For your St. Patrick’s Day edification, KimandTonic presents to you a Grand List of Guinness Things You Should Know, because I will never actually review a Guinness (and let’s face it: if you have not yet had a pint of Guinness, you are probably not reading a beer blog).
- There are roughly 170 calories in a 160z pint of Guinness. (1) In comparison, the same amount of Bud Light contains approximately 143. Michelob Light contains 177. (5) Lesson: DRINK THE GOOD STUFF.
- A perfect pint of Guinness should take 199.5 seconds to pour, including rest time halfway through the pour. (6)
- The foamy head on a pint of Guinness contains, on average, 300,000,000 bubbles. (3)
- Guinness initially brewed what they referred to as a porter. They began using the “stout” label to apply to the strongest, bestest of their beers, calling it Guinness Stout Porter. The porter label was eventually dropped, and we have our name. (8)
- Guinness has a high iron content, which has led to its dispersal in hospitals (it occasionally still is in Ireland). (1)
- The lease on St. James Gate is 9000(!) years long, at an annual fee of roughly $65. (7) Arthur Guinness must have been one hell of a cocky bastard to make a bet like that (and prove his point, no less). The poor fop who sold him the brewery was a Mark Rainsford, whose own attempts at brewing had not been quite so profitable. (8)
- The Guinness served in America is the exact same Guinness as the stuff served in Ireland. Really. It’s even brewed at St. James Gate.* So if your pint doesn’t taste as good as your remembered pint did in Ireland, it’s because of the travel time. Or because your pub doesn’t keep its keg lines clean enough. Or because drinking a pint in Ireland is one of life’s best experiences. (4) (See note at bottom – there is some question about this one.)
- Guinness is popular in Africa. Nigeria is apparently the world’s third largest beer market. They say that their version (a super-sweet export version) enhances virility. (1) Bonus fact: Nigerian Guinness is made mostly from sorghum, rather than barley. (2)
- The Guinness Book of World Records was established by a Guinness executive (Hugh Beaver, setting a possible World Record for Most Unfortunate Name) to have a way to settle bar arguments. (1)
Sources:
1 – http://www.guinnessontap.com/modules/Trivia/
2 – http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/191393
3 – http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=136220813845
4 – http://sixpacktech.com/2010/03/17/guinness-facts/
5 – http://www.annecollins.com/calories/calories-light-beer.htm
6 – http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/Top-10-Guinness-Facts-93321039.html
7 – http://przman.com/eat/happy-st-patty%E2%80%99s-day-17-guinness-facts/
8 – http://www.curiousread.com/2010/03/10-frothy-facts-about-guinness-st.html
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*This was news to even me.
To note: at least one friend says he thinks Guinness for America is brewed in Canada, and that was what I had been thinking as well. So take what you will from this: either there are multiple answers, or, you know, someone on the internet is wrong.
Gasp! This internets are never wrong. Conflicting information be damned. It’s all right!
That’s some good trivia, thanks for sharing!
Great Post. I love Guinness! While I usually seek out the wild and funky brews at most bars Guinness is always my fallback beer. Here are some other Guinness points:
1) Guinness is brewed under licence internationally in several countries, including Nigeria, the Bahamas, Canada, and Indonesia. The unfermented but hopped Guinness wort extract is shipped from Dublin and blended with beer brewed locally. This is why Guinness in the USA tastes different (it may have “partially” come from Canada, depending on where you get it, but it technically also “partially” came from the St James Gate). [The engineering firm I work for built these facilities for Diagio]
2) Most vegans won’t drink Guinness. The Guinness production process involves the use of isinglass made from dried fish swim bladders. It is used for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass mostly remains in the floor of the vat but it is possible that very small quantities might be carried over into the beer.