nneneBBWhat might a pint served in Dublin more than 450 years ago have tasted like? Researchers at Trinity College Dublin set out to answer that question in an unusual way: rather than simply studying the archives, they rebuilt a Tudor-style brewery and brewed beer using the accounts of Dublin Castle.
The experiment, carried out as part of the European Research Council-funded FoodCult project, offers a different perspective on everyday life in 16th-century Ireland. And it holds a surprise: the beer consumed at the time was far from invariably a very weak drink.
A Dublin Castle beer recreated more than 450 years later
The starting point for the experiment lies in the archives of Dublin Castle. The household accounts of Lord Deputy William Fitzwilliam, preserved for the years 1570 to 1590, provide exceptionally precise details of the ingredients used, the quantities produced and beer consumption within this important household.
The researchers were able, in particular, to recreate a beer brewed in 1574. To go beyond a simple modern recipe inspired by the past, the team brought together historians, archaeologists, brewing specialists, microbiologists and craftspeople.
A Tudor brewery rebuilt for the experiment
A brewery inspired by the 16th century was built at the Weald & Downland Living Museum in Sussex. The researchers worked with equipment and methods close to those available at the time, without the monitoring instruments that make brewing far more predictable today.
The project also required the recovery of skills that have become rare, particularly in making barrels and certain pieces of equipment. The choice of grain also mattered: the team turned to bere, an ancient variety of barley still grown in Orkney.
So, what did an Irish beer from 1574 taste like?
The result is surprisingly familiar. According to the researchers, the beer produced had a pale, honey-tinged colour, a cloudy appearance, slight bitterness and a delicate hop presence. In other words, a modern drinker would not necessarily be faced with an unrecognisable beverage.
Its essential ingredients were also close to those of a modern beer: malt, water, yeast and hops. The grains and processes, however, differed markedly from the standardised varieties and industrial methods used today.
About 5% alcohol: the myth of poor, very weak beer collapses
One of the most striking discoveries concerns its alcohol content. The experimental beer could reach around 5% alcohol, a level comparable to that of many contemporary lagers.
This measurement challenges the idea that the large quantities of beer consumed in the past can simply be explained by an extremely low-alcohol drink. On the contrary, the researchers point out that daily consumption could be substantial.
At Dublin Castle, some workers received several pints a day
In Fitzwilliam’s household at Dublin Castle, the archives show consumption of between five and ten pints a day in certain contexts. Beer could provide up to around 2,700 calories a day for the servants concerned. In the household’s expenditure, its value even exceeded that of bread.
Beer was therefore not merely a leisure drink. It formed part of the diet and could be provided as part of work. At Christ Church Cathedral, other documents studied by the researchers show that masons could receive even larger quantities when carrying out demanding physical work.
No, the Irish did not drink beer simply because water was dangerous
The experiment also helps to qualify another oft-repeated narrative: that people were forced to drink beer because water was invariably unsafe to drink.
The researchers point out that brewers themselves needed fresh, good-quality water. In the medicine of the time, drink choices were also influenced by the theory of humours: water was regarded as “cold”, while beer was seen as more comforting and conducive to bodily balance. These ideas had nothing to do with our current understanding of microbes.
An experiment that tells the story of 16th-century Dublin
Behind the anecdote of a 450-year-old pint lies a genuine experiment in archaeology and experimental history. Recreating the beer requires attention to the grains grown in Ireland, the work of craftspeople, barrels, kitchens, eating habits and the daily organisation of Dublin Castle.
More broadly, the FoodCult project examines food and material culture in Ireland between around 1550 and 1650. In 2026, Trinity College Dublin and Dublin Castle extended this research with a series of lectures, screenings and tastings devoted to 16th-century food and drink.
A pint we would probably recognise today
This may ultimately be the experiment’s most enjoyable finding. Despite four and a half centuries of changes in brewing techniques, this 1574 beer was not some strange, forgotten concoction: cloudy, slightly bitter, hoppy and around 5% ABV, it would have had features entirely recognisable to a beer drinker today.
It is a particularly tangible reminder that the history of beer in Ireland did not begin with the major brands that became famous around the world. Long before them, pints were already part of everyday life in Dublin.
