George Mahe
Ask George: Is Guinness better on tap, or in a bottle or can? Pat O, St. Louis
An important (some say the most important) component of Guinness on tap is the creamy head, a result of both CO2 and nitrogen being used to deliver the beer. The former causes the familiar, bigger bubbles used in other carbonated beverages and the latter creates tiny bubbles that produce Guinness’ signature creaminess. (People familiar with "nitro" coffee, a relative newcomer to the coffee market, are familiar with the same creamy mouth feel.)
Most Guinness drinkers prefer Guinness on tap for that reason. Mike Sweeney (local beer guru, founder of STL Hops, and current Operations Manager for 2nd Shift Brewing), agrees. “The use of nitrogen is what separates Guinness from most other draft beers,” he says. “The mouth feel and that cascading effect in the glass is what makes Guinness, Guinness.” And the best way to enjoy it, he opines, is on draft, “as long as the tap lines are clean.”
To attempt to replicate the creaminess in a canned product, the brewers of Guinness patented a spherical, floating “widget” in the 1990s (they called it the "Smoothifier") that was placed into cans of Guinness. When opened, the pressure change causes the device’s nitrogen to be released into the beer, creating the same creamy head as when poured when the tap. Widgets of different shapes and sizes were subsequently added to some bottled versions of Guinness. Today, many beer brands in the UK use similar widgets to the same end.
Aficionados admit the effort is a noble one, but that it’s difficult to duplicate the experience of having a Guinness poured directly in front of you, a time consuming effort if done properly. No one explains the process better than Fergal Murray, former Guinness Master Brewer and Global Brand Ambassador:
When asked the preferred way to drink Guinness, Eddie Neill, veteran restaurateur and owner of the former Dubliner Pub downtown, told SLM that “draft Guinness would be number one—by far—then cans, and then bottles,” adding “only in a pinch and in Guinness cocktails” for the latter. “The two things people don’t realize about Guinness,” he says “are its versatility as a cocktail mixer and the calories [125—15 more than a 12-ounce Bud Light]. “People see the dark color and assume that Guinness is heavy and loaded with calories. Well, guess what...it’s neither.”
If you have a question for George, email him at gmahe@stlmag.com.
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