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Tuesday, 7 July 2009

First Guinness of summer

It's a sure sign of summer . . . hang on, I've already done that . . . more than once.

The first Guinness of summer needed to be documented. That's what I thought. But I am pretty weird. So maybe you disagree. About the first Guinness needing to be documented. You doubtless agree about the weird bit.

It looks lovely, doesn't it? The Guinness to the right.Behind it is our garden. It looks more like a jungle every year. Plants clutter it much like books litter our house.

Sun and Guinness. They go together like a . . . . Can anyone think of a word that rhymes with Guinness?

6 comments:

  1. Gary Gillman7 July 2009 at 07:04

    This might be a place to mention that I had a bottle of the new 250th the other day (in the U.S., it is not available in Canada or in Ontario at any rate).

    When you drink it ice cold, there is a prominent roast barley-like note that is not to my taste. I don't know if this beer uses roast barley or some other type of unmalted grains; if it does, I think that is the source of what I don't like.

    When the beer warmed a bit, the extra chocolate malt showed to good advantage and balanced the roasted barley-like notes, but still the effect overall left me under-impressed. There seemed some extra hopping, but I would welcome more.

    At the same bar, I had a pint of a "India Brown Ale" from a Georgia brewery that was just superb and, I believe, closer to the original porter than anything made today by Guinness.

    I like Guinness FES a lot though and the version of Guinness (all-malt I think) shown in Ron's photo is also top-rate. This new 250th anniversary beer seems rather lesser. In fact, I think regular Guinness is better.

    I would have made a 5% ABV version of FES, that would be an excellent beer both on draught and in bottle. Failing that, then a ditto ABV of special export (the one in Ron's picture).

    Gary

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  2. Anonymous7 July 2009 at 11:09

    Sun and Guinness. They go together like a ... vagina and penis ???

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  3. Oblivious7 July 2009 at 14:14

    We don't see enough of the Guinness Special Export over here

    Ron do you have any prefer fro the Belgian or Dublin stuff?

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  4. Unknown7 July 2009 at 17:16

    Weird people make for an interesting world.

    However, SES is scrummy in the evening sun, so if you're weird, then I am too.

    Nice garden.

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  5. Ron Pattinson8 July 2009 at 04:29

    Oblivious, if you nmean do I prefer FES or SES (the stuff for the Benelux, there's no contest. Special Export is considerably better. It doesn't have the harsh, burnt bittereness of FES.

    Woolpack Dave, yeah, the garden is nice. If a bit too full of junk - a broken fridge, a soiled mattress and burnt-out car. A bit like 8 Ace's.

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  6. Gary Gillman9 July 2009 at 16:59

    Although I like the balance in FES, that bitterness is (I believe)from roasted barley. It is what I think is in 250th that I don't like. SES is all-malt, which gives it that extra-luscious quality and probably brings it close to the original brown stouts.

    One must admire FES though for its "aged", lactic edge.


    Gary

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