Island’s Edge Irish Stout
Brewed by Heineken Ireland
Style: Irish Stout
Cork, County Cork, Ireland
Typical! I go drink a beer intending to do a cool and interesting review, leave my write up for a bit, and after a year or two the beer has only gone and got pulled from the market! HA! So this is more a requiem!
Island’s Edge Irish Stout was Heineken‘s Cork based new effort of a stout, one to rival Guinness, or even Murphy’s or Beamish. A tall order in a land where stout drinkers take their tipple VERY, VERY seriously. Brave for sure to take on the big boys in a very selective and notoriously difficult market to crack.
Anyway back in 2022 there was massive advertising of this stout on the TV with millions poured into their marketing campaign and a really big push, a new beer with an exciting “new Edge“, hence the name, and so I went and bought a few cans of it what with all the hype and all.
Apparently they said their stout was “aimed at people who don’t drink stout” which was a little worrying……. and so they “created a stout that’s less bitter”, less bitter than a Guinness for example, and for the 18-35 age range, the young ones who might be converted to give it a try…..and not the old fellas like myself! All a little bit disconcerting, and I definitely was not the intended market here. Basically a training drink for non stout drinkers, a watered down stout for the shandy and lager drinkers! And they thought this would work……in Ireland! Ha.
They were looking to hit 10% share of the stout market, a very ambitious plan and with it several million spent on advertising, but after it just two years it was pulled. I can be happy in the knowledge that at least I was one of the very few that gave it a go!
Review: 500ml can of Island’s Edge Irish Stout 4.0% vol.
Was to be found throughout the country in supermarkets, off – licenses, and in bars and pubs, where it could also be got on draught.
Now as I am writing this, I did manage to find some Island Edge Irish Stout in my local supermarket store, so I am guessing there is a bit of old stock still floating about, I guess, so don’t be surprised to still find this out there, for the time being at least.
Nice logo and can. Colourful and different. “Edgy” I think is what the cool cats call it! Clever.
The brewers added tea and basil to it which was to dilute the strong taste of a regular stout, as apparently tea kills the bitterness of the hops! They still don’t know why exactly this happens but there you go!
Smells good, like a Guinness aroma, a nice roasty coffee and chocolate smell and dark malts, a good start.
Onto the pour, I get a very nice and creamy tanned head with the expected pitch black colour. Like the smell, its pretty similar to a Guinness. Head is decent, all is well, looks good.
Head maintains well enough. There are a few bubbles and holes appearing amongst the lacing which is a little ominous, but when it all settles down it is not too bad at all, and the thick creamy wholesome appearance is still there to the end.
The taste is very creamy on the tongue, a good full bodied taste for sure, its not bad and is similar to a Guinness, at least initially, but on the long stretch it doesn’t have the kick of a Guinness and perhaps that’s what they were looking for…… a light, smoother version of a heavy stout. if that’s what they were going for then they have achieved that, but for me, a man who does like his stouts, then its not so good.
Getting the dark roasted malts and the milky chocolate, and, like all stouts, it is creamy, very creamy in fact. What I didn’t find was the tea, affirming what the brewers had said that the tea’s sole purpose was to hid the bitterness of the stout without affecting the general taste.
It is very manageable, very smooth and easy to drink and its not bad, and it is very creamy, but its a cheap imitation without the sparkle. Ok but no kick and without that kick the taste is just blah, like a watered down Guinness! A bit boring truth be told, a bit like the young ones today so…..ha….
It has capitalised on the new found fad of “Mediterranean style lagers” started by Peroni, and followed on by Birra Moretti and Estrella Damm. With people just recovering after Covid, Madrí offered one a chance to enjoy a bit of the Med without the effort of getting on a plane. It was a huge hit, as the lager boomed in sales, and from its launch in October 2020 it has managed to be sold in over 10,000 bars and pubs to becoming one of the fastest growing beer brands in Ireland and the UK. Not bad for a beer that no one knew pre Covid! 
So what about the La Sagra Brewery, the connection to Spain? Well this is a craft firm in Spain that was bought out by Coors in 2017. La Sagra, are actually not based even in Madrid at all, but an hour’s drive from the centre of Spain’s capital city. So much for their slogan “El Alma de Madrid” (“the soul of Madrid”), brewed in the north of England, for the Irish and UK market and with a heavy reference to Madrid! OK!.
I got mine in a lovely big bottle but it also comes in cans and in draught in selected venues. The bottle is well designed, with lovely big red and white lettering and the Spanish looking guy, it certainly stands out and one can see why people pick it up so easy in the off license. 
Onto the taste and oh man……..urgh…….a very sweet and very sickly taste……this tastes like a pissy lager, very bland and nothing special at all that stands out…….this is just another bad lager in a market full of bad lagers, but this time a Spanish version…..or a make believe Spanish version!
Lidl’s, the German Discount store, has partnered with Rye River Brewing Company to bring a range of craft beers to consumers under the brand of “The Crafty Brewing Co”. They have an offer a Lager, an Irish Stout and a Red Ale to be sold in 4-packs nationwide. 
A craft stout they say, whatever the fuck that is, does that mean its a wanky effort at a real stout? Anyway apparently this stout has won a big award, or at least Silver in the world beer awards for stout. Might be impressive but I wasn’t invited so……..and it won gold in The Irish Food Awards in 2021, as best Irish stout in the country, not bad, well lets see how it goes with me!
The taste follows the nose, similar. Roasted dark malts, chocolate, coffee and nut taste, Not bad, initially anyway! Nice bitter coffee aftertaste, just right for a stout…..although might be a tad bit too sweet, but overall this is good.
It all started when a young and very eager Gabriel Hasler, at just 16 years of age was given his first craft beer kit. Excited he enlisted the help of his two good friends Reto Engler and David Paraskevopoulos, and set out on a quest to brew their first beer. After initially producing 20 litres in Gabriel’s parents’ kitchen, and then moving to Reto’s parents’ cellar, the young entrepreneurs soon needed extra space so that they could share their passion and talent with as many people as possible.
Available throughout Switzerland in supermarkets, restaurants and selected bars and pubs. I picked mine up in Coop in an Interesting looking bottle, which doesn’t look very dissimilar to a medicinal bottle! A strange drab looking IPA bottle if I am to be honest -orange and black perhaps not the best colours to mix together!
Its overall quite tough to drink at the start, but once it settles down it is very manageable and drinkable, definitely a slow burner as I started to enjoy it the more I drank of it. In fact by the second glass, I found it not bad at all, and it went down much smoother over time, balancing out, and with me getting much more used to the bitterness. Experiencing malts, citrus, herbal hops and an orange zest.
Formerly known as Singha Light, comes in cans and bottles. Mine is a none descript can, with the lettering of M-Y standing out, all very boring.
Typical lagery taste I am getting, ok I guess, not bad at all and pretty smooth to drink.