Guinness

Paddy The Pirate

Is the old pint of pure dying a death?
Seems like every second pub I visit is serving absolute muck!

Don't know if there's a downturn in drinkers, and, as a result, care for quality, or if I'm just in the wrong pubs !

Stigura

I find the man from the Guinness Mafia (in his little black van) tends to run the show. They set it to ice cold.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Depends on the pub and how they keep their taps.

snowflaker

So much effort for a drink on the wain

iLikeWaffles

You're just not going into the right pubs buddy.... From what I seen growing up it got more popular than it was and I've been working in pubs 20 years.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Guinness in fairness went to hell after the family sold out.

Arthur would not be happy with the current arrangement. It was a family business that was supposed to be passed down through the generations of the Guinness family.

Persephone kindness

Men Die.


Recipes for brewing do not.



Is it not all the same stuff? I wouldn't know.I don't drink it...:)

Hulk Hands

Find the standard of a pint to be very good generally in Dublin at least. Think its becoming more popular than ever with young males

Solomon Pleasant

I've tried Guinness in Donegal.

I've tried Guinness in Dublin.

Both were awful. The stuff is vile, I don't understand how it became so popular and famous initially. Perhaps I've been unlucky in the pubs I've visited, but I don't think I'll buy a pint of Guinness any time soon.

snowflaker

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

You're just not going into the right pubs buddy.... From what I seen growing up it got more popular than it was and I've been working in pubs 20 years.

I don't go into very many pubs

Persephone kindness

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Guinness in fairness went to hell after the family sold out.
It was a family business that was supposed to be passed down through the generations of the Guinness family.

Once offered on the stock Exchange that is not the case. It can even be rare for a family to be a majority share holder many times.

The only held like 10 % in the 80s anyway.

Grab All Association

To Martha

buried

I get the Guinness West Indies bottle any time I'm in a place that has it, or get a few for home. Not so much in Summer though, its a winter thang. Good stuff tho

Persephone kindness

I just googled the family owns like 1 % share and none of them sit on the board or have for years ..

What does it taste like? :P

Persephone kindness

Grab All Association wrote: »

To Martha

Who's Martha

Well Ok ...TO YOU MARTHA! :p:p:) CHEERS!

CeilingFly

Pint bottle served from the open shelf is best. Try it.

mikemac2

Drink Murphys OP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTczq_S4dEM

Yourself isit

buried wrote: »

I get the Guinness West Indies bottle any time I'm in a place that has it, or get a few for home. Not so much in Summer though, its a winter thang. Good stuff tho

That stuff is good. Can't find it anywhere.

Normal Guinness is the blandest of blandest tastes.

DEFTLEFTHAND

mikemac2 wrote: »

Drink Murphys OP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTczq_S4dEM

I remember ordering a pint of Guinness down there once and the cute Cork hoor behind the bar got smart with me. He said we drink Murphys down here.

I said I drink stout and the real stout is G not that sh1te that ye drink down here.

On reading the Guinness biography I learned that there was once a huge rivalry between the Guinness and Murphy families.

Initially they both agreed to stay out of each others areas. As Guinness grew they renaged on that agreement and broke into Cork.

buried

Yourself isit wrote: »

That stuff is good. Can't find it anywhere.

Normal Guinness is the blandest of blandest tastes.

Was in Dublin last weekend and a good few places had it, but yeah out the country its hard to get, which is a huge shame as its a great brew.
I stocked up on a good bit of it from Irish online off-licences last two winters gone. Its a great winter drink

hatrickpatrick

Persephone kindness wrote: »

Who's Martha

Well Ok ...TO YOU MARTHA! :p:p:) CHEERS!

Holy sh!t, now I feel old

Lucena

Guinness realised they were losing market share big time as the oul fellas who were their core market were getting older and older, so they basically upped the marketing and blanded the ****e out of it.
They basically admit as much on some of their old-style bottles, saying something along the lines of "if you drank Guinness between 1759 and 1978(ish not sure of exact year" this is what Guinness tasted like.
So without coming out and saying it, they've been changing the recipe for years.

Someone above mentioned West Indies Guinness. Not sure if it's a variety that already existed, or a recent invention, but by Jesus is it a great beer!

