The Proper Way To Drink A Guinness — 6 Steps

So, the bartender has done a professional job crafting the pint. As the pint is presented to you, the intensity is coming alive and that wonderful creamy head being formed. It’s time to drink your pint of Guinness. But as Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray says, there are proper steps to best taste the natural ingredients and 250 years of brewing art inside a pint of Guinness:

1. The Visual impact – you always drink a pint of Guinness with your eyes first. Take a moment to view the beauty of the beer in the glass. Never look down at a pint of Guinness; always look to the horizon and raise your pint to your mouth

2. Own the pint. Stand proud and stand tall. Feel confident and think, ‘This is my pint. I deserve it.’

3. Get your elbow up. Prepare to tilt the glass to allow your lips to pull the liquid through the glass.

4. Raise your pint and drink the liquid through the head. (Too often, a first‐time Guinness drinker will take a small sip and get only the creamy head, which is full of bitter tasting notes). By drinking through the head, you will get the roastiness of the barley in the liquid with a hint of bitterness from the head to
round out the overall taste experience.

5. Always drink from the same side of the glass so you can see the glass become laced and layered. With each pull from a pint of Guinness, you should see a “ring” of head inside your glass, which we refer to as “lacing.” Stand your ground, tilting the glass so you get enough liquid in your mouth, and energizing the four key elements of Guinness in all areas of the throat; 1) the sweetness of the malted barley on the front of your tongue 2) the roastiness of the roasted barley in the liquid on the sides of your mouth and the 3) the fantastic lingering hint of bitterness on the back of the throat as the liquid flows down. And best of all, 4) that fabulous smooth finish unique to Guinness draught as the taste buds awaken.

6. Drink responsibly. Guinness is a product for those that respect great beer and have great respect for themselves and those around them.

Fergal Murray, Brewmaster for Guinness

As master of one of the most famous brews in the world, what are your job responsibilities? Are you the one and only Brewmaster, or are there others?

I have a few responsibilities as Brewmaster. The first is to ensure that every ounce of Guinness that leaves St. James Gate is of the finest quality because people around the world have come to expect as much. Similarly, I help to ensure that our beer innovations meet our quality standards for taste, appearance and drinking experience. The second part of my job is traveling the world educating people on the proper way to serve and enjoy Guinness, including the fundementals of the Perfect Pour. I work alongside a number of beer making experts in our collective quest to create the pinnacle beer experience.

Pouring the Perfect Pint

1. Clean dry glass — preferably with branded logo and the 20 oz pint
2. Hold glass at 45 degree angle and never allow the spout to touch beer or glass
3. The Pour — pull faucet down and allow beer to fill glass – you will see the surge commence
4. The Settle — allow the nitrogen bubbles create the theatre and wonderful surge event creating the beautiful creamy head
5. The Top Up — the Beer has settled (distinct gap between dark liquid and head) and the glass is topped up slowly to create a domed effect with the head proud of the glass
6. The Presentation — Give the creation of the perfect pint to the adoring customer

• 1st Place: Big Woody, Glacier Brewhouse
• 2nd Place: Abacus Blend, Firestone Walker
• 3rd Place: Old Gnarlywine 2008, Lagunitas Brewing
• Honorable Mention: ODB, Oskar Blues Brewing

Congratulations to all the winners.

Here’s flight 2, for example, one cheese with four beers.

After choosing our favorite from each round, we handed in our scorecards and they tallied up the results to determine which pairings were the most popular. A prize was awarded to whoever correctly predicted the most popular choices. Only one person, for the second year running, chose all four most popular. While I’d argue that most popular doesn’t necessarily mean best, especially since people’s tastes and palettes vary widely, it was still a fun way to wrap up the evening and determine at least what a majority of people thought about the choices. Below is a list of each of the cheeses along with the beer pairings chosen by each brewery and then what was determined to be the most popular. The beer in bold was chosen as most popular and italics indicates my personal choice, in case you’re interested.

