St. Patrick's Day in New York: It's a time when everyone, not only the Irish, put on some green and hit Fifth Avenue to join in on the festivities. Oh, and raise a pint of Irish beer of course. Making his rounds in New York City a week before the big day, Seamus O'Hara, director of Carlow Brewing Co., maker of O'Hara's Irish Stout and O'Hara's Irish Red (available in the US) as well as Moling's Traditional Irish Red Ale and Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer, popped in to the Beverage World offices for a quick chat about the beloved Irish holiday and what's new with the family owned and operated Carlow, Ireland-based brewing company.
BW: So, I'm guessing St. Patrick's Day is what brings you to New York? Seamus O'Hara: Yes, (laughs). There is all this heightened interest in Irish products this time of year, so it's always a good time to come into the market and meet some of the people who are selling our beer and maybe meet some of the people who are thinking about selling our beer, that sort of thing.
BW: Have you ever been in New York for St. Patrick's Day? SO: Yes, I was in New York the year before last.
BW: What did you think? SO: I couldn't believe the scale of it. It's a bit different from what we do in Ireland. It's not unusual, Irish people abroad want to do something to celebrate their identity at some point in the year and St. Patrick's Day is it for Irish people.
BW: But not just the Irishmen are celebrating. That's what makes the parade so grand. SO: When I was here two years ago, we went out for breakfast near my hotel and I saw all of these people wearing green hats and green whatever and I wasn't wearing anything green. I felt like I'd missed something along the way. Do you wear something green on St. Patrick's Day?
BW: Sure, it's fun to get involved with the festivities. So, where's your next stop? SO: The next stop, we are going to a bar named Sip on Amsterdam Avenue. But I'm only staying in New York until this evening, then we are going to Philadelphia.
BW: How has your time in New York been going so far? SO: It's been going well. We have quite a few draft accounts here in the city. The focus has been really on draft, but we also have our bottles in some off-premise accounts as well.
BW: Is New York a big market for you? SO: Yes, it is an important market. We have about 30 draft accounts in the Manhattan area, which for us is quite a big number. The US in general is an important market for us as a company and this region is one of the stronger regions. We export about 70 percent of our product.
BW: Why is that? SO: Ireland is actually a tough market to break into. Not so much because the customer isn't there, but because the market is dominated by the big brands. It's a challenge to get to market for new companies because the distribution is not really there. So, from day one we've been exporting as well.
BW: Where else are you products available in the US? SO: At this point in time we are mainly on the East Coast, between Boston to Washington, D.C. and we are also in the Chicago area. Our importer is based out of Denver, so we also have a presence in that area. And we are just launching on the West Coast as well, in the San Francisco area.
BW: How would you describe your Irish Stout and Irish Red beers? SO: In many ways, what we are trying to do with Stout and Red is to produce a beer that is more consistent with what was traditionally an Irish stout going back 20, 40, 50 years ago, which is a fuller flavor, fuller bodied, more satisfying to my mind product and not diluted down, just to make it more accessible to the younger drinker, which is what has been happening (with other Irish beer brands). I suppose that is how we are positioning our products.
BW: How long have Irish Stout and Irish Red been on the market? SO: Our Stout and Red really launched in 1998 and this year, because it is the 10-year anniversary of the O'Hara's brand, we have a limited edition brew, what we call an Irish Celebration Stout, which has a higher alcohol content and is a fuller flavored stout. It is only available in a 750ml bottle with a flip top cap. That's just literally being launched in the market now.
BW: How long will that be available for? SO: It's going to be available through 2008.
BW: Do you have any other new news to share? SO: We also have a wheat beer, Curim, which we are looking at possibly bringing into the New York area with our distributor that we have here…maybe in time for summer. But, the newest thing at the moment is the Celebration Stout. It's now packaged in a four pack instead of a six-pack and this is because of the exchange rate between the Euro and the US dollar. With the weakening dollar, it's made it quite expensive to bring beers in from Europe so we've moved to a four pack to keep the price point a little bit lower, below the $10 threshold, which is psychologically important if you are buying beer.
BW: Has your family always been in the beer business? SO: We are farmers by background. We have no real background in the beer business, it was more grown by an interest in beer and seeing the microbrewery revolution in the US. When I saw the microbreweries in America that was the first time I realized that actually it is possible for a small brewery to brew an interesting beer. So, it was that, and knowing that within Ireland we have a great heritage for beer and brewing that died out over the years. We wanted to try and recapture some of that.
BW: When was the company founded? SO: It was founded in 1996, but the products really came to market in 1998. The company is a family business, my brother set the company up and it continues to be a family business today. My brother works there, my wife works there, everybody pitches in.
BW: Did you face rough beginnings, having such little background in the brewing business? SO: It was new for us all to get into the beer business, but we've always been people who have drunk a lot of beer, so that is education in itself. You need to know the product before you can brew it.
Honest Tea: The Best Policy
The founders of Honest Tea have said for years that the future lies in healthful, organic beverages. Now, Coke seems to agree.
ALSO:
St. Patrick's Day in New York: It's a time when everyone, not only the Irish, put on some green and hit Fifth Avenue to join in on the festivities. Oh, and raise a pint of Irish beer of course. Making his rounds in New York City a week before the big day, Seamus O'Hara, director of Carlow Brewing Co., maker of O'Hara's Irish Stout and O'Hara's Irish Red (available in the US) as well as Moling's Traditional Irish Red Ale and Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer, popped in to the Beverage World offices for a quick chat about the beloved Irish holiday and what's new with the family owned and operated Carlow, Ireland-based brewing company.
BW: Is New York a big market for you?
BW: How long have Irish Stout and Irish Red been on the market?
