I’m running into the same problem as UnsofistaCat -- I tumbled into a Dublin pub in Temple Bar -- maybe the Quays -- and had a pint of Brew 39. It’s like Guinness with the soul extracted from it. The hop presence smooths the beer and gives it a little drier, more bitter finish. Other than that, the two look and smell alike. Also has a bit of a hop tang to it. It’s certainly not an adventurous creation, but, then again, Guinness seem to be doing something right.

This seemed to be some special release only on tap in Dublin. Its very smooth and is missing much of the classic bitter and roasted taste of the normal dry stout. It looks exactly the same. However, there seemed to be a much higher amount of hops that were boiled in the wort either midway or even within the last two minutes giving it a much more flowery appeal. While the Irish seem to scorn it, I actually found it to be very enjoyable. However, finding some different beers on tap in Ireland can be rough, so maybe it was just a little diversity I enjoyed. I hope someone capable of giving this beer the rating it deserves follows this up. I’m incapable of giving specifics because I only had this once, a week ago and late at night in the Temple Bar district, so cut me some slack.