Cheese No. 1: Wavreumont (cow)

1. Molyan’s: Celt’s Golden Ale
2. Eel River: Triple Exultation
3. Mad River: Mad Belgian Golden Ale
4. Sierra Nevada: Kellerweis

Cheese No. 2: Petit Agour — Tomette d’Helette (sheep)

1. Molyan’s: American Hefeweizen
2. Eel River: Amber
3. Mad River: Jamaica IPA
4. Sierra Nevada: Pale Ale

Cheese No. 3: Sunlight (goat)

1. Molyan’s: Hells’ Lager
2. Eel River: Porter
3. Mad River: Jamaica Red Ale
4. Sierra Nevada: Torpedo Ale

Cheese No. 4: Bleu de Laqueuille (cow)

1. Molyan’s: Barrel-aged/blended Kilt Lifter
2. Eel River: IPA
3. Mad River: John Barleycorn Barleywine 2008
4. Sierra Nevada: Glissade Golden Bock

What’s interesting to me is that I chose all four of the beers from Mad River Brewing, and similarly last year I picked four of the five beers from a single brewery: Bear Republic. What that suggests is that while palates do differ, we tend to be in sync with them, that is my palate was similar to whomever chose the pairings last year at Bear Republic and this year at Mad River.

Bistro co-owner Cynthia at one of the cheese-off tables.

Hat’s off once more to Vic and Cynthia for coming up with such a simple yet effective new way to approach cheese and beer pairings. It’s such a great way to educate yourself about cheese and beer and at the same time have an enormously fun time. I really hope to see more of this type of event in the future.

Below is a slideshow of the Bistro Cheese-Off. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Collaboration: A Beer Dinner

Thursday, February 11th, 6:30 pm

Aspall Cuvee Chevallier Double Fermented Cyder

First Course

Local Fromage
cowgirl creamery Mt. Tam, Humboldt fog goat cheese, dried apricots, cinnamon smoked almonds,
malt crackers, Saison Imperiale beer jelly, white pepper infused 30 year old aged honey

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Signature Ale with Tomme Arthur

Second Course

Union Barrel Smoked Day Boat Scallops
atop Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale braised Belgian red endive, Les Deux Brasseurs Ale biere blanc and micro herb salsa

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Les Deux Brasseurs Ale with Jason Perkins

Third Course

IPA Ceviche Margarita
fresh halibut cured in citrus juices, Union Jack IPA, mangos, red onions, peppers and chilies, topped with an IPA foam

Firestone Walker Union Jack

Fourth Course

House-Made Sausage
Sonoma pork, infused with Sauserful of Secrets, thyme, dried fruit and caramelized shallots
on a bed of lentils, drizzled with a chorizo amarillo hop oil

Firestone Walker Bourbon Barrel Aged Saucerful of Secrets 2007

Fifth Course

Local Pork Belly
braised in Zoetzuur Flemish Ale on a bed of parsnip purée, Flemish ale reduction, raddish pickle

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Van Twee Ale with John Mallet

Sixth Course

Belgian Tamale
bison short ribs cooked “canronade style” in Van Twee, onions, shallots and thyme
stuffed into a sweet potato masa pillow, Black Xantus TCHO mole, beet foam

Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin

Seventh Course

French Flan
DBA beer caramel topped with dark chocolate Lozen Boer Abt pot de crème
pork fat shortbread cookies, malted mascarpone chantilly cream

Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale, 100% Oak Aged on Cask

Eighth Course

My Sweet Valentine

(chocolate truffles made with Pete Slosberg)

Van Twee Ale Caramel in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell
Black Xantus Caramel with TCHO Cocoa Nibs in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell
La Grande Blanche Brittle Infused with Blood Orange and Milk Chocolate in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell

Firestone Walker XIII Anniversary Ale

• 1st Place: Welcome Back Wipeout IPA, Pizza Port Brewing
• 2nd Place: HopSauce, Rubicon Brewing
• 3rd Place: II Max Imperial IPA, Triple Rock Brewing

• People’s Choice Award: Russian River Pliny the Younger

Below is a video of Vic and Cynthia announcing the winners.