Is Harp Lager an "American" drink?

[l3ubba 16]

I have recently been stationed in Stuttgart Germany for a two year duty assignment. You can imagine how excited I was when they told me I was going to be living in Germany. I have been here for a little over two weeks and have been having a blast. I get along with the guys in my unit and we get to go out and have fun on the weekends.

 

Well one night we went out to a bar for a couple of drinks and they took me to a local Irish bar that they said was a good place to hang out. So me and my buddies walked in there and this (I presume Irish based on her accent) bartender asks what we'll have. My buddies say what they want and I look seeing that the tap only has Guinness and a few other Guinness beers that I can't recall off the top of my head (something to do with flavors). But I am not a dark beer drinker and I can remember the last time I had Guinness (it was a fuzzy memory but I can still remember...most of it anyway). So I ask her, "do you have a Harp?" because I do like Harp Lager and I knew it was owned by Guinness so why wouldn't this Irish pub have it? Her response to me was "no, sorry you aren't in America anymore." I was so confused. Harp is an Irish beer! Right?

 

So my question, especially to any Irishmen in this forum, is it an "American" thing to order a Harp in an Irish pub?

[User72 28]

Harp is Irish to the best of my knowledge. It was the first beer I ever drank and it's served in all the pubs over here though I confess it's been a while since I've been in a pub.

[Crashdive 2]

Harp Lager is made by Guinness in Dundalk. So yes, it's definitely Irish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harp_Lager

[l3ubba 16]

I just want to know if it is seen as an American thing to order one? Kind of like ordering an Irish Car Bomb in an Irish pub (I hear that is not recommended in Ireland), not that I plan on drinking any of those.

[Crashdive 2]

Why would it be seen as an American thing to order a Harp Lager?

It's obvious that the barkeeper had no clue what she was talking about.

Although you said she had an Irish accent doesn't mean she's Irish.

[User72 28]

No it wouldn't be considered a particularly American thing to do. She's obviously not the most experienced barkeep.

[Holdit 551]

I worked in a pub part time during my teens, and if you wanted beer is was Guinness, Smithwicks or Harp (in reducing order of "darkness") and that was all the choice there was ("Bud-wha'?"). Oh and you could get some poncy stuff called Satzenbrau in a bottle, but only women drank it. So yes, Harp is considered to be Irish, although I believe neither it nor Guinness are truly Irish any more. I seem to remember that Harp isn't not considered to be very good, though, as lagers go. 

 

Anecdote: The pub I worked in had two sections, as Irish pubs traditionally do: the "lounge" (brighter larger area, carpets, plenty of tables, no television, used by women, couples and younger men) and the "bar" (darker smaller area, television, lino floor, few tables, used mainly by men aged 40+). The pub manager used to work the bar by himself while 2 - 4 barmen would work the lounge. This manager was unusual in that he couldn't pull a good pint of Guinness if his life depended on it. One one occasion he was away on holiday and I was working the bar and I noticed how many more customers than usual were drinking Guinness. At one point in the evening, this conversation happened:

Guinness-drinking Customer: "Paul, when does ____ get back from his holidays?"

Me: "He'll back on Sunday night".

Guinness-drinking Customer: (Resignedly) "Ah well, back to the Harp so..."

 

(Only a single door separated the bar from the lounge. I guess it was just too much of a "jump".)

[l3ubba 16]

Well its glad to know I wasn't the stupid American this time, lol. I think Harp tastes pretty good, I've also drank plenty of Smithwicks and enjoy that too. Not sure why I didn't think of asking for a Smithwicks instead, oh well.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

Next time order a Kilkenny, try something new 

 

 

Also the thing about Americans is I don't generalize them as being 'American'. Whenever I meet someone and ask where they are from, if they say America then I say BS....I want to know what state they come from because to me that makes a difference.

 

Culturally the States are different from State to State so if you are from Maine, you grew up differently then someone from Oklahoma or Hawaii and so on. So just because the state you come from people tend to like Harp in an Irish Pub, that doesn't mean someone from another state does the same thing.

[l3ubba 16]

Yes, that is true and I think it applies in pretty much every country. I've noticed that someone from Baden-Wurttemburg is different from someone that lives in Brandenburg.

 

I'll keep the Kilkenny in mind next time I'm in an Irish pub.

[User72 28]

If ya really want a nice Irish drink, try Magners or any of the whiskeys, mmmmmm!