It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
Never heard of it. I'd be surprise if it were true. With Guinness the brand name is everything and anything that would compromise it wouldn't be touched. I'd say it's down to dirty glasses/pipes in the bar.
Its pure muck, how anyone drinks it is beyond me :-\
its pretty even stuff, dirty or not properly washed glasses are likely or uncleaned lines where you get the dregs of the pipes.
One place in dublin I seen the barman refilling empties brought straight off the tables.
Disgusting and must be illegal.Same place topped up left behind half empty pints of lager and horsed them out to people. I was sober that night otherwisw may never have noticed.
I used to work in a pub that is just off Thomas Street and was frequented by loads of Guinness workers. I was left in no doubt at all that the black stuff that left the brewery wasn't always up to standard. Remember that the beer is brewed in 'batches; it takes a few days for a batch, or 'brew' to go through the manufacturing cycle.
Any batch that was going through the system in the days after Paddy's Day or any other big holiday stood a fair chance of being affected- you would know the reason if you saw the state of many of my customers when they'd return to work!
I can't honestly say that this still applies today since much of the processes has been automated but there still is a big element of manual control.
Another thing to keep in mind is that production is ramped up coming up to periods of high demand and each batch will not get the usual amount of time at each step along the production line. Cork pubs during the jazz festival or Wexford pubs when the opera session is on are likely to get a big load of substandard brew. The reasoning is that punters are likely to be so tanked up that they won't notice the difference!
If that practice is still around, I'd imagine the pubs around Croker over an All Ireland weekend, get a good dose of shoddy beer as well.
Pubs will also build up extra stock over several weeks and the excess barrels will often be stacked in an open yard where the quality can be affected. Maybe Tom Mayes' staff didn't get around to cleaning the pipes and washing up the glasses properly but the Uncle Arthur just might have been off-standard too.
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
I suspect it was you head that had changed from the night before rather than the Guinness.
Quote from: Gnevin on September 24, 2008, 11:25:50 AM
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
I suspect it was you head that had changed from the night before rather than the Guinness.
Na definetly not, on Sunday it was clinging to the sides of the glass well, a ring for every mouthful, Monday it was going flat very quick and the head on them was yellow rather than creamy white.
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
How did you get a ticket ya bollix!!!!!!!!!!!
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
Were they serving food in the pub at lunchtime. I'm convinced that pints from a pub that doesnt do greasy grub such as chips/burgers etc are better. In pubs with grub on the menu the glasses are bound to have some residue from the food which is making the beer go bad...IMHO
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 11:46:07 AM
Na definetly not, on Sunday it was clinging to the sides of the glass well, a ring for every mouthful, Monday it was going flat very quick and the head on them was yellow rather than creamy white.
The gas was gone
Its the same with Smithwicks - what I drink myself. A bad pint of smithwicks is probably the worst thing you could drink. Everytime I'm in Dublin I get really shiity pints of it. My friend thinks it is because it isn't a popular drink in Dublin so the pipes are a bit manky. I am more inclined to think that it is in the pouring of the pint myself. I've been in pubs where one bar man gives me a good pint and the next an atrocious one.
I do know that guiness send people around on spot checks of their pints and they take the whole pouring, cleaning think very serious as they see it as a brand issue.
Quote from: mylestheslasher on September 24, 2008, 01:27:20 PM
I do know that guiness send people around on spot checks of their pints and they take the whole pouring, cleaning think very serious as they see it as a brand issue.
Correct, right down to what glass it is poured in! Must be a tulip glass, big trouble if a pub is found serving it in a stacker pint glass.
Guinness have now got to a stage where the brewing quality control is that tight that any bad pints (either here or abroad) are down to the items listed before (dirty glasses, lines etc.)
I was in Cleary's on Amien St after the match on Sunday and didn't want to have to leave the place, as the Guinness was that good, but by 8.30 the last train had left Connolly with the football crowd and we headed up to Drumconrath for some decent but not memorable pints. Mate of mine was in Mulligans on Saturday night and the stout was as good as ever in there.
Quote from: Orior on September 24, 2008, 12:01:40 PM
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
How did you get a ticket ya bollix!!!!!!!!!!!
Got 2 tickets without even having to look for them and was offered several others on the morning of the game. Didnt seem to be any big panic for them.
Quote from: Louth Exile on September 24, 2008, 01:57:30 PM
Quote from: mylestheslasher on September 24, 2008, 01:27:20 PM
I do know that guiness send people around on spot checks of their pints and they take the whole pouring, cleaning think very serious as they see it as a brand issue.
