Two New Guinness Beers (beer review)

Guinness. It’s an internationally recognised name, it’s seen in probably 90% of pubs and bars all across the world from London to San Francisco to Tokyo.

Guinness. The iconic adverts and two part pour. The shamrock that’s drawn in the tight, creamy head on the top of your pint.

Guinness is everywhere. Guinness is unmistakable.

I don’t think I really need to explain what Guinness is, but I will say that it is a beer I love to this very day, even in all of my beer geekdom. It’s reliable and delicious.

Guinness is owned by Diageo these days, one of the biggest alcoholic beverage companies in the world. They’ve decided to try and expand the Guinness brand by bringing out two new beers and I was lucky enough to be asked if I want to try them.

And of course, I jumped at the chance. In fact, I’m rather excited about trying them. They’re both modelled on recipes from many moons ago, but have been upgraded I suppose using modern brewing processes and a shiny brewery.

To start with, the labels are awesome. If you didn’t know anything about Guinness, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were brewed by your friendly neighbourhood brewery – they look antique and historic. Of course, many people will complain that the marketing people are trying to make it look like they’re from a small brewery but fuck ‘em.

First up we have Guinness Dublin Porter (3.8%). As promised by the fact sheet I was sent, it is like a lighter version of your everyday Guinness. It has caramel, chocolate, a little bit of coffee, brown sugar and some hoppiness at the end. It’s also a lot less dry than standard Guinness which makes it an even more enjoyable experience. It seems to have the right amount of everything that I want in a stout. I thought, and was hoping I’d enjoy it but it’s genuinely surprised me just how much I am enjoying it!

West Indies Porter (6%) pours thicker and darker. The head is a lot more desirable as it stays there. The aroma gives off a handful of hops with lots of burnt caramel. The flavour gives me full on strong, black nutmeg coffee, topped with chocolate sprinkles, there’s also a kind of sweet milky flavour that comes across in the aftertaste. The whole idea is that it’s a more accessible version of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout and they’ve totally achieved that goal.

Overall: Both beers are brilliant to be honest. They’re both a step up from Guinness, bringing more flavour to the table and beers that I will definitely buy as they’re definitely the best stouts I’m going to be able to get from supermarkets.

Despite being Guinness/Diageo products, I urge you to pick them up and give them a shot. These are well brewed beers, with flavour and I am seriously impressed.

Nate