It's always a lovely day for a Guinness. Now the morning after might not be so bad, either.

Ireland's most renowned brewing company is experimenting with a reduced-alcohol variation of its classic draft beer. And the reasoning may surprise you.

The new brew is called Guinness Mid-Strength. It purportedly tastes the same as Dublin's standard breakfast-in-a-glass, but rates just a 2.8 percent on the alcohol-by-volume scale. That's about a third less than the usual 4.2 or 4.3 percent.

Why less bang for the buck? The Irish have a long, vibrant history of getting sloshed, but that reputation is gradually changing along with Ireland's economy.

The fact is, Ireland is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world — a seachange dubbed the Celtic Tiger — and that means more and more people need to get up in the morning and go to work.

"We're all working harder, people have more responsibility," said Jean Doyle, a spokeswoman for Guinness' parent company, Diageo. "It's really indicative of the working climate. Midweek, if you want to have a few pints and be fine the next day, that's where this is aimed at."

The company tested the brew last year in bars in Limerick, a city on the west coast of Ireland, and plans on another few months of research before making a decision on rolling it out to every pub in the country. But so far, the response has been mostly positive — especially to the taste.

"It tastes exactly the same as your regular draft Guinness," Doyle said. "From a technical point of view, it was a real breakthrough."