Low-alcohol Guinness for 'new Ireland'

Oriel

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article344487.ece

"The new, faster-paced lifestyle of the Irish has led Guinness to experiment with a new reduced-strength pint of its famous stout.

The company promises that the new tipple, called Guinness Mid-Strength, is identical in every way to traditional Guinness, except that its alcohol content is significantly lower - 2.8 per cent rather than the regular 4.2 per cent.

The brewery says it is a new Guinness for a new age in which Irish men want to drink but also want to keep their wits about them for more hectic and exacting lifestyles.

A Guinness executive said: "There are times when you want a couple of pints but you don't want the fuller hit of a higher alcohol product.

"We believe this will be appealing to 25- to 45-year- old males - guys with family and work commitments."

Mid-Strength will go on sale in pubs in Limerick next month, a city which is said to have a particular fondness for Guinness.

The new approach is in line with the policy of the Irish government, which has for years expressed concern about excessive drinking and "binge" drinking, especially among the young."

I'd buy it. Gunniess Lite anyone?

Gone West

phaegs

monkeyfudge

Would you not feel like a total pussy drinking the childrens version of Guinness? I can't see this taking off at all..

It will go the way of Guinness Light and Breó... two drinks I'm sure very few even remember.

Fajitas!

No thanks...

Wonder where they got this idea from?

Rb

FuzzyLogic wrote:

phaegs

I concur.

MonkeyFudge wrote:

It will go the way of Guinness Light and Breó... two drinks I'm sure very few even remember.

The only way I remember those are from working in a bar during their release. This new guinness will just be another product to add to their portfolio of failed products. Idiots.

joe_chicken

They might as well serve it with a big pink ribbon on the head

petes

No thanks. I prefer my Guinness the way it is supposed to be.

monkeyfudge

Has anyone tried Guinness 39 that they have in some bars now?

The number 39 makes it sound important... I tried it once... it didn't seem as bitter... but it seemed a lot heavier.

jor el

sinecurea wrote:

Mid-Strength will go on sale in pubs in Limerick next month, a city which is said to have a particular fondness for Guinness.

Mmm, it's a pity half the pubs down here can't pour a decent pint to save their lives. I'm looking at you Clohesseys :mad: Make me sick with your Windowlene flavoured Guinness will you.

So along with making sure they don't give you Extra Cold, you now have to make sure they don't pour this too. Why can't Guinness stick to what they're good at.

Breó eh, both looked and tasted like dirty dish water. They had cool glasses promoting it though, which of course I didn't take home with me.

Never seen Guinness 39 anywhere. Is that the Guinness for Nigerians who were used to a heavier Guinness back home and couldn't drink the 'watered down' taste of it here?

monkeyfudge

jor el wrote:

Breó eh, both looked and tasted like dirty dish water. They had cool glasses promoting it though, which of course I didn't take home with me.

Never seen Guinness 39 anywhere. Is that the Guinness for Nigerians who were used to a heavier Guinness back home and couldn't drink the 'watered down' taste of it here?

Breó had got nice glasses actually... yes... although I found it tasted more like an ashtray than dirty dishwater.

Brew 39 is supposed to going back to some of the original stout formulas used back when Guinness first came out... or at least that's what the marketing blurb says on the beer mats. Personally I think it's just a bad batch they produced and they're trying to sell it off as a limited edition instead of dumping it.... which is what I think Tatyo were up to with those Cheese and Onion crisps with the extra cheese flavour on them.

Oh and how come that Extra Cold stuff has lasted so long? I absolutely hate it.

rubadub

What is it going to cost? should be much less since the tax is based on %

petes

Old Guinness formulas. Kind of reminds me of old men asking for a bottle of Guinness off the shelf (disgusting) followed by a powers and water.

monkeyfudge wrote:

Breó had got nice glasses actually... yes... although I found it tasted more like an ashtray than dirty dishwater.

Brew 39 is supposed to going back to some of the original stout formulas used back when Guinness first came out... or at least that's what the marketing blurb says on the beer mats. Personally I think it's just a bad batch they produced and they're trying to sell it off as a limited edition instead of dumping it.... which is what I think Tatyo were up to with those Cheese and Onion crisps with the extra cheese flavour on them.

