# I pit bartenders who do not know how to properly pour a pint of Guinness. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 26, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451 "2013-01-26T18:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/21 "2013-01-26T22:44:34Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > It is possible to achieve the correct amount of head without resorting to absurd rituals promulgated by the manufacturer. Bringing your bartender flowers is a good start. FTR, I probably have over a thousand dollars worth of Scotch on my bar right now. If you’re here, I’ll serve it in a rocks glass with a small flake of ice. If you want more (or none), so be it. So gripe about a bartender not ensuring a good head on your beer, flatness, or off tastes, that’s one thing. Heck, I usually order Scotch chilled into a rocks glass so I don’t have to worry about getting it in a strangely shaped glass, so if the special Guiness glass is part of your ritual, so be it. _Liking_ that is one thing. Bitching about bartenders that don’t “know how to pour” and linking to a Wiki page that measures timing in hundredths of a second as if it’s essential puts you into a different category. So STFU and let’s meet at a pub. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/22 "2013-01-26T22:47:08Z")
Never mind how you pour it, it’s how you drink it that counts. [One more beer!](http://www.neatorama.com/2012/11/04/One-More-Beer/) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/23 "2013-01-26T22:57:49Z")
I’ve only ever seen the knife thingy done in America but apparently it used to be popular here. Guinness is awful muck and the way Diageo has hijacked Irish culture and history for its own ends sickens me. Fuck Guinness whatever way it’s poured. Also it turns your shite black. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/24 "2013-01-26T23:26:13Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I’ve only ever seen the knife thingy done in America but apparently it used to be popular here. Guinness is awful muck and the way Diageo has hijacked Irish culture and history for its own ends sickens me. Fuck Guinness whatever way it’s poured. Also it turns your shite black. How do you feel about Harp or Smithwick’s? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/25 "2013-01-27T01:25:55Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > How do you feel about Harp or Smithwick’s? I’d drink Harp if there was nothing else going and I quite like Smithwick’s. Beamish isn’t bad either. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/26 "2013-01-27T02:28:27Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > To elaborate on my OP, I’m really only complaining about bartenders who are ignorant of the requisite two stage process required to properly pour a pint of Guinness and yes, this makes all the difference in the world. > > As far as how long to wait between the two stages, I’ve never seen the bartender actually time the process. A quick glance to make sure the initial 3/4 pour has settled before topping it off is good enough for me. Not a Guinness drinker but I too would be interested to see if that special pour would fly in a blind taste test. I gots to say, I’m skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/27 "2013-01-27T02:51:21Z")
We don’t have them in the US, but how would you feel about bartenders using a [Surger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zjx0rTyZys)? That’s using a can of Guinness with no nitrogen and sending ultrasonic waves through it to get the small bubbles. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/28 "2013-01-27T02:52:54Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > To elaborate on my OP, I’m really only complaining about bartenders who are ignorant of the requisite two stage process required to properly pour a pint of Guinness and yes, this makes all the difference in the world. > > As far as how long to wait between the two stages, I’ve never seen the bartender actually time the process. A quick glance to make sure the initial 3/4 pour has settled before topping it off is good enough for me. I’m with you. And I’ll add that I can’t stand bars that chill Guinness until it’s too cold to drink. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/29 "2013-01-27T03:44:55Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Yes it does make a difference in taste and in getting the correct head which is a part of the edxperience. You found a decent Guinness in Chicago? Usually it’s rancid or… > [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > … I can’t stand bars that chill Guinness until it’s too cold to drink. And that was at a ChiDope at a bar with pretentions to Irishness. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/30 "2013-01-27T04:01:30Z")
I’m waiting for the bartenders to show up in this thread. I’m sure they would love the fact that they are being told to spend two minutes pouring some special snowflake’s beer. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/31 "2013-01-27T04:22:33Z")
Ha, I’m a bartender and I came in to say exactly that. Do you know how much of a pain things like this are when 15 drunk people are angrily shouting special orders at you ? You should probably tell the bartender how to do it right for you, especially if it’s busy . Make sure not to tip either . Otherwise the bar atmosphere might get too relaxed if things aren’t done properly. Everyone acts like because they could make their special coffee or drink better at home they would naturally be better at working at a coffee shop or bar and making hundreds of different things an hour than the stupid proles who obviously could never sit there and fill out papers like they do. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/32 "2013-01-27T04:30:08Z")
