The Infamous Stout

The day had finally arrived. I promised that I would work my way to try the infamous stout, and that day had finally arrived. As I've mentioned before, I am a college student and finals are around the corner so its the perfect time to finish up this adventure before the stress levels of exams reeks havoc on me.

My stout of choice is Guinness Draught in the bottle. Guinness is a famous beer from a company that started in Dublin in the 1700s. There are four key ingredients: barley (specifically roasted barley which gives it a burnt taste), hops ( feminine hops), water, and GUINNESS yeast. This process consists of milling, then mashing, seperating, boiling, fermentation, maturation, and finally packaging. The packaging is very important, for example in the Guinness Draught nitrogen is added which gives it its famous head. While there are many resources online about how to pour the perfect Guinness, it is best to drink Guinness Draught Bottle straight from the bottle.

Before I could even open the bottle, my nerves were going wild.There aren't many people who actually like Guiness so I was pretty intimidated. In my mind I envisioned Guinness drinkers as ultimate beer drinkers, the tough guys of the beer drinking society, and I was pretty sure there was no way I could be apart of that group. I popped the bottle cap off and took a whiff. It smelled something like coffee, black coffee. I poured a little into a glass to see the color. It was a really dark brown almost black color with a foamy head. Then I tasted it. Whoa. I really like Guiness! The beer was really smooth and tasted something like coffee and almost but not really sweet. The coffee taste comes from the roasted barley. There wasn't an after bite either. The day had finally come and I succeeded. I drank a Guiness, the infamous stout, and I liked it. Guiness was my favorite beer from all of the ones I tried. I looked to Beeradvocate.com as usual for another review:
Stro23m ( Pikeville, Kentucky )

A+ / 4.9
look: 5 smell: 4.5 taste: 5 feel: 5 drink: 5
rDev: +31%

I Love this beer more than any other stout, its classic and delicious.

reminds me of cold good coffee.

my mom hates beer and when i got her to try a sip from nitro can poured into glass she said she was suprised and enjoyed it.

Not the most punch u in the face stout out there but has very good flavor to be a stout.

i love the bitter choclate and coffe flavor to this beer.

This beer is best if u can find it on tap not regular tap but on nitro tap.

A- dark almost black
S- malt
T- delicious if u like stouts
M- creamy thicker than most beers
D- if you like stouts this is probobly the most drinkable one out there.

overall impression= this beer is sexy and seductive

Serving type: nitro-tap

Reviewed on: 10-09-2008 04:35:02

I agree almost completely with this review, except I'm not sure I would have described it as sexy and seductive, but to each his own.

When I started this endeavor to find a love of beer, I had no idea what to expect. I planned on trying several different beers and finding a beer that truly suited my tastes. I hoped that this girly frou-frou drinker could change and become a beer drinker. So what were my results? I tried several different beers including lambics, fruit beers, lagers, ales, and even a stout. I learned to appreciate the art that goes into beer brewing and most importantly I discovered certain tastes that I did and did not enjoy. For instance, I now know that I do not enjoy beers with a strong hoppy taste. The bitterness throws me for a loop; Also, I can actually drink a round of beers, not because I have to but because I want to. Honestly, I was skeptical of whether or not I would succeed because the smell of beer alone used to make my stomach turn; however, this adventure has become a learning experience I won't soon forget.

So the question now is did I succeed? Do i love beer? I want to say yes, but love is such a strong word;hoever, I feel that I did succeed because while I don't constantly crave beer or want it more than sweet frou frou drinks everytime, I've found a few beers that I actually enjoy drinking. I'm not intimidated by any beer and I've become open to trying all beers. Just because I won't be documenting every new beer I try, doesn't mean that I'm not going to continue to try new beers. This adventure is over but its just the beginning.

The day for the infamous stout came and went. I bought a Guinness, conquered it, drank it, and loved every bit of it. (Guinness drinkers aren't that tough, they can't be because I'm one of them.)

Thank you for following me in my search for the love of beer, I appreciated your comments and encouragement and I hope I've at least inspired you to try a new beer as well.