Still drink Guinness?

I do not drink Guinness often, but would like to. When I drink it, it's always Guinness Draught, but, I bought a bottle of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout today, and I am still preparing to try it. It's supposed to be very good.

 

While I agree with much of what you post about Guinness (and in general) I have to genuinely ask, if Guinness wasn't on nitro, would you find it to be a decent Irish Dry Stout? If it's always on nitro, how can you tell?

As far as I know, Guinness Draught is not available anywhere in non-nitro form. I suppose the closest one could get would be the Extra Stout in bottles. If you've had that, what is your opinion of that beer?

 

Good question. The Extra Stout is a different animal entirely and a good beer. It's impossible to drink a non-nitro verion of the draught, but I don't think it would be all that good. The nitro dumbs it down, but my impression is that it's still a mediocre, mass produced stout that wouldn't suddenly spring to life if it was freed from the effects of nitro. Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout is a great example of what the style can be without the infernal nitro-dispense.

 

I was in Scotland for a week last month and it was funny how bad Guinness draught was. Had that lactic sour awful aftertaste. I remember, two spots where I ordered a Guimess and it was actually very enjoyable. Turns out it was Belhaven dark which is apparently interchangeable like Coke and Pepsi. So much better but when I am over served in the States, a Guiness draught is a nice way to rehydrate vs the heavier Bud or Coors.

 

Love Guinness! Regular and Foreign Extra, buy it once or twice a year. The problem for Guinness and pretty much all other bears is that there are so many beers that I still haven't tried.

 

Why shouldn't atmosphere and environment affect taste?
KBS is better in front of the fireplace than at the beach.
Coors Light is better when it's 98 degrees than when it's 38 degrees.

Westy 12 was #1 on BA for years, when they didn't distribute.
You think there was no "self-fulfilling expectation" for the people who went to Belgium or bought it on eBay?
Now Heady is #1.
If you're spending 5 hours driving to Northern Vermont, there's a good chance you "repeatedly heard it's better, want to believe it, so think it is."

That's how this whole thing is supposed to work:
The ratings here are based on the democracy of opinion.
And opinion will always - even among trained judges - be subjective.

There are probably 20 people on this thread saying Guinness is better in Ireland.
I don't see "a recognized myth," I see a consensus.

 

To be honest living over here I rarely touch the stuff, only if there is nothing else decent on tap which thankfully more and more is not the case. Ireland is coming down with decent stout, it just doesn't have the money and advertising behind it that Guinness does. Try O'Hara's Leann Folláin for a start.

 

If I go to a chain restaurant and its all BMC and the Sam Adams doesn't interest me I will go Guinness

 

Guinness, for me, is like a Wendy's cheeseburger. Yes I know there are so many better options out there. Yes I know it so widely available and this and that. But sometimes you just really want one. Sometimes you want to relive the memories associated with it. Sometimes you want something easy and familiar. And it's still pretty damn tasty.

 

Absolutely! Back in my 20's, when everyone else were drinking the yellow domestic stuff, me and my friends were huge Guinness drinkers. In my mind, the original session beer. Nothing better than a few pints with friends in a good Irish bar (that's key - has to be a place that knows how to store it, maintain the lines and how to pour it). Sure, I drink it a whole lot less these days, but in the right time and place, nothing better...

 

I regularly drink Guinness Special Export.

 

guinness is my go-to beer at shitty bars, but i generally wouldnt drink guinness draft at home or a non-bar setting. i occassionally buy extra stout bombers at the store though

 

Yes, but only Guinness Foreign Extra, that is a world class stout

 

It is the same beer, it tastes exactly the same everywhere. If you like being in a pub in Ireland, if you like Guinness Draught, if you like nitro (for whatever reason) that is fine. That still does not change the fact that it is the same. 200 people can say it is "better in Ireland" it still does little to change the fact it is the same bland stout, being dispensed via an abomination called nitro in whatever country you happen to be in

 

Had a Guinness for the first time in a couple years this past St. Paddy's (standard bottle, not nitro bottle/can, which probably made all the difference) and was pleasantly surprised how much more flavorful it was than I remembered.

 

Except the English?
From a definitive US publication;
“Differences in Ale and Stout Brewing
The difference in the production of ale and stout consists mainly in the characteristics of the malt and in the treatment of the product after fermentation, ale being produced from pale, or low kiln-dried malt, stout from a mixture of pale malt, caramel malt, and black malt.

Stock ale receives, as stated, after fermentation, an addition of hops in the storage cask and it is also primed by adding sugar solution, whereas stout receives no such addition, with the result that ale undergoes a more brisk secondary fermentation and consequently generally has a higher percentage of alcohol than stout of the same original gravity of wort, and is therefore sweeter to the taste than ale.
"Beer from the Expert's Viewpoint" by Arnold Spencer Wahl and Robert Wahl, 1937, pages 159 – 160.

 

Is it the same beer in the US and Ireland?
Yes. Guinness openly acknowledges this.

Does it taste the same everywhere?
Why should it? Most other beers don't.

Lot of beers - from Kolsch near the Dom to California IPAs - taste better at 3 days out of the brewery than 3 months.
If anything, a low ABV (4.1%) significantly hopped (35 IBUs) beer should be *more* sensitive to fading.

If there's real science why a dry stout is specifically immune to freshness concerns when exported, I'd like to hear.
Otherwise, this is just more Guinness haterz.

 

ITS ON NITRO (not yelling at you, capitalized for emphasis), if anybody can tell the difference between one pasteurized nitro pour and another, I am impressed. It is such a bland, nondescript beer because of that. I just don't know how anybody can tell the difference.

Edit: not 100% sure if it is pasteurized, will have to check on that.

 

You know who can tell the difference? The Irish.

That's gotten overlooked in this thread:
It's not just that Americans think the Guinness is better in Ireland.
It's that everyone in Ireland thinks the Guinness in America is hot garbage.

 

I like it about 3-4 times a year.