Why Guinness?

[cdarwin]

I see many mentions of Guinness on this forum. There seems to be some preference towards it by the members. Dust thou consider Guinness to be the epitome of malted beverages? I once considered it among my favourites until I started branching out. I generally prefer a stout over most other options, though I am also quite fond of some Belgian ales. Among stouts, however, I now consider Guinness a last resort. There are so many interesting and different stouts out there.

I don't mean to offend anyone, as I still consider Guinness a decent beer and would never turn my nose up to it. It's just that, with so many options out there, why does this forum seem to gravitate towards Guinness in particular.

int:

Cheers!
-J

[azwildcat96]

For me, it is the most widely available Stout, when out and about. I too really like other beers.

There are a number of very good Stouts, Porters, and Ales that I enjoy.

Most recently, I've been enjoying Samuel Smiths' Oatmeal Stout and Taddy Porter, Breckinridge Brewerys' Vanilla Porter, Four Peaks Kiltlifter Scottish Ale, and Youngs' Double Chocolate Stout.

Last week I tried Odell Brewing Companys' 90 Shilling Scottish Ale...It was pretty good too.

[Tobus]

Most recently, I've been enjoying Samuel Smiths' Oatmeal Stout and Taddy Porter, Breckinridge Brewerys' Vanilla Porter, Four Peaks Kiltlifter Scottish Ale, and Youngs' Double Chocolate Stout.

My normal evening drink is either a Belhaven Scottish Ale or a Guinness. But I've been experimenting lately (the selection is very limited where I live), and I tried the Young's Double Chocolate Stout the other night.

It was... umm... interesting. A little too far on the sweet side for my tastes, but I still liked it.

A few months ago I had bought a really cool jug-shaped bottle of Mississippi Mud Black and Tan (I think that was the name). It was pretty darn good! But I can't find it in my local store any more.

[Joshua]

I see many mentions of Guinness on this forum. There seems to be some preference towards it by the members. Dust thou consider Guinness to be the epitome of malted beverages? I once considered it among my favourites until I started branching out. I generally prefer a stout over most other options, though I am also quite fond of some Belgian ales. Among stouts, however, I now consider Guinness a last resort. There are so many interesting and different stouts out there.

Guinness is available, has a rich history, has a very unique flavor, and is the epitome of the "session beer" being relatively low in alc %, and easily tolerated/neutral taste-wise.

However, other Irish dry-style stouts such as Murphy's, Donniebrook, etc. are also fantastic, they lack the lactic "twang" that is the Guinness trademark, but they are also easy to drink.


Me personally? I'm an Imperial stout fan. You can't session-drink Imperial stouts though... especially Old Rasputin, Samuel Smith, or Rogue XS Russian Imperial.

[Mickey]

For me, when I was drinking beer, it was about availability, and because I like it. Yes, there are other beers out there that I occasionally enjoyed more, especially the beers and stouts that I made myself, depending on the day and weather, but I could always find a Guinness, no matter where I was, and it was always good. I always knew what I was going to get and it went well with the types of food I would order when out. A lot of other beers that I might prefer to drink on their own, just didn’t work with food the way I preferred. At home, I nearly always had a stock of different beers from around the world and rarely had Guinness on hand. At home, other beers were available. Outside home, not so much.

[Guinness>water]

Availability. It was one of the first "real" beers I ever drank and your first is always your best. I too really enjoy porters and other stouts but finding them in the middle of Coors country is hard. Several places sell Guinness so thats what I drink.

[Burly Brute]

I see many mentions of Guinness on this forum. There seems to be some preference towards it by the members. Dust thou consider Guinness to be the epitome of malted beverages? I once considered it among my favourites until I started branching out. I generally prefer a stout over most other options, though I am also quite fond of some Belgian ales. Among stouts, however, I now consider Guinness a last resort. There are so many interesting and different stouts out there.

I don't mean to offend anyone, as I still consider Guinness a decent beer and would never turn my nose up to it. It's just that, with so many options out there, why does this forum seem to gravitate towards Guinness in particular.

int:

Cheers!
-J

A local brewery in Tucson, Arizona has a really nice stou they call "black-out stout." I personally love Guiness, but have heard that what we get in the states is crap compared to that which they drink on the Emerald Isle. I think Guiness has a very unique taste all to it's own, thus is should be in its own up-kept category. I always love Magner's Cider, but that will ruin a man.

[Korvyn]

I enjoy many beers. Guinness just happens to be my favorite of the affordable imports here. Also being from a small town in arkansas your choices of beers other than the bigger domestics are limited. Usually it's a matter of me telling the waitress bring me the darkest beer you have and guinness is it.

[IrishSailor]

I really enjoy Beers of all type, though I prefer Ales over Lagers, and Dark Ales over light Ales. I usually stick to Brown Ales, Porters, or Stouts. But to answer your question? Why Guinness? Well everyone else has covered availability, the low alc % (great for sessions), and history.

For me it's nostalgia. Just having one in my hands brings back memories of my long deceased grandfather, we called him Papa. I literally grew up in Irish Pubs in Rhode Island. Papa would bring me to places called Patrick's Pub, Aiden's, The Tinker's Nest, and Gilligan's. He would say he was taking me to the "Tea Room." Which was code for, I'm going have a beer, while my grandson has a soda and we're gonna watch the Red Sox.

As a young adult I found my own places like RiRa and The Galway Bay. These days I live in Dallas and Trinity Hall is my home away from home. Along the way I've met some great people and made life long friends. Getting a Guinness in these pubs is like getting communion at church, it's just what you do.

To this day, if I'm at an Irish Pub with a live band playing and a Guinness in my hand, I can still hear Papa complaining about the Red Sox (the Boston Bums he would call'em) and all the voices and laughter of my old friends.

Yup, that's why I drink Guinness.

[O'Callaghan]

As stout goes, I prefer either Beamish's or Murphy's over Guinness', but Guinness is easier to obtain. I also think their reds are better than Smithwick's (which is the red ale made by Guinness). I'm biassed, because those beers are from Cork.