Harp is from Canada?

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McCall St. Brewer

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I brought home a six-pack of Harp lager the other day. It said all over the place on the packaging that it was from the makers of Guinness and also that it was "imported." It was imported-- from Canada. I always assumed it was from Ireland. Is this just one of those licensing deals like Miller used to have with Lowenbrau? Or does the Guinness brewery have a plant in Canada? It was good stuff whatever the case may be.
 
I don't know, but if it said it was made in Canada, it was. And if it was, it was under license from Guinness. So, same recipe and quality control....just not made in Ireland.
 
I didn't think they still made Harp. It's almost unheard of over here. I swear that I have NEVER seen anyone ordering a pint of harp in the pub. EVER. In fact I don't even remember the last pub I saw harp on draught. The only person I know who has admitted to drinking harp is a lad in work. He gets some huge amount of slagging for it. It's viewed in the same light as WifeBeater (Stella Artois) here, and thats not a very good light I might tell you. Never having had the (mis?)fortune to try it, I'm not in a position to comment personally, but judging by the lack of market it has, I'd imagine it's pretty minging.
 
Harp actually does a good business over here in the States. As far as I know, all Guinness products sold in the US are made in Canada...

I vaguely remember having a discussion like this with kenmc before...
 
ryser2k said:
I vaguely remember having a discussion like this with kenmc before...
didn't we discover that Guinness was made in the US??? don't think we touched on harp and the others though, so they could be made in Canada or somewhere - i have no idea. my point in this thread though was that it has little to no market over here.
 
kenmc said:
didn't we discover that Guinness was made in the US??? don't think we touched on harp and the others though, so they could be made in Canada or somewhere - i have no idea. my point in this thread though was that it has little to no market over here.


Then what do they mix black and tans with over there? :p
 
Sure we haven't had black and tans since the 1916 rising or thereabouts :eek:)

I see you've borrowed one of my posts for your sig! :)
 
Update.
The lad in work brought a can in for me (cans only here, doesn't come in bottles). Pretty tasteless up front but there's an aftertaste in there I don't like. Loads of head when poured. Bit nasty really. I won't be buying it. I've now seen some ads on TV for it, they're rebranding it as coming from "the great northern brewery" here, but it is belonging to Diagio (Guinness' owners).

I dunno if you get the "export" stuff over there, but
 
Harp lager "Brewed and bottled by Guinness Brewing Company, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Product of Canada." I've seen several sites that call it an "american-style" lager. Rather mean.

As of June, 2005

Harp: A golden lager

Harp’s distinctive, refreshing taste has earned it six gold medals in the famous annual Monde Selection beer tasting competition. It is Northern Ireland’s number one lager.

Harp is brewed using golden barley and the choicest hops to give a smooth satisfying lager taste. In blind taste testing research in Ireland, Harp receives most favoured status time after time.

Since its launch in 1960, Harp has remained a premium Irish lager. In 1996, its already successful export brew was launched in Irish off-licences. Harp 5% Export is a premium lager with a 5% alcohol content and a rich, smooth taste. Harp is also exported to Europe and Canada.
History

Harp Lager was established in 1960 to meet the growing demand for a high quality local lager. Dr. Herman Muender, a master brewer from Germany, was invited to create a new golden lager brewed in the traditional continental style. The Dundalk Brewery was transformed to produce the new lager.

In 1997 the brand was renamed Harp Irish Lager and is now brewed in the UK, as well as Ireland.
Promotion

Harp is supported in Northern Ireland by multimedia advertising and promotion. The tone of the advertising is fun and sociable and centres on Harp’s sponsorship involvement with the Season Football Programme.
 
I actually don't mind harp too much. It's nicer than bud or carlsberg, miller and all that jive. But kenmc is right, never seen it as a draught, only in off-licenses. And it definitely does have the el-cheapo "knacker-beer" (something you'd see a scumbag hobble down the street with mid afternoon) stigma. Like dutch-gold or Lucky-Lager in canada.

My father absolutely loves Harp, but he's canadian so I dunno..
 
Duvel said:
And it definitely does have the el-cheapo "knacker-beer" (something you'd see a scumbag hobble down the street with mid afternoon) stigma. Like dutch-gold or Lucky-Lager in canada


Actually the new stumbling rummy drink (at least in BC) is FAXE Strong. 8% crap made form maiz (corn) and barley from Denmark.
It's gross and will give you a headache while drinking it. It's also dirt cheap. No more than 2bucks canadian for 500 ml. (pint)
I've actually seen "scrubbies" yelling at staff when it was out of stock and pushing customers out of the way to get it. Some Govt liquor stores in Vancouver, where I used to live, won't sell any domestic beer over 5.5% unless it's high end specialty beer (more $$). They will sell single tall cans of imports though, so what the hell is the point?
I know an old timer who's a multi-millionaire who drinks Labbats Wild Cat strong (6.5%a/v) cheapo beer. Some people just like the taste of cheap beer. Of course he also used to share the moonshine his brother made when you came over... Now that stuff was actually quite smooth, once you got over the roughly 60% a/v kick.... First time he gave me a huge shot of that and pored it out of a large Crown Royal bottle so I was a little un-prepared for his 2 finger shot. (index and pinks spaced apart. I think it was like 4 or 5 ounces!) Put hair on you chest? More like strip it off. I think I'm getting drunk just off the memory of that moment. :drunk:
 
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