Irishtown Brewing features women on its Dublin Blonde lager and Dublin Red pale ale and its tag line for the lager said: “Dublin Blonde goes down easy”.
Twitter user Ellie W claimed Irishtown Brewing was using “dated, sexist methods to market their beer”.
The brewer responded on Twitter to claims and said: “We appreciated your feedback and thanks for sharing your opinion.
“Lots of people like our branding if you don’t, that’s cool too. Not sure we agree on some of your points but hey, all good… .”
Female in craft
Ellie replied: “It’s not really all good. Being a female working in the craft industry is hard enough but when new breweries can’t be arsed to come up with inclusive, original branding, it’s lazy and offensive.”
There was also a claim that the brewer’s tag line, ‘Dublin Blonde goes down easy’, was sexist by beer writer Melissa Cole.
She tweeted Irishtown and said: “You make the world and the beer industry harder for women with this crap, you encourage sexual harassment with this noise, you proud of that?”
The Morning Advertiser contacted Irishtown Brewing for comment but was still awaiting a response at time of publication.
Brewer's explanation
The brewer outlined why women feature on its beers on its website and said: “Why is there a girl on my beer? Why not…
“Well it all started when we looked at where the term ‘session beer’ came from. Before the health and safety brigade had its way, workers were two drinking ‘sessions’ during their working day.
“This called for a lower alcohol pint, allowing workers to drink more beer without getting too messy. The fact that this law remained in place from 1918 to 1988 is astounding.
“The vintage girls on your beer are a little reminder of how our beers taste but also how things used to be, but don’t be fooled, just because our beers aren’t 6% ABV and over hopped, they are not low in flavour."