A pint of Guinness. Strong opinions.

mayordenis

noby wrote: »

Less of this 'our' business please.

Why? people are speaking about the versions of these beers made in this country.
It's not anybody being xenophobic.
But people are simply discussing "our" versions of said beershiz.

rubadub

BeerNut wrote: »

This is off-trade only. There's the discount lager issue for one thing, as you say, but there's also the fact that Guinness is very much an on-trade product. Sure 'tis only in a pub, at the hands of a skilled barman, that you get proper Guinness. I'd guess there are lots of Guinness drinkers who'll buy lager in the off licence because they associate Guinness directly with the draught product and regard the cans as something lesser, bizarre and all that that is.

I have guinness in most pubs if they have no decent bottled or draught beers. I would not drink it at home as it is just too expensive, I would sooner buy other beers if I was going to pay that premium, and most guinness drinkers I know would feel the same. I have heard many remark about it being one of the cheapest pints in the pub and dearest at home, and most would prefer a draught pint over the can with widget.

Since it is off-trade only I am actually surprised guinness are in the top 5. I would have thought one of big cheap brands might have beaten it, like stella. hollandia, tuborg, dutch gold etc. In the likes of O'Briens you will see massive pallets of these and only small sections for guinness.

I'd be interested in seeing the full 100 list of brands.

ManFromAtlantis

op.........never really thought about it but now that you bring it up..........you have a point.
ur the first to say the emperor has no clothes so to speak.!

noby

mayordenis wrote: »

Why? people are speaking about the versions of these beers made in this country.
It's not anybody being xenophobic.
But people are simply discussing "our" versions of said beershiz.

Er, I know. It was meant as a tongue-in-cheek remark. I forgot the tongue-in-cheek smiley.

bazwaldo

Something over the past 10 years has changed in draught Guinness in my opinion. 20 years ago when I started drinking the stuff, the quality of the pint ranged hugely. You could get some awful pints in some pubs but also some beautiful ones.

However, it must be at least 5 years since I've found a great pint. It seems that most pubs serve up much the same quality. It lacks that sweetness and flavour of a great pint.

I don't think that I've wearing rose tinted glasses remembering the good ol nights out by this. I reckon its all the Guinness quality control ensuring the pints are reasonably good across the board but have killed off the great pint. It could also be that the ingredients have cheapened too.

Anyone else agree?

rubadub

bazwaldo wrote: »

I don't think that I've wearing rose tinted glasses remembering the good ol nights out by this.

I would say the same too. I remember when going into a pub the lads would always be asking whoever was there first "so whats the guinness like", and there would be varying responses, it is rare I am asked now at all, and when I am it surprises me as it is always very similar. I would now be asked about as much as I hear others asking my mates "whats the heineken like".

bazwaldo

rubadub wrote: »

"so whats the guinness like"

And the answer is either "Not bad" or "Ahhh, its alright".

I long for the day when I can find a pint where you can lower back a good few and the last tastes as good as the first. As it does with a really good pint.

Mulligans used to be a dead cert for a really nice pint and thats the only place I frequent with any regularity. Pint tastes the same there as anywhere else though now.

The Hut in Phibsboro too but I haven't been there in years. And Kennedys in Drumcondra. Have to try them out again. Man, I'm feeling thristy now :P

Red Sleeping Beauty

BeerNut wrote: »

It's a crying shame that Foreign Extra isn't sold in pubs here, and that Special Export is pretty much unavailable: the two best Guinness beers and you just can't have them on a night out.

Go for the bottled Guinness if you can find it -- always ask -- but beyond that, if Guinness isn't doing it for you stoutwise, go somewhere that sells the alternatives.

I could've sworn I saw some bottles of Foreign Extra in a pub in town. Could've been seeing things.

I really like it but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay more to drink it in a pub compared to the cost from an offie. What would it be ? €5+ ? Feck that!

Bottled Guinness is nice though. My local GAA club has the large bottles for around the same price of a pint I think. Still don't like buying bottles in a pub though.

BeerNut wrote: »

But if you really want to test it out, go blind.
/broken record

That O'Neills mustbe the only pub in the country aside from Porterhouse that has 4 different Irish stouts is it ?

BeerNut wrote: »

This is off-trade only. There's the discount lager issue for one thing, as you say, but there's also the fact that Guinness is very much an on-trade product. Sure 'tis only in a pub, at the hands of a skilled barman, that you get proper Guinness. I'd guess there are lots of Guinness drinkers who'll buy lager in the off licence because they associate Guinness directly with the draught product and regard the cans as something lesser, bizarre and all that that is.

I see the bottled "extra stout" or original or whatever it is as an offie-only drink and I wouldn't pay extra for it just for the benefit of being able to drink it in a bar. Guinness draught cans are there if you want to drink Guinness outside the pub. They do a grand job at replicating it I suppose.



