Ireland - Breweries

The Beamish and Crawford brewery was founded in 1792 by William Beamish and William Crawford. They purchased an existing brewery on a site in Cramer's lane (Cork Ireland) that had been used for brewing since at least 1650 (and possibly as early as 1500). Beamish and Crawford's "Cork Porter Brewery" prospered, and by 1805 it had become the largest brewery in Ireland and the third largest in the then United Kingdom as a whole. It remained the largest brewery in Ireland until overtaken by Guinness in 1833.
In 1962, it was purchased by the Canadian brewing firm Carling, In 1995 it was sold to Scottish & Newcastle. Then in April 2008, S&N's operations were sold to Heineken and Carlsberg, the former acquiring the Beamish brand. In the same year it was announced by Heineken that the Beamish & Crawford brewery was to close in March 2009 with production being moved to the nearby Heineken Brewery (previously Murphy's.)
Some of the Brewery's Range
Beamish (stout) - Beamish and Crawford's flagship product.
Beamish XX stout -
Beamish Red - A sweetish ale launched in the 1990's, made to resemble Kilkenny or Murphy's Irish Red. Production ceased immediately following the takeover in 2008.

Over the years the brand identity is updated and re-launched with subtle changes, a change of Logo or a new font.
Sometimes this brand update is done by the new owners after a brewery has been sold, other times just to give the brand a fresh new look on the ever growing market.

Below are some notes to help identify some of these changes and an aid to reference the year of the glass.