What's up with Guinness?

opinionated3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921521#Comment_122921521

Actually would seriously consider that, or even Beamish but neither are served in our locality.

Interesting to see its just not inconsistent/ poor here in our area, the issue seems to be widespread. You'd have thought Guinness would want to get on top of this, especially bearing in mind that I and a number of my friends have switched to carlsberg/Heineken/ Coors etc .. Which I'm sure other drinkers have too

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921521#Comment_122921521

Beamish is nicer

opinionated3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921559#Comment_122921559

Heard that before alright. Shame it's not available in our area

Lewis_Benson

Maybe Diageo are just starting to lack in quality control.

FCTwenteBenson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921034#Comment_122921034

Murphy's is distributed by Heineken Ireland so Diageo would not clean the Murphy's lines

Miley Byrne

Oh I know that but it's hard to believe that the Guinness is so poor when the lines are cleaned by Diageo and the Murphys is excellent when the lines are presumably cleaned by the bar owner themselves

Sleepy

Oddly, in my experience, one of the easiest ways to ruin Guinness is to put too much detergent in the glass washer. You can be better off running the washer with no detergent at all than with too much of it (the heat the water gets up to would kill any bacteria anyway).

andrew1977

My local replaced their old stock of Guinness glasses a couple of weeks back with brand new ones.

Total " outcry " from us seasoned Guiness drinkers about the quality of the pint, watery like, no stick, much similar to what they would hand up in England ( in my experience ).

Only a few weeks later after being through the washer a fair few times is the pint returning to normal.

But sure it could all be in our heads/imagination.

I switched to Smithwicks for a week to annoy(joke with ) the land lady who prided herself on the Guinness she serves up.

FCTwenteBenson

Worked in a bar for years (that had and still has a good pint of Guinness)

Factors that don't impact on the pint

• The length of the line from keg to tap shouldnt make a huge difference, particularly if the tap is flowing frequently.
• How its pulled wont affect taste, a straight pull pint tastes the same as a regular two parter. How its pulled can affect how the pint looks however.

Factors that will impact on the pint

• Glass washing is important, is the glass dry or hot when filling, is the water in the washer itself clean, does the pub do food and wash plates in the same washer - this leads to a film of grease forming on the inside of the glasses over time reducing pint quality, has the pub put too much/little of the detergent in the washer (its not supposed to be added with every wash either more like every 10th from memory).
• Temperature of the pint, the colder it is, the more watery and less creamy the pint will taste.
• Older stock
• Rare if the gas is running low and/or the gas ratios are off (Quality team should spot this, but may also be up to the pub to order their own gas if running low)
• Clean lines are important, Diageo/Guinness quality team will come and clean the lines every 6 - 8 weeks maybe, but we used to often clean the lines ourselves in between.

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921343#Comment_122921343

Why do you think it is the same water all day then? They are just industrial dishwashers and replace the water

Pauliedragon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921742#Comment_122921742

There's a stopper put in the machine in the morning. The machine fills up when it's turned on and the stopper keeps the water inside. I'm not talking some rural pub with a 90 year old publican stuck in his ways. I'm talking three 4* well known hotels and one the most popular pubs in Cork city. The water is black at the end of the night. Maybe they just use really old machines.

Also, no rinse aid in the detergent folks. Please

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921758#Comment_122921758

Weird, I worked in bars years ago and they didn't work like that

opinionated3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921714#Comment_122921714

Interesting insight. The pint in our local is definitely cooler since the introduction of the new cooler system. I wonder could that be the source? Glasses are the older type, not the newer ones with the grooves on the side.

As I stated before the quality team have been in regularly so I'm assuming the lines are clean and the gas is fine. That narrows it down to the cooler system or the dishwasher

howdydoo83

English pubs clean their lines every week. No idea why Irish barman don't do it.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122922148#Comment_122922148

No need when they are guaranteed customers to serve slop to.

Musicrules

Never forget that they opposed any form of Irish independence.

Scar001

Also County Clare.

Albeit a year ago.

black & white

I’m gasping for a pint after seeing that photo

opinionated3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122922191#Comment_122922191

Exactly how our pub used to look. Except now it's lined with lager and no stout. I'm sure the publican has noticed but is either deliberately ignoring the situation or has run out of ideas. Personally I'd get rid of the new cooler and go back to the way it was....

pappyodaniel

I think I know the pub you are referring to and I heard stories of him buying his kegs from a disreputable source.

thereiver

Theres an article about Guinness in the latimes today it says Guinness is now a very popular drink for young people in America sales are up six per cent this year .theres pictures of some celebrities drinking it

hydrus21

FYI

https://news.sky.com/story/guinness-limits-placed-on-pubs-ahead-of-christmas-13266903

jamieon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122916804#Comment_122916804

Struggling to decide if this is sarcasm or not. Imagine ringing the **** customer service number of Guinness about the pint quality in your local. 😅😅

Lewis_Benson

And it would be Diagio you'd be talking to, not "Guinness".

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122921319#Comment_122921319

All glass washers reuse the same water.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122926012#Comment_122926012

They have a specific customer care line for this very purpose. Numbers on the back of every can/bottle also.

Acosta

The Guinness in my local is after getting very unpredictable. Before, it was already top notch. Then for a while it was way too bitter and so I switched to Beamish. Then it was good again. And the other night it was a bit lack luster and the head was too big. When I'm paying rip off prices of Guinness, I expect consistency.

The prices difference with Beamish in some Cork city pubs is nuts. Last week I had a pint of it that was €1.60 cheaper than Guinness generally is nowadays.

jimgoose

I drank Guinness for 30 years (then I went home - Arf! Snort!) and the best pints I ever encountered - I got served some slop within slight of St. James' Gate, I can tell you - were in Paddy Breen's of Kilteely, Co. Limerick and Downey's of Maint St. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. The former is sadly no longer with us, but both places had two things in common - short lines and grumpy oul' fellas who cleaned said lines themselves - every day.

jamieon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122926056#Comment_122926056

Imagine actually bothering………