Could you do a draught on the Foreign Extra ? Stick it in a can ? On tap with nitro ? or just cask ?

Any word on an O'Hara's stout in a draught can ?

Red Sleeping Beauty

bazwaldo wrote: »

However, it must be at least 5 years since I've found a great pint. It seems that most pubs serve up much the same quality. It lacks that sweetness and flavour of a great pint.

I don't think that I've wearing rose tinted glasses remembering the good ol nights out by this. I reckon its all the Guinness quality control ensuring the pints are reasonably good across the board but have killed off the great pint. It could also be that the ingredients have cheapened too.

I don't think that mythical "Great" pint exists to be honest.

BeerNut

Alan Rouge wrote: »

That O'Neills mustbe the only pub in the country aside from Porterhouse that has 4 different Irish stouts is it ?

Not a clue. It's the only one I know of with four on nitro.

Alan Rouge wrote: »

They do a grand job at replicating it I suppose.

My point exactly. Yet pub drinkers of nitro Guinness will tend to pick something else in the off licence.

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Could you do a draught on the Foreign Extra ? Stick it in a can ? On tap with nitro ? or just cask ?

You could do any of those.

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Any word on an O'Hara's stout in a draught can ?

I certainly hope not. The draught nitro is enough of a waste of flavoursome beer.

mloc

Guinness too watery?

http://www.brewdog.com/tokyo.php

Give that a go. Just one though.

MattKane

mloc wrote: »

Guinness too watery?

http://www.brewdog.com/tokyo.php

Give that a go. Just one though.

No way! 18.2% abv! :eek:

BeerNut

MattKane wrote: »

No way! 18.2% abv! :eek:

It's only slightly stronger than some of the stuff you sell, Matt, and comes in a smaller bottle. Why the surprise?

MattKane

BeerNut wrote: »

It's only slightly stronger than some of the stuff you sell, Matt, and comes in a smaller bottle. Why the surprise?

If I drank my wine like I drink my beer (by the pint), I'd be in trouble - this one, however, is a sipper!

If I ever get my hands on something like this, I'll definitely do a video tasting. Rocket fuel.

BeerNut

MattKane wrote: »

Rocket fuel.

This is no more rocket fuel than sherry. It's considerably lower octane than whiskey.

The 330ml bottle with a £10 price tag should be the indicator that you're no more supposed to treat this like a low-strength beer than you're supposed to treat brandy like Bordeaux.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Did anyone see the state of Dublin city this evening ? That silly marketing advertisement worked - it got a shitload of people into pubs at 6pm! There was people walking around with pints in their hands. Tut tut.

I was going to go to Bull & Castle and get an O'Hara's stout and shout "To O'Hara" but then realised it'd probably be as mental as everywhere else as they serve Guinness too.

oblivious

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I was going to go to Bull & Castle and get an O'Hara's stout and shout "To O'Hara" but then realised it'd probably be as mental as everywhere else as they serve Guinness too.

Not up stairs I believe

noby

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I was going to go to Bull & Castle and get an O'Hara's stout and shout "To O'Hara"

Even doing that would be going some way to submitting to the marketing.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Yeah you're probably right. "To Galway Hookers" would've been better.

aDeener

bazwaldo wrote: »

And the answer is either "Not bad" or "Ahhh, its alright".

I long for the day when I can find a pint where you can lower back a good few and the last tastes as good as the first. As it does with a really good pint.

Mulligans used to be a dead cert for a really nice pint and thats the only place I frequent with any regularity. Pint tastes the same there as anywhere else though now.

The Hut in Phibsboro too but I haven't been there in years. And Kennedys in Drumcondra. Have to try them out again. Man, I'm feeling thristy now :P

you sir need to take a trip to Kavanagh's Gravedigger in Glasnevin. After being there, you would drink nowhere or nothing else

doughef

easy..

O'Connells, South Richmond st or Grogans South William st..

beer is always greet,

I only drink Guinness.. there is no other

BeerNut

doughef wrote: »

there is no other

There are are many others. Guinness is the worst of the lot, IMO.

Murphyt

It saddens me deeply to say that over the last 2 or 3 years Guinness has really started to disappoint me. I would be drinking it now for about 20 years. At this point I am starting to give it up, luckily at home this is not a problem as I love all the ales and bottles stouts so happ days, on that note I dont know if its just me but when I have guinness at home at least 1 out of every 4 widgets fail.
It is harder in pubs to change, I love wine so sometimes that is an option but most pubs only do the quarter bottles of muck and alot of times I find myself ordering guinness without thinking just habbit. Time for a change.

guildofevil

It always amuses me how people find the “perfect pint” in one or two pubs. How the hell is that supposed to work? The stuff is brewed and packaged in the exact same place as the beer in every other pub in the country. It is kegged, nitrogenated, pasteurised product, so there is no cellarman skill required keep it correctly or judge when it is ready. The taps and beer lines are cleaned and maintained by the brewery, so even that is the same in every pub.

