Why does Guinness vary from pub to pub?

ringledman said:
Why is Guinness so rubbish in the UK and so great in Ireland?

I was told once that it is unpasturised in Ireland and has to be pasturised under UK law?

Is this true? or is it the fact that Guinness come out and clean the pipes as opposed to some barman in the UK?
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Is it to do with the way it's pulled by the barman? I've seen some real hatchet jobs done on pints of Guinness in England and the USA.
 
Lex said:
Is it to do with the way it's pulled by the barman?
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Yes, some people haven't a clue how to pour it properly. But of course temperature and cleanliness have a bearing!

Like leper, I was a dab hand at pulling the perfect pint in a previous life.

Shamrocks were my speciality. I played up to the tourist market big time. :)

Deiseblue, we used to call call those large bottles "Sergeants".

Marion
 
Deiseblue said:
You brought a tear to my eye there Lex.

The late lamented large bottle of Phoenix - R I P.

We used to be able to get large Harp as well , now it's just Bass , Carling & Guiness.

Marion , I've also sergeants & dannos as well.
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I went to all Cork City's home matches for years. The Horse Shoe Bar beside Turner's Cross pitch used to stock up with the pint bottles of Phoenix when your fellow travellers used to come to town. We got a great kick out of hearing them ordering in their best Deise accents! No trouble. No messing. Great days out!
 
Marion said:
Yes, some people haven't a clue how to pour it properly. But of course temperature and cleanliness have a bearing!

Like leper, I was a dab hand at pulling the perfect pint in a previous life.

Shamrocks were my speciality. I played up to the tourist market big time. :)

Deiseblue, we used to call call those large bottles "Sergeants".

Marion
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The first time I got a shamrock on a pint of Guinness was in the Shamrock Bar in Gran Canaria. For some reason I thought the barman was from Millstreet but when I spoke to him, he had perfect native Spanish but little or no English! I'm still trying to figure that one out! :eek:
 
Sometimes I wonder does the first Pint taste nicer than the second Pint. When I have my first Pint there is a "thirst" a "hunger" that is satisfied. On my second Pint the creamy smooth taste seems to have disappeared. I also have noticed that in some pubs the pints are smooth and in others a metallic taste.
 
Crugers said:
Is that not just half "the order"?

I thought it was always:
Large bottle, small glass!
:)
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Only a third of the order really as you also had to specify whether you wanted the bottle from the shelf or the cooler :) There was a time when a number of autonomous waterford distributors bottled the stout which only added to the order - some punters swore by the Kiely's bottle whilst others were Sullivan's men.
 
ringledman said:
Why is Guinness so rubbish in the UK and so great in Ireland?

I was told once that it is unpasturised in Ireland and has to be pasturised under UK law?

Is this true? or is it the fact that Guinness come out and clean the pipes as opposed to some barman in the UK?
Click to expand...

All draught Guinness is brewed in Ireland now. It's rubbish most places, too cold leading to little or no flavour. I got a large bottle off the shelf in Grogans last week (well I got a few bottles) and it's much nicer though still not brilliant.

Porterhouse Wrasslers XXXX is (for me) the best pint of Stout available, though I do like O'Hara's and Dungarvan Black Rock also (the latter mostly available in bottles though it is on Cask in some pubs).
 
Guinness is like the McDonalds of stout.
I would not regard myself as a beer expert, but Guinness is pretty bland. Almost as bad as carlesburg/hineken/budweiser (which are all the same).

It's designed for people that just want to either:
- Drink loads easily and get drunk.
or
- a very light drink, flavoured water.

Some variety in Irish pubs would be fantastic.
 
Bit offtopic and possibly a bit offensive

Back before the recession and possibly even now you'd find unemployed people in the pubs all day, at least the day they collected their dole or maybe when they got monthly child benefit "mickey money day".
And the cheapest drink was Beamish

So a lot of people and one publican closest to us started calling it "a pint of social welfare"
They don't use that so much these days.
 
umop3p!sdn said:
Guinness is like the McDonalds of stout.
I would not regard myself as a beer expert, but Guinness is pretty bland. Almost as bad as carlesburg/hineken/budweiser (which are all the same).
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Funny that you say that as I always thought it was a "premium " product..no?

It's designed for people that just want to either:
- Drink loads easily and get drunk.
or
- a very light drink, flavoured water.
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Id imagine Guinness wouldn't be too happy to hear that ! How do you make out its designed for those reasons?

Some variety in Irish pubs would be fantastic.
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I dont get that either..my locals have everything..inc alcopops,blue wicked,cider,wine,etc etc
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Funny that you say that as I always thought it was a "premium " product..no?
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It's certainly marketed as a premium product.

Id imagine Guinness wouldn't be too happy to hear that ! How do you make out its designed for those reasons?
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Observation.
To be fair though, I do enjoy bottles of Guinness.

I dont get that either..my locals have everything..inc alcopops,blue wicked,cider,wine,etc etc
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What other draft beers do they do? How many types of alcohol free beer to they offer?
 
umop3p!sdn
What other draft beers do they do? How many types of alcohol free beer to they offer?[/QUOTE)

They do bottles of cider and I think its now on draft,to be honest ive no idea about the alchohol free beer,waste of a good hop;)

They have carlsberg,Heiniken,Guinness,and Budweiser or at least that's all I remember from what our group would normally drink.

I usually get a bottle of wine for the evening or sometimes between the two of us,its much cheaper than by the glass.
My sister in law,is one of those experts(self appointed) on Guinness and is convinced its different in different pubs,but I dunno,Id say it all depends on the company you are in,the mood you are in,if you are eating or not etc..
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Guinness does taste differently in different pubs but part of that is psychological. I am convinced a pint tastes better in a dingy old mans rather than a super pub like Cafe En Seine.

I was in London recently and asked for a pint of guinness. The bargirl poured the pint to the top and proceeded to stir it. Needless to say I changed my order.
 
Reminds me of a character played by the late Lloyd Bridges in the film " Blown Away " about a Boston bomb disposal squad.

Lloyd enters a Boston bar & orders a pint of Guinness , whips it from the counter before it's settled , lashes into it & declares in the most hideous Oirish accent " Shure 'tis the nectar of the Gods "

The entire cinema audience fell around the place laughing.
 
I watched Blown Away last night.
Hoped it would be a good Irish mob film and Tommy Lee Jones and Forest Whitaker are usually good

Jaysus, the Irish accents :eek:
Fiddley i di i, begarrah aren't we having fun.......


And I thought Tom Cruise or Gerard Butler were bad,

Is this how Americans view us?
 
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