CeilingFly

Lucena wrote: »

Guinness realised they were losing market share big time as the oul fellas who were their core market were getting older and older, so they basically upped the marketing and blanded the ****e out of it.
They basically admit as much on some of their old-style bottles, saying something along the lines of "if you drank Guinness between 1759 and 1978(ish not sure of exact year" this is what Guinness tasted like.
So without coming out and saying it, they've been changing the recipe for years.

Someone above mentioned West Indies Guinness. Not sure if it's a variety that already existed, or a recent invention, but by Jesus is it a great beer!

I'd disagree - what has changed is the temperature it is served at. The more chilled, the less taste.

Pint bottles at about 12 degrees will give you a real taste of Guinness and other stouts / dark beers.

ToddyDoody

Guiness is probably the only ale someone could poo in and you wouldn't notice.

(Not that anyone wanted to know that)

Lucena

I don't think we're disagreeing, Ceilingfly. The idea that beer has to be served colder than cold is a fairly recent marketing idea, but as per wine, certain beers should be served cold, and others not.
The original pint bottles (now that I think of it that's where the "if you drank Guinness" blurb came from) have good Guinness, but even my occasional local (when I'm back to Ireland) has stopped serving it, as the aul fellas have died.
People aren't used to tasting beer at a temperature higher than Marketing SubZero©, and anything ressembling taste is with O'Leary in the grave.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

buried

The Kinnegar 'Flying Saucer' stout is also good stuff. Donegal Brewery from Rathmullen. All their beers are very very good. They do a wide range. Highly recommended

harry Bailey esq

buried wrote: »

I get the Guinness West Indies bottle any time I'm in a place that has it, or get a few for home. Not so much in Summer though, its a winter thang. Good stuff tho

Knock you sideways after bottles mind,and im up there with the best in terms of intake.Neat whiskey being my poison. I've just poured a Guinness Irish wheat,it packs a little punch at 5.3% but it tastes a bit like that Breo stuff they had out years ago. Sh'ite really.

Chancer3001

I know a fella working in the brewery.

He says the mix has changed for the cheaper in the last decade. And to make up for this they set the taps to a colder temperature. So cold that's it's almost flavourlrss and it's the consistency you're enjoying more than the taste.

Only way you get good pints now is with temperature control set by the man behind the bar , and short run from keg to tap.

You're only likely to find this in out of the way bars where the quality control team would never check.

Which is why Guinness often tastes way better in old man pubs or small country pubs

Noveight

Murphy's for me, miles ahead of Guinness imo.

Have been meaning to try other less popular stouts.

Gringo180

The large bottles of Guinness are much nicer. Gee eyed on 6 of them they go down like water.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Your Face

I always get nice pints.

Academic

Noveight wrote: »

Murphy's for me, miles ahead of Guinness imo.

Have been meaning to try other less popular stouts.

Apples and oranges. They're stylistically quite different. A question of personal preference.

Beamish, on the other hand, is a more appropriate comparison.

suicide_circus

I drink a cheeky little triple hopped IPA called Tosser's Burden. You probably haven't heard if it.

Arghus

A Guinness in a "good" Guinness pub is about as lovely a drink as you can get.

whoopsadoodles

Chancer3001 wrote: »

I know a fella working in the brewery.

He says the mix has changed for the cheaper in the last decade. And to make up for this they set the taps to a colder temperature. So cold that's it's almost flavourlrss and it's the consistency you're enjoying more than the taste.

Only way you get good pints now is with temperature control set by the man behind the bar , and short run from keg to tap.

You're only likely to find this in out of the way bars where the quality control team would never check.

Which is why Guinness often tastes way better in old man pubs or small country pubs

Well that's interesting because I know someone who works for diageo and according to him, Guinness look after all of their own pints and taps. Also according to him, the difference then in pints between pubs is 1. The pourer and 2. The detergent with which the glasses are washed.

I'm not saying he's right and your lad is wrong btw, just that it's interesting to have two different opinions from staff.

There are still a fair few decent spots to get a pint in Dublin. Anywhere that you'd call a bar rather than a pub though, I wouldn't even bother trying.

