What goes on a beer label in Ireland? The rules at a glance

As long as you drink your beer at home, what goes on the bottle is up to you. The labelling rules apply to a food business that places prepacked food on the market – once you sell your beer, they are yours to follow.

Ireland labels food under the EU's Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, which applies directly. The European Union (Provision of Food Information to Consumers) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 556/2014) make it an offence to break it, set the language and are enforced by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the agencies working for it (regulation 17). On top of the EU rules, Ireland adds two things of its own to a drinks label: the Re-turn deposit logo on cans and plastic bottles, and – from 3 September 2028 – the alcohol health warnings.

This guide covers only the label. Whether you may brew and sell beer – registering for Alcohol Products Tax, a licence to sell, registering as a food business – is a question for Revenue and the FSAI; membership of the deposit scheme is a question for Re-turn. Allergens have a guide of their own: Allergens on a beer label in Ireland.

The particulars at a glance

Particular	When it's needed	Example
Name of the food	Always	Stout
Alcoholic strength	Over 1.2% vol	4.5% vol
Net quantity	Always	500 ml
Allergens	When the beer contains one	Contains barley.
Name and address of a food business in the EU	Always	Example Brewing, Unit 4, Kilcock, Co. Kildare
Best-before date	Under 10% vol	Best before end 03/2027
Lot number	Unless the date gives the day and month	L2610
Ingredients list and nutrition declaration	1.2% vol or less	–
Re-turn logo and barcode	Cans and PET bottles of 150 ml to 3 litres	See the Re-turn guide
Health warnings, grams of alcohol and energy	From 3 September 2028, over 0.5% vol	See the health warnings guide

In English

The mandatory information must be in English, or in Irish and English (S.I. 556/2014, regulation 12). The FSAI puts it this way: "In Ireland, food information must be provided in English. Other languages, including Irish, may be provided in addition." A label only in Irish isn't enough; one in English alone is.

The name of the food

The name of your beer is not the name of the food. "Turf Smoke" tells nobody what is in the bottle, and a brand or fancy name can't replace the name of the food (Article 17(4)). Ireland has no legal name for beer, so the name is a customary one – such as "Beer", "Stout", "Red Ale" or "Lager" – or a descriptive one (Article 17(1)).

If the label suggests the beer is Irish – a harp, a shamrock or "Irish" in the name – and it is brewed somewhere else, the country of origin becomes mandatory, because leaving it out might mislead (Article 26(2)(a)).

The alcoholic strength

Beer over 1.2% vol must state its actual alcoholic strength (Article 9(1)(k)): a figure with no more than one decimal place, followed by the symbol "% vol." and, if you like, preceded by "alcohol" or "alc" (Annex XII). The FSAI's examples are "Alcohol 4.5% vol." and "Alc. 4.5% vol." – "4.5%" or "4.5% ABV" alone isn't one of the forms.

The stated strength may differ from the real one by 0.5% vol for beer up to 5.5% vol, and by 1% vol for stronger beer, on top of the uncertainty of the method of analysis (Annex XII). From 2028 the strength on the label also counts for the health warnings: the grams of alcohol are worked out from it, unless the contrary is shown (Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, section 12(16)(c)).

In the same field of vision

The name of the food, the net quantity and the alcoholic strength must be in the same field of vision (Article 13(5); S.I. 556/2014, regulation 10(5)) – readable from a single viewing point. It doesn't have to be the front. One line works well: "Stout · 4.5% vol · 500 ml".

How big the text must be

The mandatory particulars need an x-height of at least 1.2 mm – the height of a lower-case "x", not the point size (Article 13(2) and Annex IV). On a container whose largest surface is under 80 cm² the minimum is 0.9 mm (Article 13(3)). Every bottle and can a brewer usually fills has a larger surface than that.

The net quantity

The volume is given in litres, centilitres or millilitres (Article 23(1)): "500 ml", "50 cl" or "0.5 l".

