17 March 2016

Do you know how to pour the perfect Guinness?

Do you know how to pour a perfect Guinness? And do you know how to recognise when it is less than perfect?

In 1759, Arthur Guinness began a brewing legacy at St James Gate, Dublin, and exported his first barrels of the black stuff to England 10 years later. But it wasn’t for another 200 years in 1959 that British pubs started to serve draught Guinness.

So with that much practice, how good are we at serving stout?

Not great, from anecdotal evidence. Here are THE recommended steps:

• Choose a cool, clean, dry UP-TO-DATE branded glass.
• Hover the glass under the tap at a 45°c without the nozzle touching the glass
• Pull handle forward until horizontal and fill the glass to 15 – 20mm from the top. Don’t dip the nozzle into the stout.
• Leave to settle (Guinness recommend you do this for “approx 119.5 seconds”)
• Top up by pushing the tap handle backwards until the head is just proud of the glass.
• Hand the pint, brand facing forwards, to the customer

Things to remember

• NO shamrock shapes in the head, or perhaps on St Patrick’s Day it’s allowed?
• Do not let the stout overflow – the outside of the glass should be dry
• Never use a spatula to level the head
• The head should be a crisp white colour – any discolouration indicates that the Guinness is in poor condition – check line hygiene and ensure beer is sold within 5-8 days of opening the keg.