While although the Irish are both loved and notorious for being big drinkers of beer (especially Guinness), that doesn't mean they have a very extensive selection. After going to multiple pubs in the suburbs and a few in the city, I think I can make a pretty accurate statement when I say that pubs in Ireland really only have a limited selection of beer on draft. The standards are Guinness (of course), Smithwicks, Bulmers, Carlsberg, Heineken/Becks and weirdly enough Budweiser. In fact, a lot of places also carry Miller and Coors as well. You might get a few others here and there but for the most part those are your options at the pub. Bottled beer is available to (and for some reason is quite popular at pubs too, even when you can get the same beer on tap. And some people drink their beer with ice in the glass, which is blasphemy to me) but you pay more for less. This is really difficult for me to handle, being from the land of micro-brew beervana, where if you can think it, you can brew it. Guinness is good and all, but I find myself really thirsting for an IPA or even an ale to break up the monotony of the stouts and lagers. Side note: Heineken on tap actually tastes pretty good here, unlike the skunky taste it has in bottle back home. I will have to try it from the tap back in the States. German beers in the stores are the closest thing to micro-brews, but they just aren't the same. I would like to get into cider, but after a while even the dry ones get too sweet.
Luckily, there is an oasis for a beer lover like myself and its called The Porterhouse. It is located in the heart of Dublin and they have about 10 home-brewed beers that they serve everyday, a lot of which even use cascade hops. They don't even serve Guinness at their two pubs because they claim its no longer an Irish beer (it is internationally owned now). I only wish it were closer and/or their bottled beers didn't cost so much.
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