The Correct Way to Serve Guinness. Trust Me, I’m Irish

Posted by barblog on Nov 11, 2009 in Bar Management, Bar Service | 6 comments

As any bartender in Ireland will tell you, there is nothing more annoying than a tourist not “getting” how the process of pouring a pint of Guinness works. Though it varies depending on the country it is served in, the correct way to serve Guinness in Ireland (and therefore the rest of the world seeing as everyone claims Irish ancestry) is the two-part pour:

• Use a clean normal size pint glass and tilt it to a 45 angle and fill to three quarters full.
• Allow the ‘surge’ to settle until there is a clear delineation between the head (which should be about inch, also known as a bishops collar due to it’s size when poured correctly and a light cream colour) at the top. A perfect pint should take 119.5 seconds to pour. Seriously. No joke.
• Now fill the glass to the top with a final quarter pint of Guinness.
• When pouring from a pump you can draw a lucky ‘shamrock’ shape in the top, although this takes practice and most Irish bartenders/purists would vomit at the thought of this..

Many is the time I had to call back the unsuspecting tourist who had taken their half poured pint so I could top it up and finish it properly. Guinness have always used the “waiting game” as a marketing tool and so their new beermat continues this tradition!

Happy 250th Birthday Guinness!

Posted by barblog on Sep 23, 2009 in Bar Management | 0 comments

While it’s always possible to find a reason to raise a glass, tomorrow Thursday September 24th is the 250th anniversary of the founding of Guinness! One of the most recognised brands in the world, Guinness is synonomous with Ireland and has been produced in Dublin since 1759. Here are 21 facts you might not have known about the “pint of plain”

(compliments of http://www.guinnessgearonline.com)

1. 2009 is the 250th Anniversary of Guinness.

2. St James Gate was not the original site for the brewery. Arthur Guinness began brewing beer in Leixlip, a town in County Kildare.

3. In 1759 he moved to an empty St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. A bigger brewery in a bigger city for bigger production of a great product!

4. The St. James’s Gate Brewery was leased for 9000 years at an annual fee of £45, or $65 USD! This lease INCLUDED fresh water rights. Imagine paying only $65 for rent for a year on anything, let alone a large brewery!! The fresh water rights caused problems with the Dublin Corporation, who wanted to charge a levy. This created quite a stir, and production was halted for a brief time while labourers blocked the water supply to the brewery. In the end, lucky for us, Guinness kept their fresh water rights as outlined in his lease.

5. Ten years later, in 1769, Guinness exported six and one half barrels of beer to England, their first exportation. This brought awareness of the product to a whole new market. As people emigrated to the new world, they would of course take their favorite brew with them. Read more..