circumstance is said to have caused sales losses in the exporting countries, which is why the Guinness brewery ordered a name change when it took over E. Smithwick's and Sons. Accordingly, Smithwick's was henceforth named for export after the county in which it was originally brewed.

Web links

Wiktionary: Kilkenny  - explanations of meanings, origins of words, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Warsteiner Brewery is the Guinness Distribution , on www.derwesten.de , accessed on January 5, 2016
  2. Last orders - Kilkenny brewery to close next year after 300-year history , at www.advertiser.ie , accessed January 5, 2016