I've got the BYO mag with the recipe for Beamish, and ALSO a Sep 2008 VOl 14 No 5 issue that discusses the style and the big three Stouts from Ireland. The recipes for the Beamish "style" stout in the Sep 08 article is WORLDS apart from their 150 classic clone recipes magazine that is supposedly the actual Beamish recipe.
Unfortunately, the 150 clone recipes for Beamish and Murphy's are NOT the actual ones. They are worlds apart from the real thing. I have a soft spot in my heart for Beamish as I lived in Cork near the brewery for some years, and have spent a lot of time trying to clone this great beer.
The grist for the real "Beamish" or at least what the recipe was before Heineken bought it, is: Pale Malt, roasted barley, wheat malt, and sugar for 10% of the grist. The grain is mashed at 152 and the wort is diluted to 1.040 from the kettle. Hopping rates are higher than Murphy's and Guinness.
I have tried to clone this beer quite a few times and although I have come close, I can't say I've cloned it entirely. I think the key to this beer is to not use too much roasted barley and using one with a lower srm. There should be some roast flavors with some underlying smokey-chocolate ones too. This is my latest clone attempt and probably the best so far (93% cloned).
78% Pale Malt, UK
10% malted wheat
7% roasted barley (300L)
5% chocolate malt
1.042// EKG for 28 IBU// 35 SRM// Ferment with Pacman @ 66-68F//
I probably will brew this again here soon, though this time I might include 3% of crystal 80L to help round out the flavor profile a bit. Also, I have tried cloning this beer using a more authentic grist - sugar included, but found that it was a bit too watery and the addition of chocolate malt really helps add some of that bitter-chocolate complexity that is found in the real stuff.
Lastly, the stuff in nitrocans is NO WAY similar tasting to the stuff on tap. For one, they had to ship their beer from Cork to England to have it bottled, as they lacked a bottling facility, and then had to have it shipped back. Even when I was living in Ireland I would never touch the stuff in cans, as the two tasted like completely different beers.
Hope that helps!
Also, I have tried Murphy's Red. Not worth drinking... I was told it was brewed for export to the Netherlands/Germany only. Though that may not be the case anymore.