The Black Stuff

is an Irish institution and if you visit any pub in Ireland you will see Guinness has pride of place at the bar. Often referred to as ‘the black stuff,’ Guinness is a stout beer which is typically a malt beer with a caramel flavour and bitterness in the finish. Guinness is made with four natural ingredients (water, barley, hops, yeast) and with the addition of isinglass during the filtration process.

Guinness was first brewed in 1759, but it was not until 1769 that the beer was exported. Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease for an unused brewery St James Gate brewery in 1959, a lease that cost only £45 per year. Today St James Gate is the second largest brewery in the world and amazingly 10million glasses of Guinness are drunk every day across the world.

In Ireland the way Guinness is poured is always a talking point. If you are in an Irish bar you are sure to here people comment on the quality of their pint which would be strange anywhere else but in Ireland. The Irish are obsessive about their Guinness, and go as far as only buying pints from barmen they trust or send back pints because there are bubbles in the head. It is a theory in Ireland, that the closer the keg is to the tap, the better the Guinness.

Guinness is world famous for the unique way it is poured. Best served cool, Guinness should be poured slowly into a glass at an angle so bubbles do not form. Once filled three quarters of the way, the Guinness is left to stand and settle. Once settled, the pint should be ‘topped up’ by holding the Guinness under the tap, and by pushing the tap forwards. A pint pulled in such a manner will have a creamy head that will last till the end. As stated in one of Guinness’s adverts, the perfect pint of Guinness takes 1:20.5 seconds.

If you are planning to visit Dublin, be sure to enjoy at least one pint of Guinness in a traditional bar, preferably with Irish stew and brown bread.