Guinness launches 'black lager'

Guinness is launching a black lager in Northern Ireland as the company hopes to improve sales in an increasingly difficult trading environment.

Aimed at a younger market, the drink will come in 330ml bottles and will go on sale at selected pubs and off-licences, priced similarly to other premium lagers.

Parent company Diageo will be anxious the drink — called Guinness Black Lager — doesn’t suffer the same fate as other “innovations” such as Breo and Guinnes Light that struggled in the shadow of the black stuff’s coveted brand image.

In 2005 the company sold Brew 39 in bars in Dublin and before that it introduced Guinness XXX Extra Strong, Guinness Gold and Breo White Beer.

In 1979,  Guinness tried to fight the popularity of lager with the introduction of a light version. While a regular pint of Guinness contained 4.2 per cent alcohol and 192 calories, Guinness Light had 3.8 per cent alcohol and 170 calories. The company sold its light version with the slogan "They said it couldn't be done." Two years later, the product was withdrawn.

Mr John Kennedy, Diageo’s managing director, said the new beer has a unique taste which is an evolution in lager making.

“With this lager, the master brewers of Guinness have built upon 250 years of rich brewing heritage to take lager enjoyment to a new level." he said.

"Guinness Black Lager represents a real evolution in the lager category, offering consumers greater choice".

Guinness is planning to test the 4.5 per cent proof beer in the Northern market over a period of five to nine months.

An increasingly difficult trading environment has seen off-licence and pub sales fall significantly in recent years and thousands have lost their jobs in the sector as a result.

A report published yesterday found Ireland's per capital alcohol consumption fell by 9.6 per cent in 2009 and is now 21 per cent below an all-time peak in 2001.

Some 15,000 jobs have been lost in the last year alone and the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland has warned of a further 5 per cent fall in volume sales this year, with a further knock-on effect for jobs.