O'Hara's Stout

arse..biscuits

I heard great things about O'Hara's stout here and spotted it in Superquinn a few nights back, picked up 4 bottles and headed home with a smile on my face. First mouthful tasted a bit strange but I figured I get the taste for it, but no. My wife tasted it and described it as guinness with cigarette butts floating in it, and I have to agree with her. Very disappointed. I think its the only time in my life that I couldn't bring myself to drink whatever booze I bought.

And before you say that its because I don't know what real beer tastes like, I do.

DBCyc

arse..biscuits wrote: »

I heard great things about O'Hara's stout here and spotted it in Superquinn a few nights back, picked up 4 bottles and headed home with a smile on my face. First mouthful tasted a bit strange but I figured I get the taste for it, but no. My wife tasted it and described it as guinness with cigarette butts floating in it, and I have to agree with her. Very disappointed. I think its the only time in my life that I couldn't bring myself to drink whatever booze I bought.

And before you say that its because I don't know what real beer tastes like, I do.

Really? You couldn't even finish it? :eek:

Personally, I find O'Hara's to be a great stout, especially from the bottle. It has so much more flavour than a Guinness.

I love the Porterhouse Plain from the bottle. Have you tried that?

BeerNut

Oh well. Not everyone likes every beer.

Out of interest, which bottled stout would you normally drink?

IronMan

I remember coming from a purely draught Guinness background. One evening I picked up 2 pint bottles of Guinness Extra, and two O'Hara's stout. And I remember it tasting well - different.....

By the end of the evening I loved the rich, dense taste. I'd always go for a pint bottle of guinness if they have it, and nothing else decent on tap, if I'm in a pub.

Guinness like your grandfather used to drink it.

BeerNut

IronMan wrote: »

Guinness like your grandfather used to drink it.

-ish. It was still bottle-conditioned until about 2000

mayordenis

its because you don't know what real beer tastes like


:pac:

irish_goat

I'd say it's because O'Hara's hasn't got quite a "mainstream" taste. In the same way if you try drinking real ales you'll find you like some and think some are rotten. I love Guinness but can admit that it's not the most flavoursome of beers, O'Hara's definitely has a lot more flavour to it but is not to everyones taste.

Never tried Porterhouse Stout from the bottle(love it on draught) where do you pick that up?

mayordenis

irish_goat wrote: »

I'd say it's because O'Hara's hasn't got quite a "mainstream" taste. In the same way if you try drinking real ales you'll find you like some and think some are rotten. I love Guinness but can admit that it's not the most flavoursome of beers, O'Hara's definitely has a lot more flavour to it but is not to everyones taste.

Never tried Porterhouse Stout from the bottle(love it on draught) where do you pick that up?

Drinkstore http://www.drinkstore.ie/store/search.asp?keyword=PORTERHOUSE or go there in person, not sure where else stocks it, World Wide Wines in Waterford for anyone down that way, I'm pretty sure Abbots in Cork have it too.

arse..biscuits

BeerNut wrote: »

Oh well. Not everyone likes every beer.

Out of interest, which bottled stout would you normally drink?

I haven't tried many stouts, bottles of guinness usually. Myself and a friend have been doing a lot of brewing lately and we have a stout on at the moment.

truecrippler

It's not really one you'd knock back. You'd have to sit down and enjoy the beer.

johnnyskeleton

arse..biscuits wrote: »

I heard great things about O'Hara's stout here and spotted it in Superquinn a few nights back, picked up 4 bottles and headed home with a smile on my face. First mouthful tasted a bit strange but I figured I get the taste for it, but no. My wife tasted it and described it as guinness with cigarette butts floating in it, and I have to agree with her. Very disappointed. I think its the only time in my life that I couldn't bring myself to drink whatever booze I bought.

And before you say that its because I don't know what real beer tastes like, I do.

Try Sam Adams Honey Porter if you can find it.

beat root

They sell O'Hara's on draught in The Bull & Castle beside Christ Church. I like the bottle, but the draught is nicer (much creamier). O'Hara's also make another stout called Leann Follain, its full with tastes of chocolate and coffee

jathclare

I think its excellent on Draft, the only place I know that serves it in Dublin is O'Neills, which is a pity. I would definitely rank it above Murphys (which is also elusive in Dublin) and on a par with Franciscan Well Stout, which is also very dry.

But from a bottle....its not great, unlike its Red ale counterpart which is fine from the bottle. Definitely too much of a roasted, burnt Hop taste and the texture/consistency is too different from the draft so I found it disappointing. O'Hara's should consider a widget-can though.

If anyone has spotted either O'Hara's stout or Murphys on draft in Dublin other than O'Neills, please share.

drumswan

jathclare wrote: »

I think its excellent on Draft, the only place I know that serves it in Dublin is O'Neills, which is a pity. I would definitely rank it above Murphys (which is also elusive in Dublin) and on a par with Franciscan Well Stout, which is also very dry.

But from a bottle....its not great, unlike its Red ale counterpart which is fine from the bottle. Definitely too much of a roasted, burnt Hop taste and the texture/consistency is too different from the draft so I found it disappointing. O'Hara's should consider a widget-can though.

If anyone has spotted either O'Hara's stout or Murphys on draft in Dublin other than O'Neills, please share.

Nitrogenated stout is terrible, the flavour and aroma is totally muted.

irish_goat

jathclare wrote: »

If anyone has spotted either O'Hara's stout or Murphys on draft in Dublin other than O'Neills, please share.

Bull and Castle always have O'Hara's stout on.

Saruman

This is a fairly old thread.

jathclare, There are many places that serve O'Hara's stout on draught. If you have an iPhone or Android, download the Beoir finder app and it will show you what pubs in relation to where you are serve Irish Craft Beer. It's a good bet that O'Hara's will be one of them but the app usually lists what beers are available. If you don't have one of those phones then the Beoir directory might help.

Beekay

The forty four in Swords, Dublin sells O' Hara Stout.

Ravelleman

I find O'Hara's Stout to be too dry for my tastes. If only more places did Leann Follain on draught.

I think Murphy's and O'Hara's Stout have totally different taste profiles though, just to add to jathclare's comment above.

Saruman

An old article from pre-beoir days might be worth a read. A test was done and people found it very difficult to tell O'Hara's from Murphy's as well as Beamish from Guinness.

irish_goat

I'd have said Murphys was most like Guinness, I'd be more confident of picking out O'Haras and Beamish.

That test was done 5 years ago so the recipes will all be changed now as well. :P

Ravelleman

I would place O'Hara's in the dry stout category, while I find Murphy's to be very much on the sweeter side. As I said, it's the lingering dryness of O'Hara's that I find unappealing. Guinness and Beamish I would struggle to separate from one another. Is relative sweetness not the essence of Murphy's?

Passenger

Enjoy a pint of O'Hara's on draught. It's the slightly carbonated smooth texture that would put it ahead of Guinness et al. IMO.