Beer usage in Ireland continues to face an uphill struggle, with usage – particularly outside of the home – suffering as constraints on consumer finances continue to be an issue. However growth is coming from the craft beer segment of the market which is expected to experience approximately 41% growth between 2013 and 2014.

Further to this, strong product innovation within the market is helping to drive usage of flavoured beers – helping to drive usage of beer products among Irish women.

• What impact has craft beer had on the Irish beer market? – How does craft beer stack up against standard beers in the eyes of consumers? What opinion do consumers have of craft beers compared to larger beer brands? What is the future for the segment?

• How can beer brands attract more female drinkers? – What innovations would attract more women to beer? Flavour innovations, calorie considerations or something else?

• What bearing does packaging have on a consumer’s choice of beer? – What are consumers’ thoughts on cans vs bottles? How important is packaging to beer drinkers?

• What role does foodservice play in boosting usage of beer in Ireland? – What role does beer play in the out-of-home dining experience? Does the availability of alcohol in restaurants and bars influence where consumers choose to eat?

• What impact do lower levels of disposable income have on consumers when choosing to drink beer? – Has lower disposable income led to consumers cutting back on beer usage?

Other Mintel reports of relevance:

• Cider – Ireland, February 2014

• Alcoholic Drink Packaging Trends – UK, February 2014

• Beer – UK, December 2013

• Irish Lifestyles – Ireland, September 2013

• Entertaining in the Home – Ireland, July 2013

• Beer – Ireland, April 2013

This report will examine the sale and consumption of beer throughout the Island of Ireland in both the on-trade and off-trade. On-trade refers to any licensed premise that permits the sale and consumption of alcohol within these premises. Off-trade refers to any licensed retailer, including supermarkets, that sells alcohol for off-site consumption.

For the purpose of this report, the beer market is divided into three categories:

• Lager can broadly be described as a light/amber, clear, carbonated beer, brewed with pale-kilned malts which, after fermentation, is filtered, pasteurised and conditioned before being packaged in cans, bottles or kegs for sale. This is, however, a very broad definition, and as consumers’ tastes become more sophisticated, there is a growing interest in darker lagers using different malts, sometimes referred to as red and black lagers, organic beers and even fruit-flavoured lagers.

• Ale is sometimes referred to by consumers as mild or bitter, but the term ‘ale’ is used throughout this report. This refers to top-fermented beers that are traditionally described as British or Irish, ie bitter and mild, packaged light, pale, export and brown ales, stout, porter, barley wine and strong ales, as well as Indian and American pale ales, among others. These beers are so called because the yeast floats to the surface during fermentation, as opposed to lagers, which are bottom-fermented. Barley wine is simply a beer with a very high ABV.

• Stout is a derivative of porter, originally an18th century brown mild ale. Stout is a black, dense beer, which is usually top-fermented, and made with dark roasted barley and an abundance of hops, which provide the characteristic flavour.

These categories are subject to further segmentation. The main segmentations considered when discussing lager are:

• Standard lagers have an alcohol by volume (ABV) content of 3.4-4.1%. Examples include Stella Artois, Foster’s and Carling.

• Premium lagers have an ABV of 4.2-7.5%. Most mainstream premium brands have an ABV of around 5%. They are often continental lager brands, which are positioned as better quality through their pricing, packaging and marketing.

• Craft lager is an imprecise term, but craft beers are generally considered to be those made by smaller and independently owned brewers (eg Whitewater Brewing Company, Carlow Brewing).

For the purpose of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive online research into Irish consumers’ usage of and attitudes toward beer. The research was carried out by Toluna on behalf of Mintel in April 2014.

A total of 750 internet users aged 18+ in NI and 1,250 internet users aged 18+ in RoI were asked the following questions:

“Which, if any, of the following types of beer have you drunk in the last six months, and where did you drink them?”

“Still thinking about beer, which, if any, of the following statements do you agree with?”

“Which, if any, of the following characteristics do you generally associate with each of the following types of beer?”

The results from this survey are discussed in The Consumer sections of this report.

Mintel also draws consumer insight from other sources:

• Mintel’s database and previous Mintel reports from the UK and Ireland.

In compiling this report, Mintel has gathered data from separate NI and RoI sources (eg NISRA and CSO). In some cases, therefore, it has not been possible to provide comparable data for each region.

For the purpose of this report:

• IoI refers to the island of Ireland.

• NI refers to Northern Ireland.

• RoI refers to the Republic of Ireland.

Therefore, ‘Irish consumers’ refers to both NI and RoI consumers.