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Wine and Beer Enthusiasts
- Thread starter albertfallickwa
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Guinness just isn't as good for me anymore. Too many artificial ingredients and still doesn't travel well. I'll drink it whenever I'm in Ireland, though.
While I do agree that for the most part, it is better in Ireland, there are plenty of other places to get a good pint. To me, it just comes down to finding pubs that understand how to properly serve it and maintain their system well.
Also, in regards to artificial ingredients, do you care to elaborate? Most of this HFCS nonsense has been debunked or are you referring to IHE?
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Imported Guinness is often better. I was reminded just yesterday that German Guinness is the only 4.1% Guinness.
Not sure what you mean by “only”. The can sitting in front of me in the US is 4.1%. As of late (to my understanding), US canned Guinness Draught is brewed in Dublin, then tanked to Belfast where it is canned before export and is 4.1. 4.2/3% tends to show up most of the other locations, barring a few examples (as you mentioned above) and kegged in the US is generally 4.2 from what I’ve seen as well.
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My personal opinion is that some of the other stouts/porters one can obtain in Ireland (such as Beamish, and Murphy's) are actually better than Guinness, but they can be difficult to lay hands on, even in Ireland, let alone abroad.
Personally, I don't much care for the standard version of Guinness that is widely available, but I am rather partial to the rather robust versions (Guinness Export Extra, for example) that one can sometimes find.
Don’t disagree here at all. If given the option, I’d go for a Murphys 99% of the time
Europe usually has between 4.3 and 5, hence my curiousity.
To the best of my knowledge, the British and Irish "standard" tends more towards 4.3%, not 4.1%.
In Europe, in general, beer is usually between 4.3% and 5%.
Exactly.
Depends on which variety we're talking about 😂...
As far as I know, contemporary Guinness Draught (what most tend to think of Guinness these days, aka the creamy nitro pints) is 4.1% in the canned variety in the US and 4.2% for kegs, along with most of the world (including Ireland where most pubs have it as 4.2%). Japan used to (maybe still does) have a 4.5% draught variant that was handled by Kirin. Now the "Original/Extra Stout" is a different story. That might be what you're both referring to. That is 4.2-4.3% in Ireland (although these days I've only seen 4.2) and the rest of Europe, 4.1% in Germany, 5.6% in the US & Canada, and 6% in Australia/Japan, but tends to be on CO2 not nitro from what I've seen. Along with the draught nitro cans, the ES 5.6% bottles are a regular staple of my at-home rotation.
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A Korbinian (from Weihenstephaner) greeted the arrival of the New Year with me.
I do! Each Korbinian is better than the previous one. Quite interesting, I admit.
A fascinating finding......
Actually, to my mind, it is a beverage that is perfect for deepest, darkest, dreariest winter.
It used to be fairly easy to find Murphy's in the US, 30 years ago. Haven't seen it in a long time, though I don't spend a lot of time in bars or pubs anymore.
Lots of other big British / Irish brands like Harp, Bass, Newcastle, etc. have disappeared from the US in the past 10-20 years. I used to like Boddington's a lot, but their quality dropped off a cliff and they also disappeared from our marketplace.
Boddington’s fall was quite unfortunate and I agree, the quality fell off precipitously. It can still be found but really isn’t worth the effort. The cask-conditioned reboot got some folks excited last year but we’ll likely never see it.
My cellar is currently more than amply stocked, hence, I am at a complete loss to understand why - just now - I am reading about French wines.
Sipping a half pint of Beamish in an (almost) empty pub, with a wonderful and welcoming blazing fire, (something to be cherished and treasured in the frigid and freezing temperatures of January), along with a glass of sparkling water, while browsing stuff, and answering some emails.....
Having an Augustiner Export today. Solid everyday beer, nothing special, but still 4/5.
It sure is! For an after-work beer, I prefer one with low drinking resistance but enough body to keep me interested. Something better than the Augustiner I find the Bayreuther Urstoff, but I wanted to try something different.