Dublin, UK or Canadian Guinness?

Black Swan

I have sampled Guinness made in Dublin, the UK, and Canada. I believe the Dublin brew is superior. The other two just don't taste as good to me. Has anyone else experienced this difference?

Pongo

Old saying: 'Guinness doesn't travel well'..... Chances are the Guinness in Canada was brewed either in Canada or the US, there was a brewery in London, but it closed last year if I'm not mistaken and production was moved to Dublin.
There's many different theories, some true, some crap as to why, but Guinness outside of Ireland just doesn't taste the same. A lot has to do, particularly in the case of the Canadian Guinness, with basic ingredients such as water, can't beat the Liffey water they say! But realistically, the basics of storage/ beer line maintenance and glass care would affect the taste more than anything. Different countries, different standards.
My advice is when abroad stick to the draught cans... They're all canned in James Gate, and once you chill them properly and use a clean, dry glass then you're going to get as close to a decent Pub pint as possible.

noby

Pongo's right. (except about the Liffey water)
I also suspect there's a certain amount of tailoring to the local market. Nigeria being a good example.

Blub2k4

The thing with Guiness not travelling well goes back to the day when it was in non-pressurised wooden kegs and had to be poured out into jugs for serving, it's not that long ago really. Todays Guiness does not suffer the same from the swaying motion of merchant ships on three week journeys either, this used to lead to a settling out and seperation of the ingredients.
The Liffey water is actually purified when it gets to the brewery so it is H2O, the same one you find anywhere else.....the liffey water thing may once have been true, again an old one.
Tailoring to the local market will have a lot to do with it and then maintenance standards of lines etc, but also such as in Germany sometimes it will be put on a C02 gas system which makes larger bubbles and doesn't result in the classic tight creamy head.
Lots of reasons, none of them down to the older reasons which WERE once historically correct, but then the merchant ships back then were mostly sail driven too.

bigears

Have heard many theories for this, one that doesn't get trotted out too often is that Guinness in Ireland is not pasteurised as the turnover is so fast whereas abroad it is. Of course, this may not be true but it is one of the more plausible theories.

As regards the water being purified, would that completely change the water profile? Would it turn hard water into soft water or vica versa?

Pongo

It's definitely pasteurised. And surely even if the Liffey water is purified, it would still make a difference in the taste, however slight? Take two mineral waters, they're both purified but there's a difference? Actually, I could be talking out of my arse here so correct me if I'm wrong, I just thought the locally sourced water would be a big factor!
Mind you, Blub2k4 is spot on with the dispense system, that and the temperature it's stored/served at would affect the taste more than anything.

Blub2k4

bigears wrote:

Have heard many theories for this, one that doesn't get trotted out too often is that Guinness in Ireland is not pasteurised as the turnover is so fast whereas abroad it is. Of course, this may not be true but it is one of the more plausible theories.

As regards the water being purified, would that completely change the water profile? Would it turn hard water into soft water or vica versa?

Guinness is definitely pasteurised here, wouldn't keep otherwise and it can stand around for a while in a country pub storehouse, I know I worked in a few.

Purified water will go through filters first to remove solids and then no doubt these days they'll use a reverse osmosis system and possibly an ion exchanger possibly also carbon filters. I doubt they actually distill water but I would imagine that it would have to be the same "type" (mineral levels would have to be standardised) otherwise they would have problems standardising their systems worldwide. Imagine they would have huge problems with hard water in hard water areas etc, with pipes clogging, none of that would be acceptable, so it'll all be very similar in the chemical mixture it would contain, that is if it isn't distilled, which I doubt.

Blub2k4

The other thing of course is being able to reference a good pint and know what a good one tastes like, that used to be down to national pride, these days I think the Guinness quality team look after that side of it.

So some of it will be pure love of Guinness.

Hendrixcat

Thw water has a great deal to do with it. Before the concept of water hardness was understood brewers just knew that beer styles fared better in certain areas. The soft water that Guinness use is perfect for stout and the hard waters of Burton-on-Trent in England are excellently suited to pale ales. I find it very hard to believe that the Guinness breweries outside of Dublin attempt to brew the black stuff without first altering the mineral content of the water to match that used at Jame's Gate. It just wouldn't be the same beer, otherwise. Water hardness affects so much in the brewing process that it has to be spot on. Mashing pH and hop bitterness are both greatly influenced by dissolved ions and these both markedly affect the character of the beer.