Name and address: a business in the EU

The label names the food business under whose name the beer is marketed, with its address (Article 9(1)(h) and Article 8(1)). If that business isn't established in an EU Member State, it is "the importer of the food into the State" that goes on the label (S.I. 556/2014, regulation 7(1)(h)). The FSAI says the details must be precise enough for someone with a complaint to contact the business.

This is where Ireland and the UK pull in opposite directions. Since 2024, food sold in Great Britain needs a UK address; beer sold in Ireland needs a business in the EU. A brewery in England, Scotland or Wales that sells in Ireland therefore needs an importer in the EU on the label. Northern Ireland follows EU food law, but whether a business there counts as "established in a Member State" for this rule isn't settled – if yours is, ask the FSAI.

Best before

Beer under 10% vol needs a date of minimum durability; from 10% vol it doesn't (Annex X, point 1(d)). Cider, perry and fruit wine need none either, as "similar products obtained from fruit other than grapes".

With the day, the date reads "Best before 31.03.2027"; without it, "Best before end 03/2027". The date is day, month and year, in that order and uncoded. For a beer that keeps more than three months but not more than 18, the month and year are enough; for more than 18 months, the year (Annex X, point 1). Instead of the date you can say where to find it: "Best before: see neck".

Lot number

Every prepacked food needs an indication of the lot it belongs to (Directive 2011/91/EU, Article 2(1)), in Ireland under the European Communities (Identification of Foodstuff Lot) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. 110/1992): "A foodstuff shall not be marketed unless it complies with the provisions of the Council Directive". The brewer decides what a lot is. The code starts with an "L" unless it is clearly distinguishable from the other information on the label (Article 3), and it must be easily visible, clearly legible and indelible (Article 4): "L2610".

You can leave the lot out when the best-before date gives at least the day and the month, in that order and uncoded (Article 5). "Best before end 03/2027" doesn't, so it needs a lot number – and so does a 10.5% imperial stout with no date at all.

No ingredients list – but allergens

Beer over 1.2% vol needs neither a list of ingredients nor a nutrition declaration (Article 16(4)). The allergens must still be on the label: without an ingredients list, with the word "contains" – "Contains barley." More in Allergens on a beer label in Ireland.

A beer at 1.2% vol or less needs both the ingredients list and the nutrition declaration.

"Alcohol-free", claims and the strength

Ireland has no rule of its own on what "alcohol-free" or "low alcohol" means on beer – unlike the UK, where government guidance sets limits. The general rule applies: food information must not be misleading (Article 7). Beer up to 0.5% vol isn't beer for Revenue's alcohol tax (Finance Act 2003, section 73) – and it isn't an "alcohol product" under the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 either, so it needs no health warnings.

Health claims are banned on any drink over 1.2% vol, and so are nutrition claims other than a reduction in alcohol or energy (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, Article 4(3)) – "good for you" is out, and so is "low carb".

Cans and plastic bottles: Re-turn

Since 1 February 2024, cans and PET bottles of 150 ml to 3 litres sold in Ireland are part of Re-turn, the deposit return scheme. They need the Re-turn logo beside a barcode registered with the scheme; glass bottles are not part of it. The logo, its size and the barcode's rules are in The Re-turn logo and barcode.

From 3 September 2028: the health warnings

From 3 September 2028, every alcohol product sold to someone in Ireland must carry a box of at least 60 × 30 mm with a liver disease warning, a cancer warning, a pregnancy pictogram, the grams of alcohol and the energy in the container, and "Visit www.askaboutalcohol.ie" (Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, section 12; S.I. 249/2023). Bottles and cans offered for sale before that day are exempt. The exact layout and sizes are in Alcohol health warnings on Irish labels.

With Brewlabel, the labelling check in Plus goes through several of these points for beer sold in Ireland: the name, strength and volume in one field of vision, the x-height, allergens, best before and lot, an address that isn't in Great Britain, "Irish" on a beer brewed elsewhere, the room for the Re-turn logo on cans, and the health warnings box. You remain responsible for the label.

Last checked: 23 October 2026

This guide explains labelling and is not legal advice. Rules can change – if you sell your drink, check with the FSAI (Advice Line 0818 33 66 77) or your local environmental health officer.