Dutch Gold
{{Short description|Alcoholic beer sold in Ireland}}
{{for|the metal alloy|Tombac}}
{{Infobox Beverage
|name=Dutch Gold
|image= 220px
|caption= The '4 for 5' Dutch Gold package
|type=pilsner
|abv =3.5% ABV
|manufacturer=
|discontinued=
|related=
|variants=
}}
Dutch Gold is a low-cost, imported, pilsner lager beer sold only in Ireland.{{cite news |url=http://www.dailyedge.ie/dutch-gold-ireland-1441032-Apr2014/ |title=Did you know you can only buy Dutch Gold in Ireland?|publisher=The Daily Edge |date=30 April 2014 |access-date=25 May 2015}} It was launched there in 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.comans.ie/beers-ciders/dutch_gold.html |title=Beer/Cider - Dutch Gold |publisher=Comans Wholesale |date=2013 |access-date=25 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004022656/http://www.comans.ie/beers-ciders/dutch_gold.html |archive-date= 4 October 2013 }}
The Beer
Dutch Gold was originally brewed in Breda, Netherlands by Oranjeboom, and exported to Ireland. The beer is distributed in Ireland by Comans Beverages, an importer and distributor of beers wines and spirits located in Tallaght, County Dublin. The beer originally contained 4.2%{{cite web | url=https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/hc46qm/a_facebook_friend_found_these_18_year_old_dutch/ | title=A facebook friend found these 18 year old Dutch Gold cans in DCU. They're good till March 2002! | date=19 June 2020 }} alcohol by volume. This was changed initially to 4% and then in 2022 to 3.5% alcohol by volume in order to align prices with Ireland’s newly introduced minimum alcohol unit pricing laws.{{Cite web |last=O'Shea |first=Joe |date=2022-01-21 |title=Dutch Gold pulls stroke to beat booze price hikes and sell 4 cans for a fiver |url=https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/dutch-gold-pulls-stroke-beat-22826810 |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Cork Beo |language=en}} It is described by the distributor as having "a crisp, clean, fresh flavour".
Irish retailing
In the Irish canned beer market, Dutch Gold has a market share of between 11% and 14%, making it the nation's third most popular beer after Budweiser and Heineken as of 2007.[http://www.barkeeper.ie/News_Item.asp?News_ID=369 East European Beers increasing significance] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929045719/http://www.barkeeper.ie/News_Item.asp?News_ID=369 |date=2007-09-29 }} Drinks Industry News, 8 November 2006 Dutch Gold is not advertised in the media, rather favouring in-store advertising. Competitive pricing and a variety of multi-pack offers are the primary promotional methods.
Social and cultural implications
In 2006, the Gardaí launched a campaign against anti-social behaviour in Lucan under the name 'Operation Dutch Gold'. The distributors of the product, Comans Wholesale of Tallaght, complained that the naming of the project was unfair to them.[http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/garda-drink-clampdown-unfair-to-lager-company-26380361.html Garda drink clampdown 'unfair' to lager company] - The Irish Independent 20, June, 2006
In 2005, University College Dublin had a Dutch Gold Society on campus, in a tribute to the beer.[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-19212388_ITM "Why there's now more to student life than boozing and beans (... seriously!"], Irish Independent, 23 March 2005