Oh and how come that Extra Cold stuff has lasted so long? I absolutely hate it.

MorningStar

How is this new for new Ireland when they tried it before and failed?

monkeyfudge

petes wrote:

Old Guinness formulas. Kind of reminds me of old men asking for a bottle of Guinness off the shelf (disgusting) followed by a powers and water.

I sometimes have to resort to that myself when a pub only has Extra Cold on tap.

jor el

monkeyfudge wrote:

I sometimes have to resort to that myself when a pub only has Extra Cold on tap.

Time to go to a different pub. Or drink Bulmers.

monkeyfudge

jor el wrote:

Time to go to a different pub. Or drink Bulmers.

There aren't any decent locals in Coolock.

The closest pub only does that cold sh*te... and the pub next door which does regular Guinness is filled with... how shall I put it.... 'salt of the Earth' types.... and my long hair and beard aren't too welcome in there.

flogen

monkeyfudge wrote:

Has anyone tried Guinness 39 that they have in some bars now?

The number 39 makes it sound important... I tried it once... it didn't seem as bitter... but it seemed a lot heavier.

Yeah, I thought it was a bit lighter, slightly sweeter but had a beery aftertaste.

The whole Brewhouse series is a great bit of spin though. Brew 39 is part of 6 or so different brews of Guinness that will each get a 6 month run in various pubs over the next few years. Basically, it's the best product testing money can buy; try out 6 different products on the wider public, tell them they're limited edition and get them to pay for it. If they all sell poorly, they get pulled (but they were going to be pulled anyway!), if one sells well, they announce that, due to popular demand, they're extending the availability of the product indefinitely... if sales remain high they roll it out across more and more pubs and clubs... jobs a good un.

As for this new low alcohol Guinness, I wonder if it will be cheaper than regular Guinness... Guinness Lite was dearer, wasn't it??
It's getting like ordering a fúcking coffee in America; I'll have a mid-strength, extra cold draught Guinness with extra random numbers, please.

ferdi

Guinness Lite is gay.

jonny68

For pussys only,im suprised with Guinness actually :rolleyes:

petes

monkeyfudge wrote:

I sometimes have to resort to that myself when a pub only has Extra Cold on tap.

Don't really like that extra cold tripe myself. Fook the begrudgers if they don't like long hair and a beard.

carbsy

Guinness is for tourists ffs. Murphys is the only stout.

petes

carbsy wrote:

Guinness is for tourists ffs. Murphys is the only stout.

Bollocks

carbsy

Or a good pint of Beamish.

jor el

carbsy wrote:

Or a good pint of Beamish.

Oh good God no. How anyone can drink that tar is beyond me. Bleuarghh!

petes

jor el wrote:

Oh good God no. How anyone can drink that tar is beyond me. Bleuarghh!

Rotten it is.

flogen

jor el wrote:

Oh good God no. How anyone can drink that tar is beyond me. Bleuarghh!

Yeah, in Sugar Club that's the only stout they sell; I was there a couple of times for gigs and I was certain it was Guinness watered down with donkey piss...

As for Extra Cold, I got no beef with that stuff, it's quite nice on a really warm day actually.

StupidLikeAFox

What about bass?

"Oh Andy, two Carlsberg a Bass and a shandy"

Pigman II

The alcohol content of guiness is the least of my worries. TBH after about 10 pints my stomach gets so bloated that it can't take much more and it's either gotta come out one end or the other.

Drunkenness doesn't even come into it.

danniemcq

it'll put curly hair and ribbons on your chest

carbsy

On a serious note though, I find Guinness tastes of chemicals for some reason.My preffered tipple is a nice cold Murphys.

Sarn

Why???? If I'm going for a few I leave the car behind, don't want no low alcohol, low salt, low caffeine, low fat, low flavour Guinness.

A phrase never to be heard from a Guinness drinker: Could I have a glass of low-alcohol Guinness with a dash of blackcurrant please.

Only 30 mins 'til Guinness time God bless Fridays!!!

petes

Sarn wrote:

Why???? If I'm going for a few I leave the car behind, don't want no low alcohol, low salt, low caffeine, low fat, low flavour Guinness.

A phrase never to be heard from a Guinness drinker: Could I have a glass of low-alcohol Guinness with a dash of blackcurrant please.

