I like dark bitter ales, especially from Germany, but still can’t appreciate Guinness, or any other stout for that matter.
I used to be your typical Budweiser type, and my coffee of choice was Maxwell House. Over the years, my preferences have changed drastically…I’m now addicted to Copperhead Ale, Bass Ale, St. Pauli’s Girl Dark, and Pilsner Urquell, and the coffee I drink is a special order blend from India.
Snobbery isn’t really the case with me, though…I enjoy all these higher-dollar beers and coffees, but have no problem swilling down a Milwaukee’s Best if its there or smacking my lips over a nice 5-hour old coffee from 7-11.
Now a snob is the type who says: “Drink American beer from a can? No way, where’s the Molson?”
I think turning down any kind of beer is a bad idea.
I usually drink my beer at my or other peoples’ homes, so I am limited to bottles and cans. IMO packaged Guinness is fine, but nothing too special. And overpriced.
If you want to try other stouts, you might look for Sam Adams Cream Stout (available nationally), or Goose Island Oatmeal Stout (Chicagoland).
You can also check out Imperial stouts - or generally available during the winter, bocks and double bocks to investigate the full panorama of dark, full bodied beers.
But if you don’t care for Guinness, don’t drink it. It’s that easy.
When it comes to beer snobbery it seems that the topic of Guinness always brings 'em out. Whenever I see someone drinking Guinness and I’m drinking a non motor-oil colored beer, they give me the attitude that I’m somehow inferior for not preferring such a drink. ('Oh, you’re drinking Bud?" :scoffs:) It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I’m a college student, but I will willingly sacrifice some added taste or flavor for cost, and the ability to drink 30 in one sitting. (yeah busch lite!) It doesn’t really bother me that much they choose a beer that tastes more than mine, just the fact that they have so much distain for someone who likes (or at least drinks) pissy, watered down american beer. I mean, jesus christ, its just beer. You drink it to get drunk. If I was drinking it for the taste it’d be a milkshake.
1150
Please don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like it when I’m angry. Guinness Is Irish.
A good pint of guinness depends just as much on how it is poured as how clean the pipes are, as how it is drunk.
It isn’t for everyone. Mr Cynical, if you are ever in Dublin, I will take you to drink in what I cfonsider the best place in the world to drink Guinness. And I drink it quite alot.
In a word, flavor. It’s not that filtered-out, watered down Clydesdale piss that passes for American beer (I won’t mention any names). But hey, if everyone liked the same kind of beer, then there’d only be one kind. Personally, I like a lot of the microbrewery stuff coming out of Seattle and thereabouts, but that’s just me.
Once again I will mention the Great American Beer Festival. It occurs in Denver every October. Anybody who is a beer person and makes it anywhere near Colorado in the fall should make a point of attending. There are 1200 beers, many of them craftbrews and true Microbrews. A couple years ago I had a chocolate stout that almost made me fall to my knees and cry tears of joy.(which leads to the only problem with the GABF is that you will fall in love with some craftbrew, and never be able to find it again. )
Oh GOD, wolfman, I wanted to go EVERY year I lived there. I could never find anyone to go with me, and I hate going places alone. Was it as good as I always thought it would be?
By contrast, Chicago has the Real Ale Festival in a couple months. It looks to host maybe 50 beers. weep
I look forward to GABF so much every year. Some of it is crap, But you can find some of the most amazing beer you ever imagined. Not to mention some of the strangest beer you’ll find. One company had a Habanero beer that was seriously hot. It was kind of like a practical joke. You tasted it, and when your mouth started on fire your first instinct was to drink something. So everybody swallowed the rest to put out the fire, and doubled the effect. We had fun watching that booth all night.
The whole thing is a huge party with about 3000 people at one time enjoying beer and having fun. And after the fest(ends about 10:30) everybody spills out and pours into the first bar they come across until it fills up, then they head to the next one. It’s probably the best party of the year for Denver, because New Year’s parties(which I’m about to head to) , and St. Patty’s are usually too cold to have much fun.
Guinness, as any other beer: you either like it, or you don’t.
Some people have the wrong impression of it, though. First: Guinness is NOT meant to be served “at room temperature” or thereabouts. Any Irishman will back me up on this: any pint of the black stuff you’ll order in Dublin will be decidedly cold. I wouldn’t call it “cellar temperature” either. It’s COLD. Your average Heineken or Bud will be colder on draught, yes. But Guinness is not meant to be served warm. From the Guinness website:
We shall not go into the matter of “Guinness Extra Cold”, for it is an abomination. However, I’ll have you know that water freezes at zero degrees Celcius, and that “room temperature” means about 20 degrees. “Cellar temperature”, whilst hardly official, I’d put at 12 degrees or so.
Now that we’ve gotten THAT out of the way: location.
Guinness, as noted, is brewed in various locations around the globe. The Dublin and London facilities are supposed to be similar in quality (although I’m sure an Irishman will disagree :)), and the latter supplies most of Europe. In theory, my pint of Guinnes consumed at Durty Nelly’s, O’Reilly’s, The Tara, or any other Irish pub in Amsterdam should be just as good as the ones I occasionally had in Dublin: but they’re not. Maybe it’s the pipes, maybe it’s the craftsmanship of the bar tenders (although most of them are Irish), but nothing’s better than a pint poured in Dublin.
In fact, the Irish posters will confirm this: there’s competition on where the best pint is poured even within the city of Dublin. Some’ll say the new Sky Bar at the Guinness Warehouse (the brewery museum) is the best. I can tell you it was pretty damn good alright.
I’ve had Guinnes on draught in the US. It is decidedly worse than in Europe, let alone Ireland. Why this is, I do not know. I have not sampled enough to tell you whether it’s the brew itself, or the lack of crafstmanship in “Oirish bars”. And for all I know, there’s plenty of US pubs that pour a damn fine pint, and I just haven’t found them yet.
But even a “poor” Guinness is pretty good. The cans, in lieu of a draught installation at home (which doesn’t sound that bad, actually ;)), are a gift from heaven. As close as you can get to the real thing, and consistent in quality.
I’ve seen promotional stuff in the States from Guinness advertising Guinness/Harp mixes. I do not get it at all. Nobody and I mean nobody over here would ever even think off mixing Guinness and lager(especially Harp). The only reason I can think of why this abomination exists is because Guinness are trying to get rid of Harp on the sly.
)
So everybody swallowed the rest to put out the fire, and doubled the effect. We had fun watching that booth all night.