Guinness Draught

Brewed by St. James’s Gate (Diageo)
Style: Dry Stout
Dublin, Ireland

Serve in English pint

About time to do the official rating on this classic. Picture perfect pour out of the nitro can. Man, is that cool that they figured that out. I can’t think of a beer that beats the visual experience of a Guinness. Head is like frothy ice cream, very light tan, with super fine bubbles that lend it a nice consistency. Liquid is of course pitch black. Aroma of malt and light roastiness. Very faint. Taste is similar--just so subtle--with a bit of chocolate, but mostly roasty cereal. Not much coffee. When I tried this the first time, I hated it and thought it was super bitter and hard to drink. Now it’s like the Bud Light of stouts, not necessarily in a bad way, but just as a comment on its drinkability. Mouthfeel is velvety, almost watery. It’s a super thin beer. Not surprised this is one of the best-selling beer in the world.

On tap at Proof, St Patricks Day 2011, pours with a frothy foam head off the nitro. Sweet and creamy, I mean, its Guinness, everywhere sells it and it isn’t horrible. Much better than the usual macros.

Can Dark brown, looks like black in the glass. Thick creamy head. Smells of caramel, malts, yeast. Watery feel. Taste has alot of sweetness, some caramel malts but not the coffee i remembered from my early guinness experience. Not much bitterness in finish. And it’s not so dry eighter. OK irish stout.

The beer to which I compare all others. There are better, more complex beers out there in my opinion, but none that are as balanced as Guinness is for me. Adding in as a baseline for my other ratings

Si ama o si odia. Impossibile farne a meno, soprattutto se bevuta in un pub irlandese con la giusta atmosfera

Blackest beer, with a nice, creamy, lasting almost white head. The aroma is really soft, dominated by brown sugar. I’d swear it also has some citrus. The taste is light, bitter, a litlle roasted. Soft carbonation and easy to drink. Nice but a little bit plain to my liking.

UPDATED: MAR 16, 2011 Rating is for draft version: draft@bar, had this one also in the UK: I have never really liked this one, like some weak watery coffee, instant coffee bitterness, badly roasted malts, curdled liquorice, everything in this beer simply tastes off, weak & watery to me, compares to other stouts in the same way that instant coffee compares to a good espresso or coffee made with freshly grounded beans, only upside is that on draft it doesn’t taste as horrible as it does in a widget-can /// nitro-can@home: worse in every way & even more off-flavours & watery than the draft version, widget is a retarded gimmick, don’t try to drink this one straight from the can, not nice but than again it tastes horrible either way, so why not

440mL widget can bought from LCBO. Pours like a traditional stout with near black color with incredibly long lasting creamy 2 finger head, one of the most appetizing looking beers around. Smells of dark roasted almost burnt malt with a lively hop kick to it. Tastes of roasted barley, bread and fragrant hops. Despite it’s good characteristics in appearance, aroma and taste the finish itself is quite lackluster due to the lack of carbonation giving this stout a thin and watery finish versus a full bodied mouth feel. Overall this stout is a classic but has it’s shortcomings, something I wouldn’t expect from a world renowned stout.