Worst pint of Guinness you've had?

judas101 · 26-07-2007 3:50pm #1

We've all gotten some rotten ones.

Name and shame ppl.

I'll get the ball rolling.

Crawdaddy. *shudders* not a place for the Guinness drinkers.

anywhere else other than the obvious clubs ect. ?

_blank_ · 26-07-2007 3:57pm

Well, I have two nominations.

1. College bar in Carmarthen, Wales. Plastic pint-glass. The person behind the bar just pulled the tap down, then set the 'glass' under the stream, filled to the top and put it in front of me, in all of it's sudsy glory. My jesus.

2. Some bar on Darling Harbour, Sydney. Went up to the bar, saw two lads drinking Guinness, asked them what it was like. Turned out they were two English lads, they told me it was 'alright'. I decided to chance it. Barman proceded to pour flat guinness from a can, then put the container it was in under a soda-stream type machine. :eek:

But if we're talking about in Dublin, then The Sheaf O' Wheat in Coolock Village does a vile pint. As does The Goblet in Artane for about the last three years, it used to be one of the nicest in there, not any more though.

judas101 · 26-07-2007 4:01pm

had a few rank ones when i chanced my arm in New York last year but i had repressed the memories of those ones. eww.

never been to the Goblet but am surprised to hear that.

h8red · 26-07-2007 4:03pm

There's a "pub" in Portlaoise called Bar Habana.

It only opens two/three nights a week and only has Guinness and Carlsberg on tap. The pint in there is the worst I've ever tasted. :eek:

garthv · 26-07-2007 4:03pm

Eamonn Doranns (although its the same with all pints in there)

Fibbers

Dont be at yourself · 26-07-2007 4:08pm

The bar in DCU. Disgusting.

A bar in Shannon Airport.

Spirit. I know, I know.

judas101 · 26-07-2007 4:09pm

i boycotted Dorans a while ago for the following reason:

Pint of 'Guinness' (disgusting) poured badly in one go into a plastic cup by a surly barman that cost 5.20

not to mention i was ID'd at the door for the first time in years.

thery're a right shower in that place. especially the bouncers.

most of my business goes to whelans now. good pints in there (front bar only)

rant over.

judas101 · 26-07-2007 4:10pm

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

Spirit. I know, I know.

what were you thinking man?!?! :eek:

gurramok · 26-07-2007 4:29pm

That Rockfield bar & lounge in Dundrum.

Pint was so flat after serving with nice head(head disappeared within minutes) that it tasted like TCP, disgusting.
I actually complained to Guinness themselves about it a while back as they were promoting Guinness in the lounge & bar.

So get onto Guinness themselves for complaints, they actually do investigate these things.

ruprect · 26-07-2007 5:03pm

Worst is in festivals.
Most disappointing was in the guinness brewry itself, have had about 10 pints there on several occassions, all mediocre at best.

r3nu4l · 26-07-2007 5:09pm

Butlins Pwhelli, Wales, many years ago. They have a system like that in McDonalds where you put the glass under a dispenser, push a button and it pours into the glass...all in one go!

Also, had a barman pour a pint all in one go in a pub in Cambridge. I was surprised because the Guinness is actually alright in most pubs in Cambridge!

BeerNut · 26-07-2007 8:27pm

seansouth wrote:

Barman proceded to pour flat guinness from a can, then put the container it was in under a soda-stream type machine. :eek:

That'd be the "Surger", it works by electrifying the beer rather than running gas through it. And it was developed with your money, Guinness drinkers.

Worst pint ever? Ehhhm... probably the Buttery in Trinity, especially after they introduced plastic receptacles.

JuJuYNWA · 26-07-2007 8:29pm

Students Union in NUIM

Friels in Straffan

Both equally vile pints.

happy_acid_face · 26-07-2007 11:21pm

seansouth wrote:

The Goblet in Artane for about the last three years, it used to be one of the nicest in there, not any more though.

You really think so? Upstairs or downstairs? I've been drinking guinness there for many years i wouldn't have thought has slipped. Still think they serve a great pint of black

As for the topic, worst pint of ANYTHING can be bought in Eamon Dorans...

_blank_ · 26-07-2007 11:40pm

Indeed I do. The quality has slipped dramatically.

Before the place was done up (we'd be going back to '99 here) it was a lovely pint, since the re-vamp it's has gone on a slippery slide, it's one of the reasons I went on to the Large Bottles.

I mainly drink upstairs. But Harry Byrne's is my main haunt these days.

In fact, that whole pub has gone to the dogs. I know the owners have other pubs, most notable The Big Tree in Swords (not the one on Dorset St). Anyone know how that's doing?

