Go from Guinness Zero to Guinness Hero in 10 Easy Steps!

Oh, my god, the ad in #7 is freaking priceless. They just don't make 'em that way anymore!

"It has. Been donedonedonedone..."

Huh. All the Guinness Stout bottles I've purchased in the past few years have "Brewed in New Brunswick, Canada" printed on the label, whether it's a bomber or a six pack. But oddly enough, that lousy Guinness Draught in bottles, which is not Stout, is brewed at St. James Gate.

"Most beer is dispensed with pressurized carbon dioxide" ...er...maybe where you're from, but not where I am!

In England beer is served live alot of the time- which is how it should be! Pastuerisation and kegging kills the flavour, it just ends up as fizzy, tastless crap instead of tasting like beer.

Anyway how can Irish Guiness taste better when it's all kegged anyway? I.E. it's sterilised and the same wherever you drink it. Don't get me wrong, I love guiness, I just prefer "real" live beer...

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@Interoffice Paul

He said, Draft, as in from the pump, not bottled. Bottled stuff tastes like leprichauns urine.

Guinness tastes entirely different in Ireland. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't experienced the real thing. Apparently that includes the author of this article.

Excellent and informative post! I will be re-posting the Guinness Light ad on my beer blog tomorrow in honor of Arthur Guinness. Happy St. Paddy's Day to all and don't forget to check out my beer review site at http://drinkacoldone.com!

Slainte!

Nick

I think you are mistaken about the Draught not being a Stout. It is a Stout, and the Draught refers to the Guinness widget, which releases nitrogen upon opening the bottle or can in order to replicate the on-tap "draft" experience. The other stout that you reference is carbonated like most traditional bottled beers and is not brewed at the St. James' Gate brewery. I don't personally like the carbonated version and think that the Draught is significantly better.

@craig:

I drank a ton of Guinness in Ireland and it tastes the exact same -- because it is the exact same. I even drank a few pints at the brewery itself. It all tastes the same. Placebo is not to be underestimated.

@Rob:

I'm pretty sure even in draft (draught) form, there is still a mixture of gas and beer. Guinness uses mostly nitrogen instead of co2.

As an avid Guinness drinker I must say that, as long as it's poured correctly, Guinness tastes the exact same in the USA as it does in Ireland. I've spent a lot of time in both countries. For some reason people love spreading this lie. I think people just like to pretend they know something about something.

Hey all,

I think the confusion is coming from our good friends at Diageo.

The product line we see in the U.S. consists of the following, all of which are stouts:

draft Guinness - the stuff poured from a tap in a bar. This is brewed at St. James' Gate. Dispensed with the Nitrogen/CO2 combo.

Draught® Guinness cans and Draught® Guinness bottles - the packages with the little nitrogen widget in them. Not sure where these are brewed. If I'm drinking Guinness I get it on draft at the pub, or buy the Extra Stout, described below.

Guinness Extra Stout - bottles without the widget. These are CO2 carbonated and brewed in Canada. Extra Stout is also significantly stronger than the draught Guinness, clocking in around 6% ABV.

I tried to be careful with the nomenclature to differentiate between the actual draft product and the Draught® Cans and Draught® Bottles, which aren't technically "draught" at all but rather canned/bottled products that attempt to replicate the draft pour.

Thanks for reading!

@chris & craig: I took a tour of the Guinness brewery in Dublin in 1992 and the main thing I remember is that they make one batch for the United States and another batch for the rest of the world, although I don't remember what the difference was... probably pasteurization at the very least. Can't say I notice a difference, but then one can't exactly try them side-by-side, can one?

The nitrogen widget does a much better job than I would have expected. But I still can't put my initials on the top and have it still there when it gets to the bottom, as I can in Europe.

they say Guinness was invented when there was a fire and they still wanted to use the hops and barley etc, Guinness was always a poor mans drink and cheapest until about 1985 and advertising it used to be called porter and seved warm and drank from pint bottles,its brewed around the world and has a higher alcohol in africa they reduced alcohol levels as people could only drink a few ,so they halfed it,it was also do with paying less taxes,they started adding nitrogen which gives it a bad aftertaste to make it colder,they started marketing it as a priemiem drink and reduced sizes in america the pint is smalller 16 oz rather than 21 ,then to make more money they reduced the cans in america from 16 oz to 14 or 15 oz and the bottles from 12 oz to 11 oz,and they sold 4 cans instead of 6 while incressing the price,never drink Guinness if you dont see lots served as its bad or been sitting in the pipes,in fact if you go to an irish bar and see bottles and few pints of any beer stick with bottles,in the old days bars would put the slops back into the barrell and serve them again,it would happeb when people were drunk

Guinness is my favorite beer, St Patty's aside...I think the big issue here is people aren't pouring it right, I think it takes like 120 seconds to do it right. You can just pour it like a soda and hope it tastes OK.

@Chris and @Mike I think you're right

Does anyone know anything about the bubbles supposedly flowing "backwards"?? Is this true?? I read about it on the Guinness US Facebook page (dunno if we could post links here, it's the Fortune Favors the Bold one at facebook.com/GuinnessUS if anyone wanted to see the actual discussion)....is this possible??

Anyways, I need to go get me a pint now..LOL

Krystal,

Here's a link to some research done at Stanford that concludes the bubbles do actually go down and why: http://www.stanford.edu/group/Zarelab/guinness/faq.html

Cheers,

Dave

@Dave Thank you! That's so cool.....I know this sounds girly but Guinness is the prettiest beer, especially right after it's poured. Cool to know the backwards bubbles aren't just an optical illusion!

It's my understanding that Guinness is exported as a syrup to many laces including the US where the process is then completed using local water - so there probably will be a different taste considering that different water sources are used.

Karl,

Diageo are adamant that "all the [draft] GUINNESS® sold in the UK, Ireland and North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin."

You are correct that Guinness, in all of its permutations, is definitely brewed in other countries (see Canada for the bottled Extra Stout sold in the U.S.), and Diageo do brew concentrated wort (unfermented beer) to assist some locations in that process.

That being said, water treatment - the adjustment of the chemical composition to either match another water source, or simply to accentuate certain characteristics of the finished beer - is a basic brewing process, and could easily be done wherever Guinness is produced locally. So, though water is a critical component in beer, and can influence its flavor, the impact it has on the finished beer is up to the brewer.

Cheers,

Dave

I read through these, both because Guinness is one of my favorite beers, but also hoping to find more out about William S. Gosset, the famed statistician/head brewmaster in the late 1800's who is responsible for the t-distribution.

I am saddened to discover he did not make the top 10. Oh well, maybe next year!

Cheers!

In regards to fact 8, I was always told that there is a taste difference between a pint in Ireland and a pint in the US because the US kegs must be pasteurized to be sold here.

Not sure how true that is though.

Phil,

I can't find confirmation on keg pasteurization for the Ireland market directly from Diageo. Michael Jackson notes in his Beer Companion that draft Guinness kegs for both the U.S. and Irish market are flash pasteurized. If I can dig up anything else, I'll add another comment.

Cheers,

Dave

Guinness needs to step their game up. Old Rasputin and Stone Imperial Russian Stout put it to shame

Because sometimes I read about things which I don't particularly like? My original comment has been buried 6 times but dugg 5, so apparently many people agree with me. It's kind of strange that I'm being attacked simply for offering my opinion on a beverage.

Anyway, perhaps I'd more enjoy the Guinness Foreign Import that they get in Jamaica since it has a much higher alcohol content.