Island's Edge Irish Stout - This Drinking Life

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….