There are only two possible ways there could be any difference between the stout being poured in one pub or another.

1. Someone in the pub has been interfering with the system and messed it up, so the gas isn’t right, or the temperature is wrong.

2. Someone has been adulterating the contents of the keg.

Someone doing stuff they shouldn’t be would explain a lousy pint and you won’t get any argument from me about that existing, but the legendary superior pint? That would require the publican to have access to pixy dust or some other magical means of making his beer “extra special”.

If you enjoy your pint more in a particular pub it is because you like the atmosphere in the place and the publican is sensible enough not the monkey with the system the techies from Diagio set up and maintain for him, but the beer itself is exactly the same as in the pub you don’t like, assuming the publican there has an equally sensible attitude to his draught system.

White Horse

Murphyt wrote: »

It saddens me deeply to say that over the last 2 or 3 years Guinness has really started to disappoint me. I would be drinking it now for about 20 years. At this point I am starting to give it up, luckily at home this is not a problem as I love all the ales and bottles stouts so happ days, on that note I dont know if its just me but when I have guinness at home at least 1 out of every 4 widgets fail.
It is harder in pubs to change, I love wine so sometimes that is an option but most pubs only do the quarter bottles of muck and alot of times I find myself ordering guinness without thinking just habbit. Time for a change.

I have given up drinking Guinness in pubs as the draught version lacks sufficient flavour and complexity for my taste.

A nice aged bottled conditioned Guinness or a Fullers 1845 at home is my tipple.

BeerNut

White Horse wrote: »

A nice aged bottled conditioned Guinness

Really? Bottled-conditioned Guinness ceased production around the year 2000, IIRC. Is it still drinkable? I'd have thought it'd have turned to vinegary Bovril by this stage.

White Horse

BeerNut wrote: »

Really? Bottled-conditioned Guinness ceased production around the year 2000, IIRC. Is it still drinkable? I'd have thought it'd have turned to vinegary Bovril by this stage.

I was under the impression (perhaps mistaken ) that bottled guinness in Ireland was still unpasteurised and unfiltered.

Is you are correct, the placebo effect extents to the world of beer drinking, at least in my case.

BeerNut

White Horse wrote: »

I was under the impression (perhaps mistaken ) that bottled guinness in Ireland was still unpasteurised and unfiltered.

Nope. Funnily enough they didn't do a big song and dance when it stopped. Apparently it was one of the corners cut as a result of Guinness UDV becoming Diageo.

White Horse wrote: »

Is you are correct, the placebo effect extents to the world of beer drinking, at least in my case.

In fairness, these things are much harder to detect in a black beer.

the beer revolu

guildofevil wrote: »

It always amuses me how people find the “perfect pint” in one or two pubs. How the hell is that supposed to work? The stuff is brewed and packaged in the exact same place as the beer in every other pub in the country. It is kegged, nitrogenated, pasteurised product, so there is no cellarman skill required keep it correctly or judge when it is ready. The taps and beer lines are cleaned and maintained by the brewery, so even that is the same in every pub.

There are only two possible ways there could be any difference between the stout being poured in one pub or another.

1. Someone in the pub has been interfering with the system and messed it up, so the gas isn’t right, or the temperature is wrong.

2. Someone has been adulterating the contents of the keg.

Someone doing stuff they shouldn’t be would explain a lousy pint and you won’t get any argument from me about that existing, but the legendary superior pint? That would require the publican to have access to pixy dust or some other magical means of making his beer “extra special”.

If you enjoy your pint more in a particular pub it is because you like the atmosphere in the place and the publican is sensible enough not the monkey with the system the techies from Diagio set up and maintain for him, but the beer itself is exactly the same as in the pub you don’t like, assuming the publican there has an equally sensible attitude to his draught system.

I agree with all of the above but there is another factor: "flow".
If there hasn't been any draw on the keg, the beer will have been sitting in the lines for who knows how long. This can be averted by the server pouring off a sufficient amount of beer and discarding it, but few do.
But if there has been a pint pulled relatively recently, I see no reason why there should be any difference in quality between one pub and another.

Oh, maybe the cleanliness of the glass?

donaghs

I've heard a lot of talk about the differing quality of Guinness, and some of it must be true. Only recently, I had two pints in Grogans of South William St, Dublin. Very tasty, with a creamy consistancy. Then went 5 mins around the corner to meet some people in the Globe on Georges St. The pints there that day were noticeably different. Slightly colder, and a more bitter stale taste (it wasn't extra cold guinness, just regular stuff).

Is it just the nature of the beer that it can more inconsistant on tap than a lager?