Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout

Brewed by St. James’s Gate (Diageo)
Style: Dry Stout
Dublin, Ireland

A great addition to the Guinness repertoire! This one is a cross between the bottled extra stoudt, and the more popular nitrogen-infused canned/bottled stoudt. Very earthy aroma of rich dark malt. Flavor is dark coffee malt, with some sweet chocolate/cocoa. Very good beer overall.

Very smooth! Dark cola color with strong head and lacing. Good overall flavor with a smooth finish. Nice touch of bitterness in the aftertaste. Very enjoyable.

12 oz bottle from the Binnys Singles Rack (Orland Park, IL). Pours a ruby over midnight, opaque black with ruby bottom and edges, small light brown head that stays at a small level, light lacing. Aromas are roasted barley, a touch of light dark chocolate, Irish soda bread and dryness, light coffee. Initial is lighter bodied, a good roast and dry irish soda bread with light bready sweetness, roasted barley, with a touch of sweet chocolate that comes in further into the body. Slight lactose sweetness? Not sure of that, but this is a light, roasty and touch sweet. Light coating, a touch bitter, but smooth. Lack of nitro is nice, gives you a better feel of the actual flavors. Not bad.

This beer pours dark brown with a thick and fluffy beige head that relentlessly burns away to almost nothing. Patchy lacing on the glass. Roasted malt aroma with a bit of cocoa. Medium body with flavors of burnt malt, coffee and sweet chocolate. The finish is roasty with a short malt and coffee aftertaste. Decent overall, but it would have been nice to have something more exciting for the occasion.

From the bottle this brew poured cola caramel colored with a fluffy ashy grey, tan head. Smells of dark chocolate and soy sauce. Tastes pretty much the same. Smooth, mildly creamy, it’s a bit overcarbed and thin, with a bit of metallic acidity. I like original Guinness Draught a lot better, but this is great paired with a meal, say teriyaki chicken.

THOUGHTS: Not much better than the original and definitely not as good as the Extra Stout. There was a chemical or artificial flavor that was a real turn-off. There was a good stout in there somewhere, but it was watered down until it drowned. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, very dark red that was nearly black in the glass with bright red highlights in the light. It had a large, light tan head that kept a thin sheet and left just barely fair lacing. The aroma was moderate to heavy roasted malt, slight cocoa and chocolate syrup, but it was an artificial chocolate taste that was turning me off. The initial flavor was bitter and a little sweet; while the finish was sweet acidic and bitter. There was roasted malt, a little of that artificial (or at least cheap) chocolate, flat cola, maybe slight anise or licorice, but it was so watered down it was hard to tell. The light to medium body was fairly dry with very tingly carbonation and a light chalky finish.

Bottle: The aroma consists of moderate dark chocolate and cocoa as well as some light roastiness. It pours a dark brown with orange highlights and a moderate beige head that leaves behind some nice webbing behind. The flavor starts with dark chocolate. The dark chocolate is quickly covered up by a harsh metallic roastiness in the finish. The metallic finish is pretty brutal and makes it almost undrinkable. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.