Correct, right down to what glass it is poured in! Must be a tulip glass, big trouble if a pub is found serving it in a stacker pint glass.
Guinness have now got to a stage where the brewing quality control is that tight that any bad pints (either here or abroad) are down to the items listed before (dirty glasses, lines etc.)
I was in Cleary's on Amien St after the match on Sunday and didn't want to have to leave the place, as the Guinness was that good, but by 8.30 the last train had left Connolly with the football crowd and we headed up to Drumconrath for some decent but not memorable pints. Mate of mine was in Mulligans on Saturday night and the stout was as good as ever in there.
Best pint of stout in the town. Obviously there are other spots, but Mulligans is consistently the best.
Yeah there's nothing worse than getting a bad pint of stout as guinness drinkers tend to be fussy about it. I think its down to the pubs to be honest. Guinness must be one of the most committed companies towards their quality of product. The biggets problem is of you go to a place where it is not drank that often, the quality tends to be poor. For example, the Harps club and the Golf Club do the best pints in Armagh, and in most other places its mediocre at best. Dry glass is essential as well.
Quote from: thewingedlady on September 24, 2008, 03:36:04 PM
Quote from: Louth Exile on September 24, 2008, 01:57:30 PM
Quote from: mylestheslasher on September 24, 2008, 01:27:20 PM
I do know that guiness send people around on spot checks of their pints and they take the whole pouring, cleaning think very serious as they see it as a brand issue.
Correct, right down to what glass it is poured in! Must be a tulip glass, big trouble if a pub is found serving it in a stacker pint glass.
Guinness have now got to a stage where the brewing quality control is that tight that any bad pints (either here or abroad) are down to the items listed before (dirty glasses, lines etc.)
I was in Cleary's on Amien St after the match on Sunday and didn't want to have to leave the place, as the Guinness was that good, but by 8.30 the last train had left Connolly with the football crowd and we headed up to Drumconrath for some decent but not memorable pints. Mate of mine was in Mulligans on Saturday night and the stout was as good as ever in there.
Best pint of stout in the town. Obviously there are other spots, but Mulligans is consistently the best.
Yeah there's nothing worse than getting a bad pint of stout as guinness drinkers tend to be fussy about it. I think its down to the pubs to be honest. Guinness must be one of the most committed companies towards their quality of product. The biggets problem is of you go to a place where it is not drank that often, the quality tends to be poor. For example, the Harps club and the Golf Club do the best pints in Armagh, and in most other places its mediocre at best. Dry glass is essential as well.
You would know alrite.... ;)
Golf Club??? :D
Quote from: 5 Sams on September 24, 2008, 12:03:36 PM
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
Were they serving food in the pub at lunchtime. I'm convinced that pints from a pub that doesnt do greasy grub such as chips/burgers etc are better. In pubs with grub on the menu the glasses are bound to have some residue from the food which is making the beer go bad...IMHO
Most pubs/resturaunts have two different washers for food and drinks. Most silverware and plates go back to the kitchen, where they are washing in a larger scale dishwasher, than that which should be suffiecient for washing glasses behind the bar.
I had a pint of Guinness in the Big Tree before them match and was handed it in a Magner's glass. Not impressed at all and Jury's wasn't the best either.
Brennan's bar in Bundoran does a great pint of Guinness.
I had 4 lovely creamy pints in Tom Collins' pub in Limerick last night. Pure genuis.
Guinness is a strange invention alright. I would take notions now and again of going on it but never at home. If I'm in the 'Free State' I will usually chance a few and I when I lived there I would have drank Guinness when going for a few pints rather than when on the session where I found it heavy.
The strange thing about it is I went to Manchester and found that I would drink it in Irish Bars over there and by and large it isn't too bad but whenever I have a pint at home in the North it just doesn't taste the same!
Best pint for me though is O'Donoghues on Merrion Row... best pint of Porter I've ever had!
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the original lease for
St. James's Gate, we're delighted to announce that this world famous brewery will be getting a massive €100 million investment. It's great news for the home of Guinness but it's even better news for your favourite pint!
St. James's Gate Brewery is steeped in Guinness heritage, history and craftsmanship. So much so, you can almost taste it in every pint we brew. This fantastic investment means that every pint of Guinness in Ireland will continue to be brewed right here at St. James's Gate Brewery and you can look forward to that unique St. James's Gate magic in your pint of Guinness for many years to come.