Kyle's in Coolock Village, now there's a pint to savour.

donaghs · 27-07-2007 9:01am

I don't drink in pubs as much as I used to, but I recently got a terrible stale/bitter tasting pint of Guinness with a yellowish head in the Lansdowne Hotel near Baggot St, Ballsbridge. I only realised just how bad it was when later that week I had 3 delicious perfect creamy pints of Guinness in Mulligans of Poolbeg St.

r3nu4l · 27-07-2007 9:21am

JuJuYNWA wrote:

Students Union in NUIM

Really? Wow, when I was there the pint of Guinness was quality...unless it was bar-ex night and it ended up in a plastic glass but then again you'd be mad to order a Guinness on bar-ex night, not like the bar staff are going to give the pour the proper attention

The Hill Billy · 27-07-2007 12:40pm

High Wycombe Rugby Club Bar - A one-pull pour of pure pìss.
How's that for alliteration!

Mahaffey's on Pearse Street has a consistently poor pint too.

jdivision · 27-07-2007 12:46pm

What is now Howl at the Moon on Lower Mount Street. Back when it was O'Dwyers. Jesus it was terrible. Every single time we tried it. We rang that Guinness Quality team thing about it and in fairness they showed up afterwards but damned if it made a difference.

admiralofthefleet · 28-07-2007 4:03am

the wicked wolf in blackrock is foul, as is the odeon. i would be here all night naming the places where i have had bad guinness. the brefni in blackrock would be one of the best pints ive had

Awful Scut Mk2 · 29-07-2007 10:36pm

Once had a barman in a pretentious German 'tavern' in Spain try and convince me that leaving a pint to settle before topping it up wasn't really necessary. This after his snooty colleague got uppity when I asked him what he was at pouring it straight set down flat.

I put it down and walked out.

delboy159 · 30-07-2007 1:43pm

Myself and a mate usually drank in Fagans in drumcondra - grand pint especially in the bar. we said we'd give the Jurys at Croke park a try for novelty factor. We had to leave both pints half way through, terrible tripe.. Ran straight back to Fagans with our tails between our legs!

30-07-2007 1:50pm

BeerNut wrote:

Worst pint ever? Ehhhm... probably the Buttery in Trinity, especially after they introduced plastic receptacles.

I've had good and bad pints there before. But it's closed down now as a bar.

Had a rotten pint of guinness in break for the border before, but that's probably to be expected.

+1 for Mulligans, btw, as a great pint location. Especially when Dublin are playing

ansionnachclist · 31-07-2007 11:57pm

Bruxelles... aww man. Just thinking of that pint I had makes me sick. I got it in the Rock bar area. Absolutely disgusting. I can't describe it. I had to leg it out of there. yuck.

mikemac · 01-08-2007 12:16am

ruprect wrote:

Most disappointing was in the guinness brewry itself, have had about 10 pints there on several occassions, all mediocre at best.

True!
It's not that it's undrinkable like some places. It's just that people get high expectations and surely if there is one place in the world you'll get a good pint it's here.
Maybe, the tourists never notice so no rush to improve

Civilian_Target · 02-08-2007 8:45am

Irish pubs abroad are often the worst. I bought one in the Irish Bar in Skopje (what was I thinking?!) and it was served in the local fashion: in a heavy tankard, foaming over the edge!

MrSquishSquash · 02-08-2007 9:00am

In Edinburgh two years ago in a pub called Shakespeare i think, it was a real inner city old Scots pub!

As for the Guinness, it was definitely watered down, the pint never settled so you were drinking a Lightish brown pint that tasted like muck!

ansionnachclist · 02-08-2007 10:54am

I actually got a nice pint of Guinness in the Temple Bar in Amsterdam. Was surprised, actually come to think about it, I don't think that I've had a bad pint in Amsterdam.

But was disappointed in some places where they only sold the small cans

.

JIZZLORD · 02-08-2007 8:31pm

worst pint was my first night in a night club, i thought i'd look old or something so i went for the guinness, never again.
if i ever see plastic glasses i go straight for the smithwicks i'f there's nothing good, bottled and german

lostinsuperfunk · 04-08-2007 2:12am

In fairness, it's unusual to get a bad Guinness these days. Their quality control is pretty good. Outside of Ireland it's a different story, although, strangely, I do miss that sour Park Royal Guinness since they started importing the real stuff into the UK from Ireland. The "pint in one go" dispenser pours extra slowly so that the bar staff can't mess it up by pouring it too quickly. The pints are usually ok, they settle a bit as they're poured.

