Original Guinness.

Just a very quick post today concerning the trades description act and some Original Guinness I purchased for the Christmas festivities which says on the tin; if you were in a pub sometime between 1821 and 1970, chances are this is the Guinness you would have been drinking. Originally brewed as the XX version of our Porter, it’s hoppy, roasty and crisp with a bittersweet finish.

Whilst I have no knowledge of pubs in 1821 I can comment on pubs in the 1970’s and the standard of Guinness offered in those years and I can safely say that unless you were to frequent an Irish pub where the turnover of the beer was fairly frequent, generally speaking the standard of Guinness in British pubs was rubbish.

I can speak with some authority on the subject as at that time I was married to a girl whose parents were Irish and every Friday my wife and I went to visit my in laws for bacon and cabbage, Guinness and a decent selection of Irish folk music.

The quality of the Guinness in their house was superb as it came in bottles directly from Ireland and was fresh as a daisy and far superior to that which you might get in a British pub, it was smooth, creamy and with a proper Irish Guinness head, rather like I was expecting when I purchased the Original Guinness.

I was originally thinking that it might not comply with the trades description act but then as it says, if you were in a pub in 1970 this is the Guinness you would be drinking and indeed it is, for in 1970 no British pub could produce a decent pint of Guinness to save it’s life. This flat rather bitter drink is exactly the awful pint that would have been available in a 1970’s pub, however it was Christmas and the theme for our festivities was Irish Christmas so I persisted and eventually managed to neck quite a few.

Here’s to New Year when I think our theme for the event will be called decent champagne night!