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Guinness

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Arthur Guinness Son & Co., founded 1756, produces a dark stout (a type of beer, specifically porter), known widely as Guinness, brewed at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland since 1759. It is also brewed under licence internationally - the resulting beer is, from all reports, significantly different. Guinness is available in a number of varieties and strengths, which include:

  • Guinness draught stout, sold in kegs;
  • Canned Guinness, which includes a widget to simulate draught Guinness;
  • Guinness Extra Stout, a bottled stout of higher gravity and strength than draught Guinness, for a longer shelf life;
  • Guinness Tropical Stout, an even stronger stout produced to keep in warm climates.

Draught Guinness and its canned namesake contain nitrogen (N2) as well as carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 dissolves in water to create carbonic acid which contributes to the smoothness of draught guinness. "Original Extra Stout" tastes quite different - it contains only CO2, making a more acidic taste.

Draught Guinness is considered at its best flavor when served cool and poured slowly; two-thirds are poured, and left to settle, before the rest is added. Recent advertising campaigns state that "it takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint" of Guinness. While this method of pouring (slow) is done in Ireland, many American bars seem to ignore the requisite 'slow pour'.

In addition to the slow pour, many people believe that it is a tradition in Ireland for the bar person to etch a shamrock in the head. This is a modern legend, probably invented in America, in the same vein as the "tradition" of drinking green beer on St Patrick's Day. Another myth is that Guinness is brewed using water from the River Liffey, which flows through Dublin close to St James's Gate; it actually comes from a spring in the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin.

A long time subject of bar conversations has been the observation that gas bubbles will travel downwards in a pint glass of Guinness. This legendary phenomenon used to be considered scientifically impossible and the observation of it was thought to be an illusion and a consequence of drinking one too many. However, it has recently been scientifically proven to be true: Gas bubbles really do descend in a Guinness pint glass. [1] [2] [3] While ordinary gases, being lighter than water (and Guinness beer), wouldn't normally travel downwards, researcher's use of a high speed camera has proven that the bubbles visible in a pint glass of Guinness really do. While there are different ways to recount what is happening, one way to explain the phenomenon is this: Due to ordinary rules of liquid behaviour, liquids will flow slower near a wall, mainly because of drag. So with Guinness, bubbles nearer to the edge of the glass, to start with, could (at best) only ascend slower than the ones in in the middle of the glass. Bubbles in center are not hindered by as much drag and will immediately rise much faster. As the rising bubbles drag liquid with them, a column of rising Guinness beer is formed in the middle. However, as nature abhors a vacuum, some liquid has to travel downwards to replace the liquid travelling up. The liquid near the edge (which was slower rising to start with) thus gets sucked downwards, establishing a circular current, with liquid (containing lots of bubbles) rising in the middle and liquid (also containing some bubbles) travelling downwards near the wall of the actual glass. Because Guinness is a dark, mostly opaque liquid, all the bubbles an observer will see from the outside are bubbles travelling downwards.

The Guinness brewery also makes other brands of alcoholic drink, including Harp lager, Smithwick's and Kilkenny. The company has a regional franchise to produce Budweiser beer.

Guinness use a harp as their trademark. The harp has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII (16th century). It features today on the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland and on the Presidential Standard, the image being based on the 11th century harp of Brian Boru. It also continues to feature on the British coat of arms and royal standards, as a reminder of the days when the Kingdom of Ireland formed part of the United Kingdom. Guinness adopted the Irish harp as a logo in 1862.

The Guinness company also produced the Guinness Book of Records, which originated in 1955 when a bar debate could not be settled with existing reference books. After merger with the firms of Arthur Bell and United Distillers, the resulting Guinness PLC, no longer headed by a family member, combined with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo PLC and the Book of Records was among the operations sold. Its new owner, Gullane Entertainment, was purchased in 2002 by Hit Entertainment.

The grandson of the original Arthur Guinness, Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, was Lord Mayor of Dublin and was created a baronet in 1867 and died the next year. His eldest son Arthur, Baron Ardilaun (1840-1915), sold control of the brewery to Sir Benjamin's third son Edward (1847-1927), who became 1st Earl of Iveagh. He and his son and great-grandson the 2nd and 3rd Earls chaired the Guinness company into the 1980s, at which time non-family chief executive Ernest Saunders became chairman as part of the merger with leading Scotch whisky producer United Distillers. After Saunders was forced out following revelations that the United stock price had been illegally manipulated, the family presence on the board declined rapidly, and no Guinness remains on the board of today's Diageo.

See also

McInnes (Scottish clan of the same origin)

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