Pouring a pint of Guinness is an art form. Despite appearances, a pint of Guinness is not easy to pour and consume. Every time you pour a pint of Guinness, you follow a certain ritual that you learned from your grandfather. If you don’t go about it in the correct way, not only will others look down on you, but your pint will be subpar as well.
How to Pour a Perfect Pint of Guinness
When it comes to pouring a perfect pint of Guinness, there is a tried and true procedure that has been authorized by the brewery. And then there’s the somewhat different approach used by bartenders in Ireland. There is also a standard, speedy way of pouring a regular beer that is utilized by most bartenders worldwide; some of them even serve Guinness without the traditional “2 part pour,” which is shocking to many beer purists.
- Pouring a pint of Guinness into an authentic Guinness branded glass should take 125.27 seconds and the glass should be used just for pouring Guinness.
- The glass should be tilted at a 45-degree angle with respect to the tap’s spout, which should be kept near to but not in contact with the glass.
- Each Guinness glass has a harp design at the base, and the liquid level should reach that mark when the pour begins. Without hesitating, the tap must be pushed straight down.
- The glass should be filled to the top edge of the harp symbol, or three-quarters to the top of the glass itself, with a little straightening of the glass when pouring.
- The pint has to be allowed to settle, which is the most important step. Brownish in hue, the liquid will have the appearance of clouds churning and ebbing inside it.
- After a minute or two, this will settle and darken completely. If you want your glass to be perfectly full, you should fill it by carefully pushing the tap in the other way. This is what makes the foamy top. If there is any foam that has to be removed from the top to prevent spilling, you will need to begin the process all over again.
A guide to enjoying a Pint of Guinness.
The act of consuming a Guinness is just as ritualistic as the act of pouring it. The first rule of drinking a pint that has been poured in two stages is that you should wait until the bartender has set it down before you take a sip.
It’s likely that the cloudiness returned when you were pouring the head, so you’ll want to let it settle once again. You should wait until the white and black lines have separated before taking a drink. That initial gulp should be substantial enough to get you past all that froth and into the rich black liquid underneath. This will keep the initial flavor from becoming very bitter.
If you want to leave around five or six rings of foam around the edge of your glass, you should drink the remainder of your pint in similarly large gulps. Finally, have fun with it!
An Overview of the Origins of the Guinness Two-Part Pour
The origin of the Guinness 2 part pour technique may be traced back to the 1930s when it was developed as a solution to an issue. There were both well-conditioned and poorly conditioned barrels of Guinness beer, with the latter being more mature and vivacious. Bartenders back then had to use beer from the low cask to fill a glass halfway before adding more beer from the high cask. Every bartender seems to have their own method for this very complicated procedure.
Guinness sought out Michael Ash, a mathematician-turned-brewer, in 1951 to help stimulate creative thinking. Gaseous nitrogen, which makes up about 75 percent of the air we breathe, was the clear choice for Ash because, as he put it, “it’s entirely inert.” That worked well for what I needed it for. In 1959, in honor of the brewery’s 200th anniversary, Nitro Guinness Stout was introduced after extensive trials and keg testing.
What is the official beer of St Patrick’s day?
Guinness is most likely the first drink that springs to mind when thinking of the most traditional beverages associated with Saint Patrick’s Day. Drinking an Irish beer really does seem like it should be a must around the holidays.
Toasting Your Pint of Guinness
Guinness themselves show off one of the most popular, honoring the rituals surrounding the perfect pint and ceremoniously greeting good health with the Irish term “Sláinte.” [Celebrating the traditions surrounding the perfect pint]
So raise a glass of Ireland’s most renowned brew, Guinness, and offer a toast to your health while using the Irish term “sláinte,” which literally translates to “cheers.”
Translating to “good health” in English, sláinte [try saying slawn-tche] is an Irish expression that derives from the word “slán,” meaning “healthy” or “safe”.
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