I hadn’t planned to include this beer in the packs as I thought it was a bit common, and loads of you guys would have had this before. But having had a couple of pallets of it hanging around the beer shed while fulfilling wholesale orders, I was surprised how many people either hadn’t had the ‘real’ Guinness before, or else have only had it many years ago while enjoying their European travels.
And everyone who took a can was amazed by the difference to the Guinness we are normally offered here that is brewed in Australia under licence by Lion (Kirin), mostly at the Tooheys Brewery in Lidcombe NSW. But this is the REAL DEAL, brewed at St James’ Gate in Dublin!
At the risk of being obvious, the funny noise from the can is the ‘widget’, a small, hollow, pressurised capsule. Tap-poured Guinness gets it’s creaminess from the 70% nitrogen/30% CO2 mix, and this widget replicates that in the can version.
Get yourself a pint glass and upend the can straight into the glass. Leave it there til the can is empty, and then watch the magic happen as the beer slowly settles. Do this and you’ll have your beautiful black beer with white foam.
It is smooth and creamy, and that’s what you notice first. Soft on the palate, it is only halfway through that you get the roasted malt character, a light bitterness and a hint of smoky coffee in the aftertaste. All without any carbonation prickles!
by Murphy's Brewery (Heineken)
The lesser-known Irish stout from the southern city of Cork