I pit bars that don’ t use the proper nitrogen mixture with their guinness. Last time , the ratio was off by a few percentage points and I immediately vomited with rage! Naturally, I left no tip. That guy’s kids dont deserve heat and his seed should be wiped from the earth. I may not be the customer they want, but I’m the one they NEED. The manager even assured me so when I complained to him again. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/33 "2013-01-27T04:31:54Z")
I would say that the proper way to pour Guinness is into the toilet. The same with any other beer. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/34 "2013-01-27T04:32:17Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’m waiting for the bartenders to show up in this thread. > > I’m sure they would love the fact that they are being told to spend two minutes pouring some special snowflake’s beer. I’ve been a bartender. It’s been a while, but still, I’ve done it. It’s not that big a deal. You pour the Guinness down the side of the glass until the glass is about 3/4 full. You then walk away and do something else. Serve someone else, if the bar is busy, or clean something. You then come back and top it off. That’s all. The rest of it is all in how the stuff is stored. It really shouldn’t be served all that cold. There’s some kind of aerator or something in the tap, which makes the beer come out properly fizzy (or actually not-fizzy, for Guinness). Not a big thing at all. Not just for “special snowflakes.” ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/35 "2013-01-27T04:34:32Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I’d drink Harp if there was nothing else going and I quite like Smithwick’s. Beamish isn’t bad either. I like Beamish, it’s just hard to find these days. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/36 "2013-01-27T04:59:18Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I would say that the proper way to pour Guinness is into the toilet. > > The same with any other beer. Shit, it’s a good thing you decided to post in this thread. Here I was, liking beer until you set me straight. It’s a good thing you didn’t skip this just because it concerns something you have no interest in. I would have kept enjoying beer, oblivious to the fact that you hate it, for who knows how long. That could’ve gotten embarrassing. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/37 "2013-01-27T05:04:06Z")
I’ve had more than my fair share of Guinness, both regular (US, UK, Italy) and “extra cold” (in the UK), and honestly, I’d rather them not dick around with producing too much head, on the theory that the head takes up space in the glass that could better be used for liquid beer. It just doesn’t make much of a difference really… having had many a pint done right, and many a pint without much head. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/38 "2013-01-27T05:31:54Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’ve had more than my fair share of Guinness, both regular (US, UK, Italy) and “extra cold” (in the UK), and honestly, I’d rather them not dick around with producing too much head, on the theory that the head takes up space in the glass that could better be used for liquid beer. > > It just doesn’t make much of a difference really… having had many a pint done right, and many a pint without much head. I think the whole thing with the two-step pour is to let the head settle, so that you have room to add more beer. The other option to get to the same level of liquid beer and head in the glass would be to keep pouring beer in as the head overflows. If there’s not much head, I’m thinking it’s less carbonated (err, nitrogenated?) or a bunch of head was spilled out, not that it was poured sloppily. That would probably result in more head. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/39 "2013-01-27T05:38:44Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > [Is it really that hard?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness#Pouring_and_serving) Don’t be obnoxious. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > Sure, just like cookery is marketing nonsense, part of the usual mythologizing of food to hide the fact that you’re eating to get full. Let’s not pretend you’re eating a work of art here. It’s fucking food that you can buy at Wal-Mart. Don’t be thick. Edit: And a special [link](http://25.media.tumblr.com/f968b2f8234acaae1cd32a724144f369/tumblr_mh6seapwLU1rqqme8o1_500.png) just for SCAdian. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/40 "2013-01-27T05:41:38Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I would say that the proper way to pour Guinness is into the toilet. > > The same with any other beer. > [@waterj2](#): > > Shit, it’s a good thing you decided to post in this thread. Here I was, liking beer until you set me straight. It’s a good thing you didn’t skip this just because it concerns something you have no interest in. I would have kept enjoying beer, oblivious to the fact that you hate it, for who knows how long. That could’ve gotten embarrassing. Thanks. Happy to be of service. 😃 Besides, it was easier than opening a whole new thread to pit that disgusting, foul, unfit-for-human-consumption swill known as beer (the potable equivalent of Brussels sprouts). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451.md?page=3)