Guinness Draught

Had this for many years and still have not rated it as though it is as common as drinking water. Served on nitro at Bonfre, pours an opaque near black brew with a creamy off-white head that has excellent retention from the nitro pour. Aroma of dark toasted malt, chocolate and roasted coffee. Taste is kind of medium bodied, watery texture with tastes of toasted malt and some chocolate. Finish is nearly crisp with a thin or nearly no aftertaste.

Poured from 14.9 oz bottle into large dimpled mug. Aroma - Faint toasted malt. Appearance - Opaque black. Huge creamy tan head that has nice retention and lacing. Flavor - Toasted malt with faint notes of chocolate and coffee. Palate - A bit on the watery side. Smoothly carbonated due to the nitro widget. Overall - This is the ultimate drinkable stout. Low ABV and smooth flavor. What it lacks in complexity it makes up for in pure drinkability. It goes well with anything from breakfast to a midnight snack. Cheers!

My first "foray" into dark beers years ago - Pours from the can an almost black with a nice thick creamy head - the cascading effect continues for several moments. The aroma brings through malts, chocolate and oak. Good solid taste that follows up the aroma with a little bit of sweetness added into the scents that came through. This is a great beer to stock my pub fridge with that I drink during the colder weather when watching football - not a summer beer. One of the other great things I recently discovered about this beer is that many of the casinos in Las Vegas serve this beer free at the tables (bottle version) - a great alternative to the standard Macro offerings they typically serve up there!

(44cl can, 4.2% abv) Almost black coloured hue with a short but dense and persistent beige creamy layer. Discreet aroma of roasted malt and shy hints of coffee and cacao. Moderately bitter flavour, light bodied with a soft, even a bit flat (nitro-)carbonation. Dry and slightly roasted malty taste with shy notes of coffee, cacao and licorice; dry and moderately bitter, but also a bit watery finish. Not one of my regular buys (28.XI.08).

Bottle. Pours tar black with a velvety smooth creamy tan head. The carbonation seems to cascade down the side of the glass. Smells like roasted coffee and chocolate. Tastes like a nice roasted blend of coffees, some nuts, and creamy chocolate. Im not real fond of the creamy texture and thin aftertaste. Good flavor, but its just not for me.

I have to admit, this does pour exactly like Guinness on tap, with the thick milky head falling quickly in waves, settling with a creamy off-white meringue layer over a red-tinted dark brown. I can see (though I may not understand) why they spend so much time perfecting that aspect of the experience. Like on tap this has almost no nose, though the canned version does have slightly more toast aroma and a significant diacetyl note. The taste confirms diacetyl, which actually serves to mellow out the unpleasant bitterness I’ve come to associate with Guinness. Unfortunately there’s almost no other flavor so it is a lost cause anyway. The palate is rich and creamy, and unlike on tap, it is not at all cloying. This beer is not bad, but it could be so much more.

One of those beers that looks a lot better than it tastes. A beautiful motor oil black pour with a huge white head, but the beer is just way too thin and watery and certainly doesn’t have the feel I prefer from a "dry" stout. But for mass produced stuff it’s pretty damn tasty.

Poured from a can. I have to say this-It is the best looking beer I’ve ever seen. I bought the same glass that I see up in the left half of the screen here, and the only difference is that it wasn’t as tall. Can doesn’t fill the glass. Warning-If you buy in cans, they explode as soon as you open them, so open fast and pour fast. Smells really good, not something I can really describe. Just a nice aroma to it. Great mouthfeel, doesn’t bite you like some beers i’ve tried. My only complaint is the bitterness. Some people like bitter beers, so if you are one of those people, this is probably a good beer for you. For me it was a little overwhelming. Oh, and about that head, it will not die on you. Its about an inch thick, creamy as melted ice cream and makes for a nice contrast to the blackness of the beer. As an experiment I poured one can into a glass and just left it to see how long it takes for the head to completely disappear. It took over 3 hours. :)