The investment will be used to improve, renew and enhance the whole brewery. This along with our plans to build a separate brewery for the Guinness export market in Leixlip, will make Ireland a world-class centre of brewing excellence. Something we think would make the great man himself, Arthur Guinness, very proud!
Join us as we raise a glass to a long and exciting future here at St. James's Gate and the continuation of a brilliant brewing heritage here in Ireland.
Cheers,
The Guninness Team.
Just go this message this morning to my yahoo address. Looks like we have nothing to fear!
aye i just got that e-mailed to myself this morning too. thought i'd won something when it came thru ???
Quote from: illdecide on September 25, 2008, 11:33:34 AM
aye i just got that e-mailed to myself this morning too. thought i'd won something when it came thru ???
Thought it was a wee freebie myself illdecide.
Great bar in Waterford serves the best pint i've had... Doolans or something...
Theres a fair load of oul shite talked about guiness, what it tastes like here, what its like there. To be honest i don't see what all the fuss is about its just a fairly mediocre dry stout pumped full of nitro to try and give it some character.
By far the biggest difference in guiness is how the guiness is served in the particular pub, how clean is the glass, how old is the keg, how competent is the bar man and most importantly whats the ratio of the pub gas (Nitro to Co2) and whats the pressure.
The idea that batches of guiness have huge variation is a nonsense, guinness were the first brewing company in the world who used statistics specifically to create conformity of batches, FFS the student T-test was created by a statitician in the employ of guinness to monitor their batches. Student wasn't his real name (it was William Sealy Gosset) but thats what he published it under so competitors wouldn't cope on to the advantages of using stats in brewing.
Here here!
The pint of plain in my local is always the same regardless of batches etc - top class. Its all down to the gas/lines/glasses/barman.
My oul fella used to say a pint of guinness was a bit like a priest.
A bad one could leave you with a very sore arse.
Lads where do you reckon serves the best pint of guiness in the north?
Fibber Magees in the back off Robinsons always served a tasty pint.
Alot of other establishments in Belfast i found were hit and miss.
Omagh Golf Club. Stellar.
I have the statistical analysis n numbers to back up that claim.
Always a good bet to gaze around the bar... if the guninness is being pulled regularly - it'll be good stuff!
Quote from: Yes I Would on September 25, 2008, 10:19:50 PM
Fibber Magees in the back off Robinsons always served a tasty pint.
Alot of other establishments in Belfast i found were hit and miss.
The Morning Star does a blinding pint but a lot of that is down to the fact they have proper old school bar men who know what a decent pint should be like and take their time pouring. If you go to the likes of The Bot etc at 9pm on a Saturday night don't expect a decent pint of plain!
Quote from: delboy on September 25, 2008, 02:54:32 PM
Theres a fair load of oul shite talked about guiness, what it tastes like here, what its like there. To be honest i don't see what all the fuss is about its just a fairly mediocre dry stout pumped full of nitro to try and give it some character.
By far the biggest difference in guiness is how the guiness is served in the particular pub, how clean is the glass, how old is the keg, how competent is the bar man and most importantly whats the ratio of the pub gas (Nitro to Co2) and whats the pressure.
The idea that batches of guiness have huge variation is a nonsense, guinness were the first brewing company in the world who used statistics specifically to create conformity of batches, FFS the student T-test was created by a statitician in the employ of guinness to monitor their batches. Student wasn't his real name (it was William Sealy Gosset) but thats what he published it under so competitors wouldn't cope on to the advantages of using stats in brewing.
With respect, delboy, I said this was the case in the past when I worked in a pub beside the brewery.
As for the present, I'd be careful about putting a fiver down, if I were you, and I wanted to back up my claim with hard cash. I doubt if I'd rely on the work of a statistician, employed by the brewery and who published his work under a bogus title- we do that here; but I'd expect a bit more form someone who wants his report taken seriously.
"William Seely Gosset" has a nice ring about it alright. Even if it was Theobald Wolfe Tone, I'd expect him to sign his name or not bother publishing his findings at all.
FFS, as you say yourself, if his work was genuine, wouldn't rival brewing companies come to hear about it and if it had any merit, wouldn't they be able to suss that out?
FFS, once again, wouldn't the others hear about this on the grapevine?
Why should anyone publish a work in order to explain the merits of his new system to the public and not expect rival concerns to hear about it?
Besides, I do talk to publicans in my line of work and so I get to hear of complaints about the uniformity of Guinness deliveries. Even if everybody else suspects that they all are into watering their Guinness or serving slop, they should realise that the stuff straight from the barrel doesn't tell lies.
