Why does Guinness vary from pub to pub?

M

Marie

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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.
 
Try a pint of Guinness in the Tuning Fork in Rathfarnhan, Heaven
 
You know the way some pubs have better tasting Guinness than others - this seems to not make sense as the pipes etc. are now maintained for every pub by Guinness themselves. I recently was told that some pubs buy older, less fresh barrells of Guinness at a knocked down price to boost their profits. Has anyone else heard this theory?
 
The bloody stuff is served so cold in most pubs nowadays that it has no taste, good bad or indifferent.
 
Why do we get so hung up on drinking in this country ?
 
Have not heard that theory but I do notice a difference in different pubs, comparing Meath to Tipperary , the Guinness in Tipp is much creamier and not always freezing cold, but nicely chilled. Why the quality /taste is so different I am not sure..............
 
Is it something to do with the cellars being different temperatures? Suposedly the guinness in the Gravediggers in Glasnevin is the best in Dublin because they don't have any artificial heating/refridgeration in their cellar. The Guinness is just served at the temp it is stored at.
 
Unregistered said:
Suposedly the guinness in the Gravediggers in Glasnevin is the best in Dublin
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Love myths like these. Some bar owners spreads around a rumour about their Guinness being the best and it catches on, and everyone goes in there and drinks their pint, and then say (while rubbing the froth from their lips!) "Aaaaah that's a lovely pint" even though it tastes the exact same as in about a hundred other pubs
 
cullenswood said:
Love myths like these .... "Aaaaah that's a lovely pint" even though it tastes the exact same as in about a hundred other pubs
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Dunno about that, in galway, guinness is far nicer in some "small" local pubs rather than the bigger, trendy ones. I remember hearing before about the storage conditions and the length of the pipe making a difference.
 
I think you can say there is taste variation for tapped beer / stout /ale in most pubs. The distance from keg to tap, the frequency of pipe cleaning , the frequency of pulled pints , amount of gas and the temperature are all influencing factors. I'm no expert though,this is what people tell me - honest! : )
 
its very hard to find a bad pint of guinness now though, compared to say 20 years ago. Guinness have effectively stopped this . Maybe it has to do with how the glasses are washed or how the pint is actually pulled. Most pubs have the 'new' cooling system in now but even in the ones that dont the pint is pretty consistant.
 
Try the Porter House in Dublin for a really fine stout. It tastes as good as the best Guinness.
 
Going on memory from decades back, Guinness should be stored at 55 degrees (Centigrade, I think).Its delivered to pub not quite conditioned so publican has to make sure its in stock for a few days...number of days depends on weather/temperature.A good cellar/coolroom is important.Its a living drink (live yeast) and needs careful handling.
Don`t know what new technologies are used nowadays but they are unlikely to improve its flavour.
Was also impressed by The Porterhouse...good beer.
 
There's a lot of factors involved in the taste.
- The cleanliness of the glass and also whether a detergent was used or not.
- Cleanliness of the lines (pipes)
- Level of gas used.
- Type of cooler used. Some have an actual cooler which the beer passes through before reaching the actual tap. Some beers go straight from keg to tap with an outer water pipe cooling the beer.
- Length of the draw (pipe from barrel to tap) - a short draw is the best which is why the smaller pubs with the cold room closer to the taps generally serve the best pints.
- The frequency of the draw on the tap. If you're the only person in the pub drinking guinness then its sitting in the lines idle till you get your next pint.
- The movement on the barrell. If when changing a keg the bar staff have a lot of movement on a barrell it unsettles the beer.

Last but not least... the skill of the barstaff.
 
Unregistered said:
Dunno about that, in galway, guinness is far nicer in some "small" local pubs rather than the bigger, trendy ones. I remember hearing before about the storage conditions and the length of the pipe making a difference.
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I'll second that. Its very true.
 
Guinness should be stored at 55 degrees (Centigrade, I think).

55 F I would think, that is 12 C

55 F is getting up to be too hot to handle
 
Speaking as a veteran of pulling the perfect pint, there is an urban myth about Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish tasting better at so-and-so's. Most of this is in peoples' mind. I dont know how often I've heard that 'Padser' uses wet sacks only to cool his pub's stout. More publicans suggest that they store theirs in unmoved kegs for several weeks before selling. One publican even suggested that storing his kegs on wooden pallets and being unmoved again for weeks was causing the air to circulate better around the keg. The glass has a lot to do with the taste of stout also.

The vast majority of barmen/publicans pour draught stout wrongly. Like stupid drivers who still think that everything they do is right most publicans are the same believeing theirs is perfect.

The truth is that most pints are far from being perfect. Ever see a barman/publican washing their hands after coming from the toilet? How often do you see bar-staff shaking hands with some filthy moron and then handling glasses. I wont even mention having a cigarette. I have even seen several bar staff scratching themselves with their filthy fingernails before serving a pint.

Now, if you can tell me of a place where all of the above are sorted, then you have the pub with the perfect pint.
 
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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