What is Ireland’s cheapest beer?

For this week’s Shopping Trolley hotline, Simon Tierney took a big bag to his local supermarkets and came back with three brands of beer.

The first was the Birra Mapelli, 500ml can of lager from Aldi that cost €2.39.

Having sampled all three brands of beverages, Hard Shoulder presenter Kieran concluded it was by far the nicest.

“I think it’s slightly hoppier than the other two,” he said.

The second can was the Excelsior from Lidl, which cost only €1.39 for 440ml but was not a product Kieran will be looking to buy in the future.

“It is like goblin p**s,” he said.

“Apologies for my foul language.”

Finally, there was the 330ml can of Pilsner from Dunnes at a cost of €1.40.

“That is slightly nicer,” Kieran said.

“It is a bit smoother and sharp than the Excelsior.”

'A difference of opinion'

Simon said taste is always “subjective” but that he disagreed with Kieran’s analysis.

“I had a slightly different experience when I was testing this as I worked during the day, beginning at 9am this morning in the office,” he said.

“What I felt was that the strongest flavour, whether it was hoppy or not actually came from the Excelsior and I found the Birra Mapelli possibly the weakest flavour.

“It was kind of a little bit watery for me.”

Kieran noted is was unusual for the pair to disagree on which product they prefer.

“We often come down pretty unanimously on what is best and what is worst,” he said.

“We have a difference of opinion this week, Simon is out buying cans of Excelsior by the bag and I’m going to go with the Birra Mapelli.”