Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was the only person who felt this way.
Back in '99, I moved to Ireland for a summer on a college study abroad program. My professor treated me to a glass of Guiness, and I nearly spit it out. Tasted like old roots to me.
The worst part was that everyone there (not just the Irish) looked at me cockeyed for the rest of the evening. Way to make someone who traveled around the world feel at home. Bastards. 
Guinness is brewed at many different locations around the world, and seems to be quite popular in Malaysia among the Bumiputras (native Malay). IT comes in a wide variety of packages, alcohol content, the way it is served and brewing process. However, all Guinness contains between 3-5% of “sour” beer brewed separately and then added to that nectar of the gods known as Guinness. Many other stouts do not including this “sour” beer that gives Guinness it’s special sour tang. Charlie Papazian’s first Joy of Homebrewing covers this in an appendix and I am paraphrasing from reading it years ago. Most Guinness drinkers claim that it tastes best in Ireland, but I don’t have that personal experience. Guinness is available in Shanghai and other major cities in China and the Irish pub boom has certainly hit this part of the world.
Most stouts and porters are an acquired taste, and Guinness is no exception. Most beer drinkers who try the odd Guinness eventually come to really like it, at least as an occaisional experience.
Worst Guinness I’ve had: My first bottle of the Extra Stout, when all I’d had previously was wimpy light beers.
Best Guinness I’ve had: Gravity Bar, top of the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, Ireland. It doesn’t get any fresher. Just remembering that divine experience makes my mouth water.
Deschutes Brewing’s Obsidian Stout
None, none more black.
Guinness, Fish and Chips. That’s what you want.
It’s not really a summer drink though. You can’t play volleyball in the sun and drink pints of Guinness throughout the day.
It should be served cold - just like other British beers. The warm/room temp thing is a common misconception. Not as cold as the continental lagers but cooler than room temp, aka cellar temperature.
Guinness is NOT a British beer!
"For ague gout some men drink rum,
For fever some drink brandy,
Some keep the Allard’s standing by,
Some keep the porter handy,
Forswear thee Smithwicks all I say,
Let no such doctor rule 'ya,
The one true cure, the nostrum sure,
a pint of Old Peculiar. "
Aaahhhhhh…
Brian
Hey Fretful Porpentine, neofishboy, & fizgig, thanks for the beer suggestions. I’ll have to go do some empirical research on these. All in the interest of science, you know. 
I had some Guinness, and it tastes good in small sips I have too agree.
To Akatsukami, that was great! As a teen, getting wasted and shagged was the total raison! Now as an older and hopefully wiser man, I have come to love ESBs and IPAs. Some pubs in the US (albeit few) have appropriate respect for the hops and barley food group, and can produce a perfect pour of Guinness, together with shamrock on the head. To learn more about beer and other malted cousins, check out The Pocket Guide to Beer, by Michael Jackson. No, not the neurotic white transsexual MJ. Pocket Guide is writtem by a quasi normal guy considered by many to be an authority on beer, et. cie. Happy heads, y’all
I can’t believe it; all this chit chat over a record book.
[sub]Oh BTW, beer is beer is beer, IMHO or the Pit![/sub]
HAY! I take offense to that. Are you insulting my stash of Miller Lite?
**
Duly noted. I’m still scratching my head over this one. . .
You’d think such a fine gentleman would appreciate a finer beer, maybe not the best available, but a fine import nonetheless. . .
Tripler
I happen to like dark, creamy stouts, even the lighter Guiness.
I guess I like beer that I can DRINK, versus sip. I don’t really care for light beers either; I’m not looking to chug it. I just want to be able to drink it in the same fashion in which I’d drink water.
Also, the heavier beers seem to make me more thirsty. That’s some kind of evil trick, isn’t it?
A bad glass of Guinness is better than a good bottle of Bud any day of the week.
When I was an inpecunious student,. I drank Old Milwaukee. Fifty cents a cup. It did the job. It weren’t no Iron City Light (the beer that made Pittsburgh famous), but what is?
It took a trip to the Cat’s Eye Pub in Baltimore’s Fells Point area to introduce me to those twin gates of heaven that can be reached by Harp’s (or Bass, I’m not picky) and Guinness.
So try a Harp or Bass, Mr. C when you’re in the mood for something light. They’re beers you can drink. With Guinness – the Irish equivalent of a Zen garden – you sip and chat and meditate. You can even chant a mantra, if you like. Try MMMMMMM.
pesch
(whose wife just bought him a Guinniss ad sign with the bird riding a dart)
Hey, I’m with Mr. Cynical on this one. I’m one of the original beer snobs-- no mass-market American beer has ever passed my lips without being spewed out immediately upon encountering my tongue.
But I dislike beers that emphasize hops and sacrifice taste, and I think that a proper pint of Guinness qualifies in this regard.
Besides, it’s too watery.
Now, Pesch, I’m a big fan of both Harp and Bass! In fact, that’s what I drink when out on the town. Being that Goose Island is the only other beer that’s NOT Miller Lite (And of course that I can’t get the Nectar of the Gods, Fat Tire, east of the Mississippi), Harp or Bass gets my business, depending on which is on special 
It’s a proven fact that ten Guinnesses (Guinessi?) cannot be drunk in 60 minutes.
But you can be drunk on Guinness in 60 minutes.
It’'s more fun to stretch it out a bit linger, though.
At least not by DynoSaur!
(Chidopes are good for SOMETHING, by God!)
A lot of it is snobbery.
I love dark beers. I like lagers too if I’m in the mood, but I prefer darker brews. But I know plenty of guys who prefer lagers, and if you like Bud, then no worries! I think I’ve reflected this with my homebrewing. If I’m in the mood, I’ll make a rich ale which conforms to the ancient German purity laws, but other times I’ll knock together a “lawnmower beer” which I know I’ll also enjoy.
Similarly, I have a little four cylinder Japanese econobox car which I really enjoy driving. The purists may scoff, and prefer a highly tuned performance machine, but I like it. That’s all that matters, and it’s the same with beer. If you like it, drink it. Lager, stout, bottle, on tap, in a can… enjoy it!