# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/61 "2013-01-27T21:35:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s a good bet **Bricker** has at least $1500 worth. Amateurs. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/62 "2013-01-27T23:13:43Z")
Scotch is to drink, not to display. I doubt I have ever had more than $200.00 worth in the house at any given time. ---
**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, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/63 "2013-01-27T23:31:19Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Scotch is to drink, not to display. I doubt I have ever had more than $200.00 worth in the house at any given time. I did, the night of my 30th. The following morning I probably had \<$50 worth left. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/64 "2013-01-28T03:31:32Z")
A “Black n Tan” is my favorite beverage…hardly anyone will carry Guinness on tap…they really need to stop charging 5+ bucks for it too. It’s just a fucking beer like any other fucking beer, not a glass of filet mignon. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/65 "2013-01-28T08:05:42Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > What kind of flower? Daisies? Carnations? 😃 > > ETA: I imagine that bread has a really nice bouquet! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/66 "2013-01-28T08:21:24Z")
I’m not actually particularly enthused by beer, but I do know that Nigerian Guinness is pretty good (stronger than Irish Guinness). My favourite stout has to be “Trouble Brewing” by “Dark Arts”, or possibly the other way around. Got it from a restaurant outside of Derry. I actually quite enjoy Guinness with blackcurrant, which would probably make me a joke by the connoisseurs standards. I’m perfectly content with a 2L bottle of Strongbow (the Mad-Dog of English ciders, regularly consumed at student digs or park benches). Got Strongbow on tap once in a bar in Pennsylvania and it was awful - not sure if that were due to mixing drinks, a different constitution for export, or different water going into brewing it. Oh and they didn’t know how to make an Irish car bomb at my favourite pub, so they just gave me a pint of Guinness with Jamesons and Baileys in it. It curdled. Not fun. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/67 "2013-01-28T08:48:18Z")
Bartender here. > [@waterj2](#): > > 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. This. We have a recurring issue with 2 of our taps being particularly foamy. One is no problem because we stick our corporate-required “local favorite” on it (it’s from Cleveland, not a big selling point in Pittsburgh) and just forget it. But the other we actually have to pour beer out of. We put Sam lager on it under the theory that a warm glass = less bubbles and of the Sams we tend to sell more of the seasonal. Why am I mentioning this? Because the foamy Sam Adams takes just a bit longer to settle than the Guinness. A lot of Guinness drinkers are aware that it takes longer to pour one and wait patiently whereas the Sam drinkers stare impatiently at you or make jokes about your ability to sling drinks. Not all Guinness drinkers know to expect to wait for one but most do thanks to the advertising campaign. So it’s beneficial from my perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/68 "2013-01-28T11:56:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s a good bet **Bricker** has at least $1500 worth. No question. I have an app for that: iMalt. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an aggregate total cost option, but I have 44 bottles and a fair average cost is $45, so…yup. In fairness, those bottles range from unopened to almost empty, but even so, I’m confident there’s more than $1500 here. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/69 "2013-01-28T15:07:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Stella Artois Nine Step Pouring Ritual.](http://www.bebendobem.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/9Step_Pouring_Ritual_Poster1.pdf) What a great ad. It will drive the hipsters crazy trying to get a Stella Artois. Maybe they will stop drinking so much PBA. The local Coors distributer did a bartender training class for us once that showed how to pour a glass of Coors to get the head we wanted and they gave stats on how much money was saved in product for different sided heads. You can guess how much head our bar owner wanted. They also showed us a lot about keeping glasses and beer lines clean and that was very worthwhile. I sometimes remember how nasty the taps and lines can get and it puts me off my beer … for a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/70 "2013-01-28T15:32:07Z")
Does beer really go “stale” without a proper head, in the 20 minutes or so it takes to drink it? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/71 "2013-01-28T15:34:20Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Does beer really go “stale” without a proper head, in the 20 minutes or so it takes to drink it? Twenty minutes? :eek: I like some head on my beer because I’m drinking really good beer and the aroma is part of the experience. I find aroma more pleasant when head is present. YMMV. And, again, 20 minutes??? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/72 "2013-01-28T15:36:26Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > I’m not actually particularly enthused by beer, but I do know that Nigerian Guinness is pretty good (stronger than Irish Guinness). Known as [Guinness Foreign Extra](http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/209/752). It’s been available in the US off and on since the early 19th century. Ireland taxes the beer by alcohol content, so you can see how that would affect the ABV. There are some that argue the Foreign Extra might be closer to the original Guinness for that reason. I like the Smithwick’s just fine myself. The only time I was in Ireland, I found myself asking for it almost exclusively over the Guinness. Too bad it’s also owned by Diageo, but you takes what you can gets. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/73 "2013-01-28T15:58:27Z")
It’s true that drinking through a layer of foam does indeed affect the taste of the beer. It makes it a bit smoother, IMO. But to be honest, not by a whole hell of a lot. A half-inch or so is perfect in my opinion, but I’m not about to go ballistic if it’s a little more or less. My main concern is not getting a glass that’s half head, which means I’m not getting my money’s worth. Sounds like that’s what the OP is getting at too, and I don’t think that makes him a pretentious douche by any stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/74 "2013-01-28T16:00:19Z")
> [@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. > [@zoid](#): > > Yes it does make a difference in taste and in getting the correct head which is a part of the edxperience. > [@PlainJain](#): > > 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. Heck, I’d be interested to see if anyone can actually articulate what the difference is, rather than just vaguely saying “this makes all the difference”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/75 "2013-01-28T16:20:53Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Heck, I’d be interested to see if anyone can actually articulate what the difference is, rather than just vaguely saying “this makes all the difference”. You’ll agree that paying for a beer that is 50% head and only 50% beer is a problem, no? ---
**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 28, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/76 "2013-01-28T16:40:22Z")
The people he quoted were not talking about getting a 50/50 beer. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/77 "2013-01-28T16:43:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You’ll agree that paying for a beer that is 50% head and only 50% beer is a problem, no? Paying for a beer and getting grape Kool-Aid would be a problem as well, but neither has anything to do with the claim that it somehow tastes different if the ritual isn’t followed. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/78 "2013-01-28T17:03:40Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Heck, I’d be interested to see if anyone can actually articulate what the difference is, rather than just vaguely saying “this makes all the difference”. I don’t mean to speak for everybody else, but I’ll give you my take on it. Not enough or no head gives Guinness a bit of a bitter edge, which I don’t care for. It’s subtle, but it’s real. I’ve done some experimentation with this, and I believe I could pick out the difference blindfolded if I had to. But, as I said in my previous post, it’s not a big enough deal to make much of a fuss over. “All the difference” is probably hyperbolic. On the other side of the coin, too much head means you’re getting ripped off, simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/79 "2013-01-28T17:37:01Z")
The proper way is to order a bottle of Old Rasputin, pour it yourself, and marvel at 50x the stout flavor in a single bottle. Guinness is alright. It’s craft beer 101, which is invaluable in converting newbie beer drinkers away from yellow fizzy lite beer and opening up their eyes a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bartenders-who-do-not-know-how-to-properly-pour-a-pint-of-guinness/648451/80 "2013-01-28T18:08:14Z")
> [@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. You don’t like head? I know now how much stock I should place in your opinion. 😉 [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=3) [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=5)