Guinness

Beer: Guinness Draught
Brewery Location: Dublin, Ireland
Serving Style: Nitro-Tap
Beer Style: Irish Dry Stout
ABV: 4.2%


I met some good friends out at the Claddagh Irish Pub last night for a few drinks and some catching up. One of the best things about beer is the social aspect of it. When you put it with a good atmosphere and good people it's tough to beat.

I enjoy the Claddagh. Say what you will about chain resturants, but for me if I was going to eat at a chain, I like this more than most. We were at the 96th street location for the gathering. The downtown location is my favorite in terms of atmosphere. The other locations were made for the sole purpose of turning tables and making money. There is nothing wrong with that from a business standpoint, but they other locations just really don't have much character to them. I personally will also spend more money at the downtown location than the others just because I enjoy it there enough to order one more drink.

Guinness is one of my first loves in beer. I am not sure what originally turned me onto Guinness, but it was one of the first beers that I really loved when I had a choice of drink. This is my comfort beer is a good way of describing this beer. I've been lucky enough to travel to Ireland and go on the Guinness factory tour. According to a huge map in the factory the Guinness we drink here in the States is mostly brewed in Toronto. I am not sure if any Guinness from Ireland makes it into America at all to be honest though. Guinness is truly a huge company run by a large multinational (Diageo). I still enjoy a pint served on nitro-tap though from time to time. The funny thing about Guinness is people think it's heavy on the alcohol, calories, and mouthfeel, but it's lower in calories and alcohol than Bud Light.

The beer begins pouring a deep brown color mixing with the nitrogen and cascades into a midnight black beer with a soft two finger creamy head at the top. The cascading is always rather neat to watch. There isn't really much of a nose on a Guinness. Perhaps a bit of roasted barley, but not much. The taste is of the unique roasted malted flavor that allows for a bit of chocolate to find your palate from drink to drink and a dry finish leaves you going for another drink. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, but the beer is actually rather light and doesn't overly coat your mouth. The drinkability is very high on this. It's low in alcohol, refreshing, and satisfying. It would make a great session beer.

I will always like Guinness. It is a bit of nostalgia I guess. There are plenty of other stouts that Guinness doesn't stack up with, but you can't always get those when you want. I do have to say that I can't stand Guinness Draught out of a bottle though. It must be on tap for my liking. If you drink beer and haven't ever had a Guinness head out and get yourself one.