The Student T-test may indeed be a work of excellence and credibility but I'd be inclined to rely on the word of people who depend on the quality of their beer to keep customers happy in order to pay their bills.
But of a misunderstanding on the student t-test guy, that was about 100 years ago that he published that work since then all major brewers use stats to help with conformity. I was highlighting this to show how much import guinness placed on precision.
I still take issue with your dodgy batch theory though, multinational brewing companies are brilliant at one thing they can consistently turn out batch after batch off the same beer time after time, its not nessacarily great beer but it is if nothing else consistent, thats the whole point of a brand.
Big brewers like guinness have a bunch of scientists,mathmeticans,engineers etc all working with the one aim to create the same beer time after time.
They have temperature controlled fermenting vats, they buy their grain and hops several years in advance so they know what they are getting, the constantly mix old hops and grains with new ones in case they might have some slight variation in flavour. But they do it in a slow very gradual way such that the man on the street notices no discernable difference, over the course of several years using this appoach they can actually change the formulation quite a lot but at no point could anyone point to where the change occured since they occured in such a small incremental way.
Quote from: stiffler on September 25, 2008, 10:11:26 PM
Lads where do you reckon serves the best pint of guiness in the north?
Dont drink in Belfast as often as I used to but the Garrick on Chichester St always served a great pint as did a few of the older bars around the Docks like the Rotterdam, McHughs etc.
In Newry I wouldnt go past our own club....the Guinness is as good as you'll get anywhere.
Canal Court has improved but can still be dodgy as is the case with all the bigger places like Bellinis, Cobbles etc....McCoys, Bridge Bar and the Windmill all seem to look after their porter. As someone said earlier us Guinness drinkers are fussy hoors. If you get a bad pint in a pub it would be a while before you chance the same place again.
i always knew that the black stuff was mighty
Guinness good for you - official
The long-running ad campaign is well-known
The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers.
A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.
Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.
Guinness was told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm)
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/823904/ (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/823904/)
Declining standards indeed :o
Quote from: gerry on May 24, 2010, 10:37:57 PM
i always knew that the black stuff was mighty
Guinness good for you - official
The long-running ad campaign is well-known
The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers.
A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.
Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.
Guinness was told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm)
Did you see this on facebook by any chance? A couple of people I know have posted it up there, so it's obviously doing the rounds. Bizarre that a seven year old story gets revived out of nowhere like this.
Quote from: AFS on May 25, 2010, 12:01:29 AM
Quote from: gerry on May 24, 2010, 10:37:57 PM
i always knew that the black stuff was mighty
Guinness good for you - official
The long-running ad campaign is well-known
The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers.
A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as a low dose aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.
Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from University of Wisconsin told a conference in the US.
Guinness was told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3266819.stm)
Did you see this on facebook by any chance? A couple of people I know have posted it up there, so it's obviously doing the rounds. Bizarre that a seven year old story gets revived out of nowhere like this.
It on BBC right now as one of the 'most read' stories. I never noticed until you pointed it out that it was an old story. I wonder do marketing companies employee 'readers' to re-popularise the story?
Would something made of entirely natural ingredients such as barley, hops and yeast not be expected to vary. It could be down to transport, storage or it could even be seasonal. It could also be down to the farmers.
Quote from: Zapatista on May 25, 2010, 08:36:04 AM
Would something made of entirely natural ingredients such as barley, hops and yeast not be expected to vary. It could be down to transport, storage or it could even be seasonal. It could also be down to the farmers.
The yeast will be a single strain that will be looked after by a number of well educated scientists, the barley and hops will vary with each season, but the big boys such as guiness reduce this variability by constantly blending last years crop with this years, they do it in an incremental way so that is virtually impossible to detect any difference. This allows them to produce batch after batch of almost identical beer, which is a great technical acheivement even if the beer itself isn't great (IMO).
Could someone explain the difference between a good pint and a bad one in terms of taste, forgetting about presentation.
Quote from: rolloutking on May 25, 2010, 12:18:40 PM
Could someone explain the difference between a good pint and a bad one in terms of taste, forgetting about presentation.
It's like meeting the right woman. You just know!
Quote from: rolloutking on May 25, 2010, 12:18:40 PM
Could someone explain the difference between a good pint and a bad one in terms of taste, forgetting about presentation.
There will be a twang or slight bitter taste of a bad pint of muck
Quote from: Tony Baloney on May 25, 2010, 12:27:01 PM
Quote from: rolloutking on May 25, 2010, 12:18:40 PM
Could someone explain the difference between a good pint and a bad one in terms of taste, forgetting about presentation.