RayM

The only (alcoholic) drink I'd ever have in a pub is Guinness (or occasionally Murphy's, depending on where I am), but I don't drink it often enough to be able to tell the difference between a good pint and a poor one. I'd prefer if it wasn't served chilled though - I don't like any cold drinks.

Arghus

RayM wrote: »

The only (alcoholic) drink I'd ever have in a pub is Guinness (or occasionally Murphy's, depending on where I am), but I don't drink it often enough to be able to tell the difference between a good pint and a poor one. I'd prefer if it wasn't served chilled though - I don't like any cold drinks.

A bad pint tastes awful and a good pint is smooth creamy goodness.

Senna

whoopsadoodles wrote: »

Well that's interesting because I know someone who works for diageo and according to him, Guinness look after all of their own pints and taps. Also according to him, the difference then in pints between pubs is 1. The pourer and 2. The detergent with which the glasses are washed.

I'm not saying he's right and your lad is wrong btw, just that it's interesting to have two different opinions from staff.

There are still a fair few decent spots to get a pint in Dublin. Anywhere that you'd call a bar rather than a pub though, I wouldn't even bother trying.

Guinness used to clean the lines every week, they cut that back to every month now. They obviously know that once a month isn't enough and if the bar staff aren't cleaning the lines the other 3 weeks of the month, the beer will be terrible.

As for the bottles of stout, the old lads in the bar would always ask to see the bottle before opening it, if it was in date, it would be "too new" and they'd ask if there was any "past their date", out of date by a month or two was always preferred.

iLikeWaffles

CeilingFly wrote: »

I'd disagree - what has changed is the temperature it is served at. The more chilled, the less taste.

Pint bottles at about 12 degrees will give you a real taste of Guinness and other stouts / dark beers.

Remember the blue labelled taps in pubs mostly in the lounge (extra cold) 3.5°. It was double chilled so colder than the normal red label 6° that they serve in the bar part of a pub. Double chilled and double filled!

Paddy The Pirate

Well,
Tis time to report back.

Even if tastes shíite, bad Guinness still makes one intoxicated, very much so.

demanufactured

Much better stouts out there.
Murphys is much better than Guinness.

Oharas stout is the nicest I've tasted

allthedoyles

demanufactured wrote: »

Much better stouts out there.
Murphys is much better than Guinness.

Oharas stout is the nicest I've tasted

Proof of pudding is always in the eating .

CaptainR

Paddy The Pirate wrote: »

Well,
Tis time to report back.

Even if tastes shíite, bad Guinness still makes one intoxicated, very much so.

I honestly pity your toilet. In about 6-7 hours from now, its going to have a rude awakening.

up for anything

suicide_circus wrote: »

I drink a cheeky little triple hopped IPA called Tosser's Burden. You probably haven't heard if it.

Is it called that because after few you can't?

timthumbni

Noveight wrote: »

Murphy's for me, miles ahead of Guinness imo.

Have been meaning to try other less popular stouts.

Like my murphies, I'm not bitter.....

(Great ad from England in the 90s) (I was the first boy in cork to kiss her)


Anyways I think stout tastes like the devils pisswater. Vile ashtray tasting stuff.

Galwayguy35

I remember the oul fellas used to drink the pint bottles of Guinness.

Although even even up to 30 years ago in the small villages there wasn't much of a choice, it was usually 3 taps with Guinness, Smithwicks or Harp.

If I order a pint I always taste it before paying the barman, was given a pint of Heineken once that was the colour of an orange skin and handed it straight back to him.

You're paying for a product, it's up to the person selling it to ensure it's good quality especially if it's E5 or more a pint.

arayess

never got the love for guinness

Wanderer78

arayess wrote:

never got the love for guinness

Vile drink

iLikeWaffles

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

I remember the oul fellas used to drink the pint bottles of Guinness.

Although even even up to 30 years ago in the small villages there wasn't much of a choice, it was usually 3 taps with Guinness, Smithwicks or Harp.

If I order a pint I always taste it before paying the barman, was given a pint of Heineken once that was the colour of an orange skin and handed it straight back to him.

You're paying for a product, it's up to the person selling it to ensure it's good quality especially if it's E5 or more a pint.

One of them are ya. Can never understand that, if a pints not to your liking your entitled to get a refund or replacement even after you paid for it.