As a longtime Guinness drinker, I am on the side of people who think the brew has changed – at least here in America – since Diageo was formed and took over the company in a 1997 merger. Now, no one seems to have any hard evidence of this, but I know two things for sure:
First, when I drink it on draft here these days, it tastes different from how it did 25 years ago.
Second, when I drink it in Ireland, it tastes different from here.
Now, I will admit two things about the above statements: Yes, tastes and taste buds change over time. Sometimes a favorite food or beverage doesn’t have to change at all to see it become less tasty to a person. And as far as it tasting different in Ireland, I’ll fall back on my old saying when people ask me if Guinness tastes better in Ireland: “Of course it tastes better in Ireland. You’re in Ireland. Everything is better when you’re on holiday there.”
(Oh, and before anyone says this old chestnut: Yes, I know it matters how it’s poured. That’s not what I’m talking about here.)
With those caveats out of the way, I’m still here to say that the Black Stuff tastes different to me, both in terms of previous domestic offerings and current ones available here and in Ireland. I don’t know if a recipe was changed or a brewing process was tweaked. All I know is that I’m not the only one who thinks this.
But I’m not here to debate that point today. I’m actually here to offer a workaround for those who believe as I do.
Wait, what? A workaround?
Yes. Here’s what happened.
I was browsing the beer shelves last week and I spied a four-pack of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, a high-octane version of Guinness that I hadn’t had in many years. Just for old times’ sake, I grabbed it and bought it.
When I got home, I tried it and it immediately made me think of Guinness back in the day. It dawned on me that maybe whatever changes they made to regular Guinness (again, if any) didn’t get applied to FES. Of course FES is a different beast altogether, coming in around 7.5% alcohol by volume. Then a light bulb went off in my head.
I remembered that I had bought some Guinness draught in a can recently. So I reached into the fridge, grabbed a can and proceeded to blend the two beers together. I tried to make the mixture 50-50, but with the nature of carbonation, I’m not sure I hit that mark, but it was close enough.
Now I’m not here to claim the result was like Guinness in the 1990s and certainly not like Guinness I’ve had in Ireland. But you know what? It hovered close enough that the taste brought me back to the old days. I’m going to try it again soon, and will include a note on further findings at the end of an upcoming column. I may try different levels of each beer.
If you’re a Guinness drinker and believe it’s changed over the years, I’d love for you to try this experiment and let me know what you think at geolenker@yahoo.com.
Sláinte.
January 24, 2021 at 05:26PM
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Beer Nut: Creating a Guinness blend that recaptures familiar taste - MassLive.com
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