And Amsterdam is really a Murphy's town...

sheepshagger · 05-08-2007 10:32am

Harbourmaster in the IFSC - dunno why, theys ell a bit of it so the pipes should be OK

Thomas Reads bars out in Dublin airport :eek:

Best pint would have to go to Mulligans,the Duke or Keoghes

Dord · 09-08-2007 10:15pm

ansionnachclist wrote:

Bruxelles... aww man. Just thinking of that pint I had makes me sick. I got it in the Rock bar area. Absolutely disgusting. I can't describe it. I had to leg it out of there. yuck.

I agree, the Guinness from Bruxies is terrible. It used to be one of my favourite pubs, with nice pints too until they did up the place a few years ago. :mad:

The nicest pint I've had was in the pub underneath Tara St. Dart Station. It surprised me, I expected it to be ****, but it wasn't...far from it. I can't remember the name of the place. Its a pretty cool looking pub inside too.

Nice friendly barstaff also.

biko · 09-08-2007 10:20pm

A Belfast pub called Robinsons. Mind it was in the middle of the day, not many poured yet.

Trampas · 09-08-2007 10:28pm

GaRtH_V wrote:

Eamonn Doranns (although its the same with all pints in there)

Fibbers

I would have to 2nd that.

This place is awful

brow_601 · 09-08-2007 11:55pm

seansouth wrote:

Well, I have two nominations.

2. Some bar on Darling Harbour, Sydney. Went up to the bar, saw two lads drinking Guinness, asked them what it was like. Turned out they were two English lads, they told me it was 'alright'. I decided to chance it. Barman proceded to pour flat guinness from a can, then put the container it was in under a soda-stream type machine. :eek:

i was in germnay last week and i went into a german bar which advertised "the perfect pint of guinness".it was the exact same as this, although it wasnt a pint, it was in a 300 ml glass.it took all my strength not to cry at the sight of this.

i quoted wrong, im not bothered fixing it

:| · 11-08-2007 11:21pm

GaRtH_V wrote:

Eamonn Doranns (although its the same with all pints in there)

Had quite a nice pint of Miller there the other day

dregin · 12-08-2007 9:14am

Quinn's in Dumcondra. I've only ever had one pint of Guinness in there but could only get half way through the pint. Absolutely disgusting.

uberwolf · 12-08-2007 9:28am

Dakota.
We returned our first pints due to the size of the head. The improved pints still had a head over 1/3rd of the glass.

monkey tennis · 12-08-2007 11:11pm

judas101 wrote:

Crawdaddy. *shudders* not a place for the Guinness drinkers.

Should be fairl obvious really, particularly if they still serve it in plastic glasses like they used to. Any time I'm in Crawdaddy, I'll always go for the Warsteiner.

I'd say the worst was a few years back in a London pub. Found out afterward that your man had even poured it in one!

ciaran76 · 23-08-2007 1:05pm

The worst one I ever had was in an Irish bar in Townsville Australia.
The pub was called Flynn's and it was the first pint of Guinness I had since leaving Ireland almost 6 months beforehand.

I nearly cried when I tasted it. It was the 1st Irish bar I had been in since I left and was dying for a Guinness that night. Put me off the idea of drinking Guinness again for a long time.

cianclarke · 25-08-2007 8:18pm

The Pav in TCD is usually pretty good, but during the summer they sometimes serve in plastic cups which makes it pretty f*cking awful. They have concerns of glass being left on the pitch and broken and that, but still...

CreepingDeath · 25-08-2007 8:33pm

I used to work in a pub in South Dublin ( some 15 years ago ), where we served "slops". There are drip trays underneath all the taps, and everything falls into them, bulmers, lagers, guinness etc. At the end of the night it all got thrown into the one bucket, and brought outside. We'd put a funnel on a keg, and poured it in. The slops had their own dedicated tap in the lounge.

So the first 3/4 of your pint would be pure guinness, then after it settled, we'd use the other tap to top it up with the slops.

That was 15 years ago, and the auld bastard of a manager has gone... so I can't say if the practice continues today.

If you held the pint up to the light, it would sometimes look more of a smithwicks/ale colour, than guinness.

And no, I won't name the pub, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the practice goes on in (pulling a figure out of the air here) say 10% of pubs.

Garthicus · 26-08-2007 1:14am

Pint served in a Carlsberg glass in the Arlington Hotel (Knightsbridge) PURE MUCK

admiralofthefleet · 26-08-2007 1:22am

CreepingDeath wrote:

I used to work in a pub in South Dublin ( some 15 years ago ), where we served "slops". There are drip trays underneath all the taps, and everything falls into them, bulmers, lagers, guinness etc. At the end of the night it all got thrown into the one bucket, and brought outside. We'd put a funnel on a keg, and poured it in. The slops had their own dedicated tap in the lounge.