It's like meeting the right woman. You just know!
Hopefully Ronan will write a song about it someday
The biggest problem is that taste is very subjective and also variable in an individual and affected by what you've eaten, etc. Use toothpaste before going for a pint and the pint will taste horrible. A lot of supposedly bad pints have been condemned in error by people who had just eaten a quarter pound of peppermints or the like.
I mentioned here before the blindfold mineral experiment. Taste cola, ginger ale, seven up, lemonade blindfolded and very few will identify everything with 100% accuracy. In fact few will do better than a random outcome. I know that's hard to believe, but try it. Especially after a few pints. It's a great bit of crack in the pub as well.
But yes - a bad pint tastes sour with a lingering aftertaste of what dirty socks smell like. Most of the Guinness you get now, even in the revered Dublin pubs of old, tastes like that.
Quote from: Hardy on May 25, 2010, 12:42:40 PM
But yes - a bad pint tastes sour with a lingering aftertaste of what dirty socks smell like. Most of the Guinness you get now, even in the revered Dublin pubs of old, tastes like that.
Agreed Hardy..Mulligans of Poolebeg Street a prime example. Poor pint these days.
Quote from: Hardy on May 25, 2010, 12:42:40 PM
But yes - a bad pint tastes sour with a lingering aftertaste of what dirty socks smell like. Most of the Guinness you get now, even in the revered Dublin pubs of old, tastes like that.
Agree, a bad pint will have a rotten coffee after taste. Often your saliva will have more of a mucus than usual and it will get flat faster than usual.
There are a number of causes including:
Poor Draw - If there isnt much movement in the guinness lines then it wont be great. Never get the first couple of pints of the black stuff if nobody else is drinking it. Also the distance of the barrel to the tap has an effect on it, the shorter the lines the less draw and the better the stuff.
Bad Pour - if the pints isnt left to settle for long enough, If there is any swirling by the barman holding the glass. If its poured too high, or not at a good angle.
Bad Batch - This was mentioned earlier. I know of Guinness reps that took back bad barrels marked by a pub in exchange for better Guinness.
Warm Glasses - Any pint poured into a warm glass will be quite frankly rotten. Often, in a busy pub glasses wont have time to cool down and they pour cool pints into them which makes them septic to drink.
Bad Lines - If the Guinness lines especially are not cleaned out regularly then it can be rotten. I know Guinness themselves try to get to every pub but I know barmen that clean the lines themselves regularly.
Distance to Travel - I heard that Guinness doesnt travel well down the country and I tend to agree. The Guinness in Dublin is much better than down the country in Mayo or Galway. Simple fact and I think its down to it not travelling well.
Tasted like shite there on Saturday night in McGee's, Leederville. Had to slake me drooth in the Irish club on Sunday night instead.
Quote from: AbbeySider on May 25, 2010, 02:27:39 PM
Distance to Travel - I heard that Guinness doesnt travel well down the country and I tend to agree. The Guinness in Dublin is much better than down the country in Mayo or Galway. Simple fact and I think its down to it not travelling well.
Thats a throwback from the days before guiness was filtered and pasteurised (kills the flavours big time), whilst this older version of guiness was more flavoursome unfortunatetly it didn't travel well (issues with conditiong and oxidation etc) however dublin and its environs with its close proximity to the brewery and high turnover had the best kept freshest guinness.
When they started pasterusing and filtering draught guiness it was orginally sent out to the other parts of the country where as dublin and the surronding area still got the unpasteursised stuff. Of course in the end even the draught version of guiness in dublin was pasteurised and filtered (in the 60s i believe), thats when a lot of people would have then regarded the bottled (again unpasteurided/unfiltered version) as the best. Of course nowadays its all just pasteurised and filtered be it bottle or draught in dublin or dungannon, its been turned into a keg beer specifically so that it can travel and taste the same.
Basically the stuff about the best stuff being in dublin and it not travelling well is an an artefact from a bygone age when it wasn't just keg beer and it did actually make a difference. Now its just bar-room folk lore getting passed along from one set of drinkers to the next.
Good, bad or indeifferent, there is still some hum from your shote the next day!
I will always try to drinkk it when I'm out but the good pints are fewer and farther between. I haven't had a real run at a night of them in months now but I have a thirst on me and might blast a dozen or so on Saturday night!
