Guinness Draught

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

God, I love this stuff! What a fantastic thing that little floating widget is; it really makes this beer come alive and puts it streets ahead of the bottled version. The colour is such a lovely dark brown with traces of the head swirling though and the head itself - utterly gorgeous. Thick and creamy, just like it was pumped by hand. Aroma and taste are rife with roasted malt and some coffee, perhaps chocolate as well. But, on revisiting a can of this supposed nectar last night, I was struck by how "thin" the mouthfeel is. Therefore, I had to decrease my ratings by a couple of notches.

Simple dark brew, but the Guinness look and taste was one of the reasons I started drinking beer in the first place. It’s a smooth taste of all malts and barley, but that’s all right. One could complain about the lack of complexity, but this is easily one of the best widely distributed beers in the world.

It’s the granddaddy of the dry stouts. For most Americans, it’s the first beer with a color that dark or a head that rich they’ve ever seen - so it’s unfairly (I think) called "heavy" when in fact it’s actually a very drinkable beer, neither filling like a sweeter stout nor as high-alcohol as some of the green-hats-on-St.-Patties’-Day crowd claims. Not, in fact, my favorite dry stout, but I love it, like my granddaddy.

Can. Poured a light brown at first and then the color falls and turns black as night. Creamy thick off white head. This beer really looks good. Doesn’t really smell like much. Maybe a slight coffee on the nose. Taste bitter all through the mouth with some burnt coffee. More watered down than I like but still a good beer. Maybe a little over hyped.

Amazing beer. Smells of coffee and goes down very smooth leaving a tiny bitter taste at the back of your mouth. An easy choice for any day of the week.

Before I knew what real heavey beer was this was a good one. Now, to me it almost tastes watery compared to other stouts. It has a decent coffee taste but this is just a beer I could never get into.