Home › Comparisons
Six honest side-by-side comparisons. Each one anchored on the full review, with the comparator's specs verified against the brewery's own published information.
| Comparison | Forged ABV | vs | Their ABV | Their brewery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forged vs Guinness Draught | 4.2% | vs | 4.2% | St James's Gate, Dublin |
| Forged vs Murphy's Irish Stout | 4.2% | vs | 4.0% | Heineken Ireland, Cork |
| Forged vs Beamish Irish Stout | 4.2% | vs | 4.1% | Heineken Ireland, Cork |
| Forged vs O'Hara's Leann Folláin | 4.2% | vs | 6.0% | Carlow Brewing Co. |
| Forged vs Porterhouse Plain Porter | 4.2% | vs | 5.0% | Porterhouse, Dublin (same brewhouse) |
| Forged vs Wicklow Wolf Stout | 4.2% | vs | ~5.5% | Wicklow Wolf, Newtownmountkennedy |
The headline match-up. 4.2% vs 4.2%, Dublin vs Dublin, contract-brew vs 1759 institution. Where they actually differ — front-palate sweetness, finish bitterness, and what each one feels like at glass three.
Read the comparisonThe 1856 Cork classic, smoother and sweeter than Guinness. Forged is dryer; Murphy's is the stickier, more dessert-coded option.
Read the comparisonBeamish is the quieter, drier 1792 Cork rival of Murphy's. Closer to Forged on style than Guinness is, but with a distinct Cork edge.
Read the comparisonThe flagship Irish craft Irish dry stout from Carlow Brewing Company. A different weight class — stronger, bitterer, more layered. The honest comparison Forged's marketing studiously avoids.
Read the comparisonThe thing nobody mentions on the can: Porterhouse is Forged's contract brewer. So when you compare Forged to Porterhouse's own multi-award-winning Plain Porter, you're really comparing two beers brewed by the same team to wildly different specifications.
Read the comparisonWicklow Wolf's oatmeal stout is one of Ireland's modern craft success stories — flaked Irish oats, specialty chocolate and coffee malts, a brewery and taproom you can visit. The contrast with celebrity-brand stout is the entire point of the page.
Read the comparisonEach comparison page is built the same way: a side-by-side spec table, a head-to-head tasting note from the same sitting, a one-line verdict, and a recommendation about which one to pick depending on what you're looking for. We anchor every comparison to the main Forged Irish Stout review so you can see the underlying judgement.
All facts (ABV, founding date, brewery, ownership) verified against each brewery's own current website in April 2026. If anything's drifted out of date, email hello@forged.ie.