Not really. One of our market managers, Jeremy, sent me an article with almost the same headline… But it was about Guiness in British pubs. Figures.
But for the sake of a stream-of-consciousness blog, how is Guiness doing it? It’s a huge brewery that sells beer in over 150 countries and raked in over $2.5 billion (with a “B”) in 2024. It’s a 265-year-old drink that’s usually favored by old-timers and rugby players, but now it’s one of the first beers someone orders on their 21 run? What happened there? Can we get some of that love for Irish Death?
For context, I’m one of the few resident millennials at the brewery. So when my older cousins get frustrated by the fact that Iron Horse isn’t as popular with people under 40 they start asking me questions about how to attract a younger audience. I’m not Gen Z. I was born in ‘93 but I guess I’m an irreverent, chronically online smart ass with a bunch of views on my TikTok videos, so close enough. But if I really need to touch base with the Gen (Z)eitgeist I’ll go see what the servers say – they’re mostly all in their early 20s. They teach me fun words and have good memes.
Craft beer in general seems to be becoming less popular with younger audiences, but somehow Guiness, a dark beer, has thrived despite drastic market changes. I don’t have an answer as far as why that is, but Guiness has a few things going for it that we can take note of at Iron Horse. Firstly, the Kim Kardashian Effect. Kardashian has posed for several photos with a Guiness in hand, and just like Taylor Swift spiked the viewership of the Super Bowl, Kardashian helped spike the popularity of Guiness with her (relatively younger) audience of fans.
Secondly, TikTok. As mentioned above I’m chronically online and stay on the toilet until my legs get numb because I’m glued to scrolling on my phone. It’s bad, like, I can’t eat without catching up on recent YouTube and TikTok drama. During my doom-scrolls I frequently see videos of people trying to perfectly pour Guiness “the correct way.” I don’t even like Guiness but the videos make me want to go grab a nitro can and do it myself because it looks satisfying. These viral challenge videos make people want to try for themselves, and perfecting a pretty-looking 20-minute-long pour of a nitrogenated dark beer is a skill younger drinkers can share with their friends to hopefully impress them.
There’s probably a lot more to it, but these are a couple big reasons that come to mind. I’m sure their tens of millions spent in marketing helped a bit too. Iron Horse doesn’t have millions to spend in marketing, but it feels like we need to start a trend of people trying to pour a perfect pint of Irish Death. So can you start doing that please? Tag us and we’ll share it. That and if you’re friends with Kim K can you tell her to respond to my DMs? I’ve sent a lot. She doesn’t need to respond to the ones from years ago though, maybe tell her that too. I was a different man back then and it was a weird lonely night.
-Riley Schmit
Social Sherpa
Iron Horse Brewery
