Guinness is a traditional dark Irish stout beer.
It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide.
Guinness is sold in over 120 countries worldwide and brewed in over 50 countries.
It is made from water, barley, roast malt extract, hops, and brewer’s yeast.
The deep color and caramelized flavor that are characteristic of Guinness come from barley that has been roasted but not malted.
Guinness is known for its dense, creamy head, which is achieved by mixing the beer with nitrogen to create smaller bubbles that result in a thicker head.
It originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James’s Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759.
On 31 December 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery.
Ten years later, on 19 May 1769, Guinness first exported his ale to Great Britain.
In the 1770s, he began brewing ‘porter’, a new type of English beer, invented in London in 1722 by a brewer named Ralph Harwood. Porter was different from ale because it was brewed using roasted barley, giving the beer a dark ruby colour and rich aroma.
Arthur’s porter was successful and in 1799 he decided to stop brewing ale altogether, and concentrate on porter alone.
The brewery became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels.
The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish Trade War in 1932.
Guinness has always been about beer and people, and WWII is no exception. All British Troops in the British Expeditionary Force in France receive a bottle of Guinness to accompany their Christmas dinner.
In 1959, Guinness become the first brewer to employ scientists to help us create the perfect beer. Michael Ash is one such man – he invents Guinness Draught’s distinctive ‘surge and settle’ effect and the world’s first nitro beer. And with a skilful pairing of nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide, Guinness Draught is born. Distinguished by its velvet-smooth texture and legendary stormy surge upon pouring, Guinness Draught brews up a storm all of its own by establishing itself as the top-selling Guinness beer with lightning speed.
In 1997, Guinness plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form the British multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc, based in London.
Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout.
The Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin. It covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness. The ground
floor introduces the beer’s four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery’s founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission.
The Guinness harp motif is modelled on the Trinity College Harp. It was adopted in 1862 by the incumbent proprietor, Benjamin Lee Guinness. Harps have been a symbol of Ireland at least since the reign of Henry VIII. Guinness registered their harp as a trademark shortly after the passing of the Trade Marks Registration Act of 1875. It faces right instead of left, and so can be distinguished from the Irish coat of arms.
In 1955 the company began publishing The Guinness Book of Records, originally conceived to help settle trivia disputes in pubs – the property was sold in 2001.
When Guinness is poured, the gas bubbles appear to travel downwards in the glass. The effect is attributed to drag – bubbles that touch the walls of a glass are slowed in their travel upwards. Bubbles in the centre of the glass are, however, free to rise to the surface, and thus form a rising column of bubbles. The rising bubbles create a current by the entrainment of the surrounding fluid. As beer rises in the centre, the beer near the outside of the glass falls. This downward flow pushes the bubbles near the glass towards the bottom. Although the effect occurs in any liquid, it is particularly noticeable in any dark nitrogen stout, as the drink combines dark-coloured liquid and light-coloured bubbles.
Guinness stout is available in a number of variants and strengths.
Based on Guinness’s first porter, Guinness Extra Stout (or Guinness Original) is the brand’s flagship beer. It is one of the most widely sold versions, and contains 4.1 percent and 6 percent
alcohol by volume (ABV), depending on the country.
Surprisingly, Guinness Draught contains just 125 calories per pint.
Studies claim that Guinness can be beneficial to the heart. Researchers found that “‘antioxidant compounds’ in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.”
Guinness is frequently used as an ingredient in recipes, often to add a seemingly authentic Irish element to the menus of Irish-themed pubs in the United States, where it is stirred into everything from french toast to beef stew.
A popular, authentic, Irish course featuring Guinness is the “Guinness and Steak Pie”. The recipe includes many common Irish herbs, as well as beef brisket, cheeses, and a can of Guinness.