To be frank outside of Guinness, Ireland’s ales are not particularly great. They tend to follow the same bland, watery and uninspiring trend. With that said where they fail in beer making they make up for in spades ten times over with they’re apple ciders, which are genre shattering in my opinion. Rich flavours, crisp drinking and highly enjoyable from start to finish.

If your going to Europe for beers, the UK is a better bet. If your going for ciders, Ireland wins that hands down.

Name: Macardles Traditional Ale

Origin: Ireland

Style: Irish Ale (4%)

Appearance: The colour of this Kilkenny clone is dark, clear amber. It is quite carbonated and produces a very foamy, large head when poured into a glass.

Taste: The aroma was very mild at best, making it difficult to distinguish. The taste is light, metallic, with some bitter grass-like hops noted. There maybe some roasted notes as well, but these are very subtle. The after taste is ashy and lingering.

Mouth Feel: It is very carbonated, filling and sharp on the tongue. The overall body of this beer is very light and watery, which would normally make it refreshing, but due to the ashy aftertaste it is actually not.

Final Thoughts (2 out of 5): This is a bland and uninspiring ale. Sadly this like many of Ireland’s other beers is standard fair.

This is the ruins of a church and old grave yard in the Wicklow Mountains. This is a very nice and scenic area of Ireland.

Served at the Heathrow airport between our connecting flights, this was the first beer on my trip that came from a tap. And it was warm…

Name: Bombardier Bitter

Origin: UK (England)

Style: English Bitter (3.8%)

Appearance: This rust coloured ale is poured with an attractive, medium head with an excellent lifespan.

Taste: The aroma was difficult to determine but I would probably have had to say grassy. The flavours are of toasted oats with some notes of caramel in the background. It finishes with a citrusy and bitter aftertaste that lingers on the tongue.

Mouth Feel: Like many pub ales it is served at a temperature just below room. The palette is thin, watery and very refreshing. Also like many English pub ales the low ABV makes it very good session beer (ei: something you can drink all night and not get wasted).

Final Thoughts (3.5 out of 5): A good, refreshing ale and exactly what I needed after the 10 hour red-eye flight to Heathrow Airport. I only hope that the exhaustion I was feeling did not skew my abilities to review this beer.

This is another expensive attraction in London. For nearly $30 just to board this boat they had better let me fire its cannons.

This was the first beer during my trip I tried that did not originate from Ireland. I found it in a neat pub that had it beer taps built right into your table.

Name: Staropramen Lager

Origin: Czech Republic, Prague

Style: Pilsner (5%)

Appearance:  Deep, dark gold colour. The beer is noticeable carbonated with a massive, fizzy head. It should be noted that this pilsner also had great head retention, lasting the entire session.

Taste: Staropramen has a very strong honey and grassy hop aromas. The palette begins sweet, with obvious honey notes and becomes quite herbal and grassy. It finishes bitter and grassy as well.

Mouth Feel: It is soft on the tongue, but leaves your mouth with an odd coated feeling as if the beer left a residue behind. It is quite refreshing and also very filling due to the high carbonation.

Final Thoughts (3.5 out of 5): It was a nice change of pace from the standard set found on most Irish pubs taps.

Northern Ireland's last hundred years of history have been particularly violent and bloody. It was quite obvious there is still a great deal of tension here.

Basically one of several Guinness clones available, Murphy’s Draught is a cheap and tasty alternative.

Name: Murphys Draught

Origin: Ireland

Style: Irish Stout (4.0% ABV)

Appearance:  It is a very dark colour, but when held to the light you can see it changes to a ruby red. Creamy, with cascading bubbles that flow down into the glass. If you have seen Guinness you should know what this looks like.

Taste: It starts slightly sweet and is noticeable watery. It finishes bitter with notes of cocoa. The aftertaste lingers on the tongue.

Mouth Feel: Very soft, creamy and incredibly easy drinking. Highly refreshing making it a great session ale.

Final Thoughts (3.0 out of 5): This is really just a cheaper alternative to Guinness.

Rolling green hills and stone walls are a common sight across Irelands country side