Only 30 mins 'til Guinness time God bless Fridays!!!

I'm going now:v:

monkeyfudge

Sarn wrote:

Only 30 mins 'til Guinness time God bless Fridays!!!

God yes... I would love a Guinness after work... too bad that means a trip into town as Coolock is naff when it comes to pubs as I've already said.

I may have to satisfy myself with some widget cans I might have stashed away at home.

ErinGoBrath

Given the much lower alcohol content of this new Guiness would that mean you could have more pints without going over the driving limit (2 units??)?

Jim10000

I tell you what's great are those little bottles of 8.5% Guinness. Can only manage one really, then on to the usual stuff.

But LOW alcohol Guinness? That's just a stupid idea.

lodgepole

If it tastes the same, more power to it. Some people don't want the alcohol content that high, that's up to them. I'll stick with the regular stuff myself...

monkeyfudge wrote:

It will go the way of Guinness Light and Breó... two drinks I'm sure very few even remember.

I loved Breó. It was my drink of choice while it was available. I honestly believe that it would fare better if it was released now. People were put off by it's cloudy look, this was long before more interesting beers were widely available in the country. I thought it was lovely. And the glasses were nice, as mentioned. I still have one in my glasses cabinet. Probably my favourite one. I hear Guinness Light was piss.

lodgepole

Jim10000 wrote:

I tell you what's great are those little bottles of 8.5% Guinness. Can only manage one really, then on to the usual stuff.

How many places sell it? I've only ever found in the Spar/Londis/Whatever in Rathmines. Quite liked it, but one or two is enough. It's heavy going, and not just the alcoholic content.

hullaballoo

ColHol wrote:

What about bass?

"Oh Andy, two Carlsberg a Bass and a shandy"

Classic song. Bass isn't a stout though, it's an ale, and a pale one at that!

Guinness' "new products" are a cacophony of marketing blunders. They just won't learn, if it's not broken, don't fix it.

MonkeyTennis

Id have no problem drinking a low in alcohol beer. I like the taste of beer but dont want the hangover. It would also be nice to have for a fridays liquid lunch. I hate the feeling when you have a couple of pints in the afternoon and feel weird the rest of the day.

Im not sure about low alcohol guinness though.

kmart6

Its mazing how people feel that by drinking Guiness there hard,ad that by drinkin a light version makes you a pussy!!! Get a life and stop thinkin you know everything bout Guiness!!!

hullaballoo

C'mon! Spellcheck.

flogen

kmart6 wrote:

Its mazing how people feel that by drinking Guiness there hard,ad that by drinkin a light version makes you a pussy!!! Get a life and stop thinkin you know everything bout Guiness!!!

It's more to do with it making less sense...
I mean, non-alcoholic beer was a bit of a failure back in the day, so why would this be any better? Most people drink to get drunk, some don't.
Guinness is the first alcohol (besides cocktails) that I like the taste of, before that I drank alcohol for the effects rather than the taste (yes, I was a kid at the time).
Perhaps this is a money-spinner so that people will be able to drink more before they collapse... think about it;
1 pint of regular guinness @, say €4, 1 pint of Guinness with water @ €3.50 (or the same as regular).
Man A can hold 6 pints of regular guinness before he gets too drunk to drink (so he spends a total of €30 on Guinness in one sitting)
However, he can hold 10+ of Guinness with water before he hits the same point, meaning he spends €35-€40.
The same applies (at a lower scale) to designated drivers, my worry is this; people think that drinking this guinness won't get them drunk enough to be DUI; but any amount of alcohol can fog the mind...

dSTAR

flogen wrote:

As for Extra Cold, I got no beef with that stuff, it's quite nice on a really warm day actually.

I take it you mustn't get to drink very often!

:rolleyes:

I would give my left arm for a decent pint of plain down here.

Bard

carbsy wrote:

On a serious note though, I find Guinness tastes of chemicals for some reason.My preffered tipple is a nice cold Murphys.

I'd rather drink something made of Lee water than Liffey water any day

Seriously though, Murphy's hasn't got wide enough availability. I don't know of any pub here in Dundalk that serves it. They've all got Guinness though, of course...

And pint of Guinness Light/Medium/whatever? Pint of Gayness more like...

carbsy

:d