Guinness Extra Stout

INFO:

Guinness Extra Stout is (surprise) a stout that comes from Dublin City in the Republic of Ireland. I have actually visited the brewery/museum, Saint James Gate, (alas I was but a few months too young to sample the draft) nevertheless I highly recommend it as it is a very interesting place.

Guinness itself, though is an interesting beer though; as in it is more than a beer. Apparently it's sales were declining and so it was marketed as a "cult" beer which has definitely worked in the United States where it (for better or for worse) is synonymous with all things Hibernia and WASP-ey by extension.

In addition, you can get it around the world, but it is alway slightly different, depending on where you are (so don't think if you like it in the USofA you will necessarily like it in France). For example, this is the British version of the American site linked above. For a full list of the crazy, check this out.

Finally, I just one last thing before writing up some tasting notes. I really love the way guinness foams. Basically what happens is a small head appears on the top and then you see the bubbles cascade down in the glass rather than up; it is all very odd. The reason for this is that there are a few salient differences between guinness and your average lager. If you don't know what that is, it is actually quite interesting (hint: it involves nitrogen) click here to find out.

Year: 2010

ABV: 5.0%

From: 12oz bottle (chilled), and poured

DRINKING NOTES:

COLOUR: opaque black

FOAM: thick creamy, light tan

SMELL: bitter smell of roasted grains with a hint strong coffee

TASTE:

(initial) initial bitter taste of hops (hard to tell the nuances because I drank it very cold as it is really hot out and thats not the best way to drink guinness

(body) the beer has a nice body though that really expands the flavour of the roasted grains giving it both less bitter and even some sweet notes, very much a full palate taste

(aftertaste) slightly bitter but not unpleasantly so