Guinness Extra Stout

Alright, the real (or better) deal.

Guinness Extra Stout (bottled, brewed in Canada by Labatt), 6.0% ABV, 12oz

Color: When poured, the stout forms a nice, creamy, coffee-colored head. The liquid is pitch-black, so dark that you can see your own reflection on the glass.

Tasting Notes: Waves of thick and smoky (less chocolate-y) roasted malt pleasingly inundates the palate, while the full body envelopes the tongue. The crispness is not sacrificed for flavor here, as subtle hop flavor (not too bitter, not too tame) and carbonation ensure the “dry” is not missing from this helluva oomph-packing Irish Dry Stout. With this available, I can’t see why people would still be attracted to the bottled Draught. This extra stout makes it drink like a pale imitation, yet is still slightly inferior to the product on tap.

Comment: My fondest memories of Guinness lie with the New Year’s Eve party of my freshman year – that is, 2004. On this fateful all-night-long party (which happens to be my first as well), I had a Guinness Extra Stout (9% ABV) from the tap at a now-closed Irish Bar called The Shannon in Taipei – it was heavenly stuff which forever changed my perception of beer. The pint was HUGE, with a perfectly adorably creamy head, poured the RIGHT way (which I still have no clue today). It was smooth, malty and oh so sublime, but I couldn’t finish it. So halfway down I poured a shot of Baileys in and transformed it into a dwarfed Irish Carbomb. Which was also infernally tasty. In retrospect, and presently as someone more learned in the world of beers, I would never drink Guinness as an ICB again. First, the name is quite insulting and politically incorrect – it exhibits a rather Anglo-centric view in terms of its naming – and second, I can appreciate the hop bitterness now. An amusing fact is that my liking for hops has come after peat (in scotch whisky), which is a taste supposedly harder to acquire. Therefore I feel quite comfortable in the realm of barley/grain based liquors – whatever wacky out-of-the-world taste, bring it on! (I may show infinitudes of regret for this statement later.)