Quote from: Agnes Dipesto on September 24, 2008, 09:32:05 PM
I had a pint of Guinness in the Big Tree before them match and was handed it in a Magner's glass. Not impressed at all and Jury's wasn't the best either.
Brennan's bar in Bundoran does a great pint of Guinness.
Correct!
Quote from: maddog on September 24, 2008, 09:29:33 AM
It used to be that when you went to dublin for a match you could be virtually guaranteed pure nectar when you ordered your pint of stout. Now it seems you have to be very careful where you go if you want a good pint.
What mystified me was that on Sunday we were swallowing pints in Tom Mayes and they were top drawer, yet on Monday afternoon they were rotten and no better than you would get in Birmingham. One of the lads with us reckoned that it was down to different grades of Guinness i.e there are 3 different grades. Surely not? Anyone ever heard of this?
Perhaps pyschology built on the anticipation of a great match. Before last Sunday's match at Casement even the Harp tasted good in the Whitefort. 8) also after a "win" in Dublin, those last pints skulled in Amien Street were nectar.. I think its all down to expectation. Also, you could have got the leftovers on Monday... :-\
Im feeling the urge for a couple of creamy pints this evening after work.
My love affair with Pints of Guinness is an interesting one.
Doing my best here to determine the quality in the local.
Hard feckin work.
Quote from: Puckoon on May 26, 2010, 02:05:41 AM
Doing my best here to determine the quality in the local.
Hard feckin work.
Keep going even if it means you need to go back at another time, say tomorrow!! It's important work
Up to the early 60s, publicans bottled their own from a barrel. Guinness supplied them with the labels and caps. Some of the bigger and busier premises had their own names overprinted on the labels. Guinness also supplied the pubs with a contraption to put the caps on and I've seen a few of them that pubs have held on to as curiosity pieces.
The standards of hygiene wouldn't be acceptable today as the bottles had to be filled from a jug or similar and would have been left standing until the person doing the capping had enough filled for his needs. In earlier times, wooden corks were used as well. I suppose that was because publican bottled just enough for their immediate needs and the bottled porter wouldn't have had a long shelf life.
Wholesalers around the country did the bottling for their customers who didn't have enough of a turnover to warrant the cost of the capping machine. Gleesons in Tippperay were one of those companies and I've seen samples of their bottles on display in a number of pubs.
I never drank a pint from a wooden barrel or hogshead but many old timers swore that the stuff from a hogshead was far superior to what we get nowadays. That just can't be true as the pints were topped off from an earthenware jug that was used to collect spillage from the barrel. It seems that when a barrel had been broached and not used for a while, the first few pints drawn off were very frothy and the excess was collected in this jug. This was the 'ullage' that old boys loved to reminisce about but it must have been badly tainted when left lying around for any length of time.
Cigarette smoke would have been bad enough but a lot of drinkers in those days were pipe smokers.
Those old timers knew a thing or two, beer is like wine in that a certain amount of exposure to air will improve the flavours to much of course will ruin it but that should take several days.
Quote from: Lar Naparka on May 26, 2010, 10:59:04 AM
Up to the early 60s, publicans bottled their own from a barrel. Guinness supplied them with the labels and caps. Some of the bigger and busier premises had their own names overprinted on the labels. Guinness also supplied the pubs with a contraption to put the caps on and I've seen a few of them that pubs have held on to as curiosity pieces.
The standards of hygiene wouldn't be acceptable today as the bottles had to be filled from a jug or similar and would have been left standing until the person doing the capping had enough filled for his needs. In earlier times, wooden corks were used as well. I suppose that was because publican bottled just enough for their immediate needs and the bottled porter wouldn't have had a long shelf life.
Wholesalers around the country did the bottling for their customers who didn't have enough of a turnover to warrant the cost of the capping machine. Gleesons in Tippperay were one of those companies and I've seen samples of their bottles on display in a number of pubs.
I never drank a pint from a wooden barrel or hogshead but many old timers swore that the stuff from a hogshead was far superior to what we get nowadays. That just can't be true as the pints were topped off from an earthenware jug that was used to collect spillage from the barrel. It seems that when a barrel had been broached and not used for a while, the first few pints drawn off were very frothy and the excess was collected in this jug. This was the 'ullage' that old boys loved to reminisce about but it must have been badly tainted when left lying around for any length of time.
Cigarette smoke would have been bad enough but a lot of drinkers in those days were pipe smokers.
Lot of beer makers are starting to sell cask-aged (eg. oak) beer in the last few years. Wouldn't be a fan myself.