So the first 3/4 of your pint would be pure guinness, then after it settled, we'd use the other tap to top it up with the slops.

That was 15 years ago, and the auld bastard of a manager has gone... so I can't say if the practice continues today.

If you held the pint up to the light, it would sometimes look more of a smithwicks/ale colour, than guinness.

And no, I won't name the pub, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the practice goes on in (pulling a figure out of the air here) say 10% of pubs.

that does continue, in a pub in the raheny area, i have first hand experience of it being the person that did it, albeit under orders. the sweeping brush in the top of the keg is funny though

johnnyskeleton · 26-08-2007 1:30am

If a barman poors a pint straight it is usually because the patrons don't know what a good pint of guiness is (e.g. lots of tourists). If you give them the death eyes, grumble and make pouring gestures while you order you often get a better pint (or spit, but it's worth the risk).

The worst pints are when you a enjoying yourself in a good pub but your lager drinking mates decide to go to a club and you go with them. In which case, the palace in the old days was the worst.

monkeyfudge · 26-08-2007 1:35am

judas101 wrote:

Crawdaddy. *shudders* not a place for the Guinness drinkers.

I made the mistake of ordering a Guinness there just this Thursday evening... absolutely terrible and cost €5 as well.

The Sheaf of Wheat in Coolock was really bad when Graingers took it over... it actually used to be one of the few pubs that Guinness actually owned.. For a long while there all you could get was the Extra Cold stuff and they seemed to make it even colder than normal... They seem to have finally gotten the message though and you can now get regular Guinness again... But for a while there you'd walk in and everyone was ordering the big bottles of Guinness to avoid the Extra Cold stuff....

Next door in Kyles you have to specify if you want 'Old' or 'Cold' Guinness. It's stupid though... if you ask for a Guinness you should just get a Guinness, if someone wants some extra cold sh*te then let them specify it.

irlirishkev · 27-08-2007 4:30pm

Garthicus wrote:

Pint served in a Carlsberg glass in the Arlington Hotel (Knightsbridge) PURE MUCK

The pint or the hotel..? oh wait, you probably mean both.

I get annoyed when I get a Guinness in anything other than a Guinness glass.. But a frikkin' Carlsberg glass? Wtf??

When I was younger, before Guinness glasses were so popular, I used to have to specify, 'pint of Guinness, in a tulip glass' in my local. If I didn't, I'd get it in a stacker. And it never tastes right out of a stacking glass..

_blank_ · 27-08-2007 4:49pm

monkeyfudge wrote:

The Sheaf of Wheat in Coolock

I worked there when it was owned by Guinness. (Did the cellarman job while on Work Experience from Transition Year).

We used to have to collect the slops at the end of the night too, but we'd seperate Guinness/Smithwicks/Lager/Bud, then we'd de-gas four kegs and pour the slops into the kegs, then when the Guinness truck came for deliveries, they'd take away the slops.

God knows what happened to them afterwards.

The place is gone to shíte since Graingers bought it, them people have no idea how to run a pub. The one down in Marino is another joke of a pub tbh.

The Guinness was always nicer in Kyles, even when Guinness owned the Sheaf.

oblivious · 28-08-2007 7:29am

DesF wrote:

I worked there when it was owned by Guinness. (Did the cellarman job while on Work Experience from Transition Year).

We used to have to collect the slops at the end of the night too, but we'd seperate Guinness/Smithwicks/Lager/Bud, then we'd de-gas four kegs and pour the slops into the kegs, then when the Guinness truck came for deliveries, they'd take away the slops.

God knows what happened to them afterwards.

The place is gone to shíte since Graingers bought it, them people have no idea how to run a pub. The one down in Marino is another joke of a pub tbh.

The Guinness was always nicer in Kyles, even when Guinness owned the Sheaf.

Maybe it’s the Guinness’s extract they supposable ship around the world!

Hector Carrera · 14-03-2018 5:14pm

Avoid the ***** Pub, since it is the only pub left in the Village the service and standards have gone to the Dogs, the Bar Staff are actually giving out Dodgy stale Pints with a Fresh Head to Regular Customers who they think will not notice as they have been watching sport on the TV for a number of hours, the sad thing is the owner knows this and then puts on a face of shock when they are caught in the act. (Shame on you Martin)
They have lost 50% of customers to the **** pub.
You have been warned.

Mint Sauce · 14-03-2018 5:18pm

Anywhere. Some bar in Ibiza, one of the lads in the group bought a half pint just to see how bad it would be, and offered us a sup each, none of us had more than one.

In Ireland. Sister Saras in Letterkenny, although to their defence, it was serveral years ago in one of their private bars, and one of the earlier pulls of the evening.

Worst pint of Guinness you've had?

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