Few questions from social drinker..

WooPeeA · 28-09-2008 9:36pm #1

I'm not the biggest fan of drinking so don't know much about things that I should to know.. Thanks God we have boards.ie.

Question 1:
There are few kinds of Guinness in tesco, at least the cans are different, one is black and one is black with cream-colored "shield". Both are called Guinness. What's the difference between those two?

Question 2:
What's the difference between Guinness and Murphy's?

Question 3:
I heard that making whiskey/vodka/wine in the house is illegal in Ireland, true?

No more questions for now..

Stheno · 28-09-2008 9:47pm

WooPeeA wrote: »

I'm not the biggest fan of drinking so don't know much about things that I should to know.. Thanks God we have boards.ie.

Question 1:
There are few kinds of Guinness in tesco, at least the cans are different, one is black and one is black with cream-colored "shield". Both are called Guinness. What's the difference between those two?

Question 2:
What's the difference between Guinness and Murphy's?

Question 3:
I heard that making whiskey/vodka/wine in the house is illegal in Ireland, true?

No more questions for now..

1. One is draught Guinness with a widget thingy in it to make it taste like the Guiness you get in the pub.

2. Both Stout, different manufacturer.

3. Not sure sorry

HTH

LostinBlanch · 28-09-2008 11:09pm

First of all, welcome to the wonderful world of drink BGRH.

1. M'eh, neither are draft so I would'nt bother with them tbh. If you see a pint bottle of Murphys try it and see what you think. For me it's the closest I have come to having a proper pint of stout otu of a bottle or can. It's a horses for courses thing though. So the only thing to do is try them out. Buy a couple of each of them and see which ones you like best.

2. Depending on where you come from one is the true stout while the other is a vile hyped up pretender which will never be as good as the real thing. There are slight differences in taste and texture, but not so much as getting say, Beamish which has a real tangy finish to it. When you're in a pub check to see what everyone else is drinking i.e. don't order Guinness in Cork or Murphys in Dublin. This is more of a generalisation but a good rule of thumb to follow.

3. Brewing beer / wine is legal, and I think everyone should try it at least once. Cheap too, if you don't mind what you're drinking. I find that after the first pint your taste buds go on strike so you can drink as much as you like.

Spirits have to be distilled which is illegal AFAIK.

*Just don't tell anyone about the still that Rambert has going in the back room of the bar. I know Tom has closed it off, and is trying to tell people that it's because that's where the Health and Safety Inspector is buried. But I heard a whisper that he got at some of Ramberts Christmas Special before it was ready, and is stuck in some kind alcholic stupor. So not a word to anyone, right?*

kraggy · 29-09-2008 12:17am

Don't drink out anymore but when I did, preferred Murphy's. By a mile.

And no, I'm not Corkonian.

DublinWriter · 29-09-2008 12:19am

WooPeeA wrote: »

Question 3:
I heard that making whiskey/vodka/wine in the house is illegal in Ireland, true?

Not if it's for your own private consumption, i.e. you don't attempt to sell it.

trout · 29-09-2008 9:22am

*ahem*

What people do in the privacy of their own homes & bathtubs ... is entirely their own business.

That said, no one here is condoning or promoting any nefarious whiskey making activity regardless of legality, or commonsense.

On a sombre note ... the one person I know who made hootch in their house lost the use of their hands & eyes for several days.

GAAman · 29-09-2008 9:52am

trout wrote: »

the one person I know who made hootch in their house lost the use of their hands & eyes for several days.

The stuff was THAT good??!

On topic, the only guinness i will drink is from the tap i cant stand can nor bottle (do they still do bottles?)

Murphys isnt the best i never really liked it

I would assume you need a license to distill spirits sure look at the stuff made from potatoes

Tom Dunne · 29-09-2008 10:06am

Moved from BGRH.

rubadub · 29-09-2008 10:29am

DublinWriter wrote: »

Not if it's for your own private consumption, i.e. you don't attempt to sell it.

Wine & beer and other non-distilled drinks are legal. Unfortunately due to our backward laws and myth believing law makers distillation requires a licence.

Many EU countries do allow home distillation, usually they have a limit on the distillation pot size. Around the world it is quite popular, in NZ it is fully legal and there is lots of info out. In Sweden it is widely practised though illegal.

Most commercial spirits are poorly produced and have large amounts of methanol and other nasties. When distilling correctly you can discard these, commercial places include them to save money at the expense of the customer, some just go borderline on the legal limits allowed of this crap.

Distilllation creates nothing new, i.e. you do not create methanol, you separate the alcohols. Most distill using sugar, which has only trace amounts of methanol, unfermented apple juice would have thousands of times more methanol per ml than properly distilled sugar water brews.

you can buy stills & books here, but of course you need a licence unless you are making distilled water, unless you are living in a more enlightened country! http://www.amphora-society.com/
and a small still liike a kitchen appliance here http://www.partyman.se/

An amazing site is www.homedistiller.org which dispells many of the myths, and it is shocking how many there are! and how otherwise knowledgeable people continue to believe and spread them.

BeerNut · 29-09-2008 11:20am

WooPeeA wrote: »

Question 1:
There are few kinds of Guinness in tesco, at least the cans are different, one is black and one is black with cream-colored "shield". Both are called Guinness. What's the difference between those two?

As mentioned above, the black "draught" Guinness one has a widget to pump nitrogen into the beer and make it smoother. The sheildy one is just carbonated like any other fizzy drink.

WooPeeA wrote: »

Question 2:
What's the difference between Guinness and Murphy's?

Guinness is drier than Murphy's. Murphy's is made with chocolate malt so is sweeter.[/quote]

WooPeeA wrote: »

Question 3:
I heard that making whiskey/vodka/wine in the house is illegal in Ireland, true?

Home distilling is completely illegal, regardless of what you intend to do with the finished product. You can make your own wine, beer or cider, though.