Guinness What!?!

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Toilet Rocker

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I feel like I've been cheated on...this is from a story in the NY Daily News.

Stout touts great taste, less bitter

A grand Irish tradition is getting a makeover.
The brewers of Guinness stout, the 246-year-old beer brand whose tough-guy bitter taste helps sell 5 million pints a day worldwide, have come up with 10 milder versions of their best seller to win new customers.

The first mellow stout brand will hit Dublin bars on Wednesday. Every six months, a different flavor will take its place, until customers have had a chance to try them all.

In the past, tinkering with stout has been a lost cause, but wine and lager sales have cut Guinness' profits - as have smoking bans in Irish bars.

"It's a tradition in Ireland. [Changing the taste] puts people off Guinness, full stop," said Lindsay, 23, an Irish barkeep at Twins Public House near the Jacob Javits Center, who didn't want to give her last name.

But its brewers think smoother Guinness will appeal to a new audience. Some faithful fans, such as Twins' customer James Connelly, 32, of Derry, Northern Ireland, have said they are open to change.

"If it tastes better, if they can improve it, that's good," he said.
 
money is the root of all evil. they are losing some money, and now they are mucking with something beautiful to make more money.

money sucks. we should all barter with beer instead.

-walker
 
gaelone said:
The brewers of Guinness stout... have come up with 10 milder versions of their best seller to win new customers.

The first mellow stout brand will hit Dublin bars on Wednesday. Every six months, a different flavor will take its place, until customers have had a chance to try them all.

10 new versions rolled out one every 6 months? That's 4.5 years until the 10th one hits a pub!

will anyone remember if they liked the one from fall 2005 better than the one from spring 2010?

-walker
 
hey- if there are people around that will drink them, and that allows the company to do well and brew traditional stout well into the future, I don't care if they put out a marshmalllow and cotton candy flavored pseudo-Stout..just don't ask me to drink it.
 
I completely understand what you're saying; there in business to make money....but it just feels wrong.

Great observation, Walker!

Has anyone ever tried Guinness Gold? I had one once, never saw it again, so I kept the bottle (a green Guinness bottle). I don't know the story behind this one, other than that it seems to have been a failed experiment. :confused:
 
As long as they don't scrap their classic style, I'll be a happy camper. Nothing like Guinness on tap, yumm.
 
Guinness Stout? Never tried it and I don't like it!

How about them "d@mn fool" foamy widgets? Stupid idea or marketing drek?
 
Anyone who thinks Guinnes is "bitter" is a weiner. I think people are fooled by the color, because Guinness is a very mild tasting beer, IMO. Hell, the draught is only like 3.8% ABV or so. How can you get milder than that? I know.....have an iced tea!
 
Long story but if you need a good long secession beer, Guiness Draft Stout is the ticket.

I eventually survived drinking 10 pints of beer a day for 2 weeks straight y switching to Guiness. My red cell count went way up and I felt great!

Heck I don't care if they want to branch out. Look at all the other stouts that are now on the market. Choclate stout, Oatmeal stout, Imperial stout....... They just want to cash in on a piece of the microbrew market.

As long as they don't mess with their signature product, I'll still have my creamy pint of Guiness Draft Stout at the pub when I'm out.
 
Sam75 said:
Anyone who thinks Guinnes is "bitter" is a weiner. I think people are fooled by the color, because Guinness is a very mild tasting beer, IMO. Hell, the draught is only like 3.8% ABV or so. How can you get milder than that? I know.....have an iced tea!
Yeah, Guinness on draft is so smooth, it's hard to call bitter. Now, that bottled stuff :eek:
 
LupusUmbrus said:
Yeah, Guinness on draft is so smooth, it's hard to call bitter. Now, that bottled stuff :eek:

The bottled stuff is a different animal. It's called "Extra Stout," and is closer to 6% ABV, if I'm not mistaken. Haven't had it in ages, so I can't comment on it.

~Edit: I should clarify....I'm talking about the stuff in the old, heavy bottle. They sell the "draught" in a bottle, as well...that's not the stuff I'm talking about.
 
I do think their extra stout is their best product. It has a better roasted flavor than the tap/draught bottles. I wish this BRILLIANT! brew would be made available on tap.
 
It hits the bars today, don't think I'll get to try it till nearer the weekend though.
The first is called "Brew 39". It has a late addition of hops, otherwise the same yeast, gas and same settling as the regular draught.
I can't wait to try it.
Only available in Ireland though, so none for you boyz :(
Will inform when I get my hands on it.
 
kenmc said:
It hits the bars today, don't think I'll get to try it till nearer the weekend though.
The first is called "Brew 39". It has a late addition of hops, otherwise the same yeast, gas and same settling as the regular draught.
I can't wait to try it.
Only available in Ireland though, so none for you boyz :(
Will inform when I get my hands on it.

Oddly enough this is the first I've heard of it.. Will do likewise as ken. Again weekendish..

Honestly? I doubt it'll take off. Guinness as an Irish company is no longer and as such for many of us it has lost that warm place in our hearts (if not in our bellies). Diageo is nothing more than an extortionist MNC.
 
Duvel, there was a half page spread in the Irish Times today. Also saw some taps with a sackcloth on them, and some marketing bumpf "this is currently brewing, will be ready on 19 oct" or so on.
Yeah, since Guinness sold out to Diageo, they're no longer Irish. Interestingly enough though, I saw a documentary on the Guinness family, and one of the current generation (maybe the last in the line of inheritance or something) is starting to brew again somewhere in Ireland I think!
It goes full circle!
 
Right tried some with a bunch of friends around a table with a pint of regular guinness in the middle for comparison tasting.

In my personal amateurish opinion it lacks the character of guinness. Definitely smoother almost watery so, less bitter, sweeter. But you know the aftertaste of guinness it's stronger and longer lasting than that..
Personally I don't like it.. Tastes like sell-out for lack of flavour. I'll let kenmc make a more educated opinion of it please.

Managed to acquire a glass and a couple of barmats which I scanned in just now:

Mats:

barmats.jpg



and
Glass (scanned in so it only imaged the bit flat against the scanner really):

glass.jpg
 
I got my hands on some last night - several of them in fact. (I don't claim to be an expert by the way, so here's my personal amateurish opinion)
It's definitely lighter tasting, almost "airy" somehow, the first few sips were quite strange compared to regular guinness. It defo tastes a bit hoppier, but it's definitely not as bitter as "normal" guinness. I liked it sufficiently to drink 6 pints of it whilst watching a rugby match. (I felt it was necessary to determine whether or not it has alcohol in it - it does). Hangover is not present today somehow - it could be cos of the water before bed though!
I wouldn't go out of my way to find a pub which sold it, but I would drink it again if I was out for a few. I think it's definitley trying to get new drinkers on board though.
 
Can you guys tell how this has been selling? Does it seem to be taking off or is it for the novelty that people are ordering it (if they are)?
 
gaelone said:
Can you guys tell how this has been selling? Does it seem to be taking off or is it for the novelty that people are ordering it (if they are)?
Very difficult to tell. It's only available in 300 pubs in Dublin, not even across the Country. They have been promoting it in some of the pubs with free pints and stuff, and a new advertising campaign. I don't know if it will attract new non-guinness drinkers - I mean it looks like guinness. It might attract some of the Murphys/Beamish drinkers over, but I'd say that anyone who doesn't like stout anyway won't try it. I mean if Bud brought out a new beer, there's no way I'd go trying it.....
Some ppl I know like the new stuff, others don't.
I think it's an experiment really, but one they can roll back on easily by invoking the "limited edition" clause.
But personally, it's quite ok.
 
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