Ah....Guinness! When I was a nipper we lived over Dwyers Public House in Bow Lane (beside what is now the Museum of Modern Art) and my grandmother who lived above us used to send me down to the 'snug' with her tankard to get her "stout", which as reward I got a "drag" from........so a bit of an expert here!
As we were within spitting distance of St.James' Brewery that 'stout' from the tap was, I think the 'benchmark'.
When I came to live in UK in the early 70's I didn't know why the stuff sold in pubs could be called by the same name, for Guinness it was not! The explanation given me then was that (a) it does not travel well and the sea-crossing + the new metal drums being used upset the taste and composition.
During spells in Ireland two experiences out of hundreds came close to my memory of 'real Guinness'; the pint served in a pub in Dingle Co.Kerry, and the pints pulled in some of the 'bona-fide' pubs along the Quays in Dublin, where you can step off the ferry and go and have a Guinness with a whisky chaser at 7.30am.
As we were within spitting distance of St.James' Brewery that 'stout' from the tap was, I think the 'benchmark'.
When I came to live in UK in the early 70's I didn't know why the stuff sold in pubs could be called by the same name, for Guinness it was not! The explanation given me then was that (a) it does not travel well and the sea-crossing + the new metal drums being used upset the taste and composition.
During spells in Ireland two experiences out of hundreds came close to my memory of 'real Guinness'; the pint served in a pub in Dingle Co.Kerry, and the pints pulled in some of the 'bona-fide' pubs along the Quays in Dublin, where you can step off the ferry and go and have a Guinness with a whisky chaser at 7.30am.