Looks like the Americanized Guinness is starting on the easy drinking side for their first big Maryland brewery release…
I do like the Maryland state flag in the background and I hope this blonde is a good choice for summer.
Pure
Take a peek at this video….
…I don’t know how people will react to the famous dark beer brewers creating a light option but I would be very interested in trying it.
Guinness 200
On International Stout Day, I found myself near Staples Center at a party thrown by Guinness to celebrate the release of their new Guinness 200th Anniversary Ale.
Was there nitro ice cream? Yes.
Was there coffee infused Guinness? Yes.
Was Guinness Blonde available or the Nitro IPA? The former for some unknown reason considering that it sure wasn’t Blonde Ale day.
The verdict on the new beer: It is a nice companion piece to the draught and Foreign Export (which I also tried) but it wasn’t strikingly different like the Antwerpen Stout is. Don’t let that nitpickery make you think that I didn’t like because I did. But it is almost less a variant and more of a slight tweak. I did hear that a barrel-aged version might be coming from the Maryland office. That really intrigues me.
Irish Dairy
The humble Milk Stout is not one of those beer styles that people decide that they are going to mass produce, it might get trotted out as a seasonal or get imperialized for an anniversary ale, so to see Guinness bring one out as part of their extension (and in cans no less) is heartening to see.
Faucet Video
We here in the U.S. should probably be forced to watch “how to pour” videos. OK, I mean mostly me. Either way, it is still instructional.
200 Years in the US
Has it been that long? Not that I was here for all of it but if Guinness says they have been sending us their fine Irish stout for 200 years, then I will believe them. It would have been cool to see the Toucans flying above other American landmarks like the Grand Canyon or the Space Needle, or even the Hollywood Sign, dare I say.
Cheers to the next 200!
Guinness 200
I don’t know how drastically different this beer will be from the other iterations of Guinness and Guinness Export Stout but I gotta say that the label is quite classy. I first have to get ahold of the wheat beer and then look for this one.
This Wheat has a Brogue
I am glad that the venerable Guinness is “opening the gate” and doing beers outside the Stout zone. Which is why that I am glad to see the new Irish Wheat hit our shores.
Why? Because America seems to have the mantle of taking a classic style and American-izing it. So why can’t there be an Irish take on a hefe?
Here is what Guinness has to say about Irish Wheat:
It “is a clean, crisp refreshing tasting beer with notes of zesty citrus, subtle clove and banana. It is light, golden with a typical wheat haze.”
Sounds like a summer beer to me.
Guinness in Maryland
Apparently, the East Coast of the U.S. is where it’s at for brewery locations but this time, it is not a brewery from the west that is breaking ground but instead stoic (with hints of change) Guinness that is planting a “Coming Soon” flag.
The oddly named Relay, Maryland will be the site for a U.S. version of Dublin’s popular Guinness Open Gate Brewery, it will be a mid-sized brewery and visitor experience. Just without the huge facility and without any stout which will not be brewed stateside. The Maryland “facility will brew and feature beers created solely for the American market.”
I did not know this but it is a return to the U.S. for Guinness after 63 years.
Even More New Guinness
St. James Gate has a pair of new beers in the pipeline from their Brewers Project & Open Gate Brewery. I was invited to their latest SoCal Guinness event, this one at the Holding Co. up an alley off of Beverly to sample Antwerpen Stout & Rye Pale Ale. When last we heard from the Irish brewery, they had released the West Indies Porter and Dublin Porter. Two recipes from the vaults that were variants on what Guinness is known for, dark malty beers. This time (in what I think is a better move), they have released a lighter beer alongside a porter.
The Rye Pale Ale pours a slightly hazy amber color. At first, I thought there was not much hopping to it. Then I recalibrated my out of balance hop palate and found that this beer has a good spritz to it with a smallish hit of hops and rye spice. The taste does stick. And as I drank more, I enjoyed it more. It is an upgrade from the Nitro IPA in that the name is more in line and it has a story behind it as well. The RPA being a brew that was a Christmas gift beer for friends and family before ever going on tap. Once it did go on tap, it sold and became a candidate for packaging.
Antwerpen Stout to me is all licorice. This beer also has a story as it was first brewed after World War II for the City of Antwerp market. It is also much bigger at 8% and quite chewy to me. When chocolates and truffles were passed around you could see people making sure they had the beer to pair the chocolate with.
I also got to speak with Owen the West Coast Brand Ambassador for Guinness about what is new and I learned a couple of cool things. They have now opened a tasting room for the R&R Open Gate Brewery. But it is only (currently) open on Thursday and Friday and by online reservation only. They let only 120 people in and that is it. No lines allowed. Plan ahead if you want to visit. And you might want to because they are not just a porter/stout brewery. No matter your feeling of Nitro IPA or their Blonde American Lager (that is brewed at the old Rolling Rock facility in Pennsylvania), they are trying to be seen as a full brewery that isn’t limited to one style. Case in point, they recently had a plum sour on tap.
Considering that Guinness is part of a massive corporation with a long history behind it, and a signature ale that at times blocks out the rest of their line, it is good to see that new stuff is bubbling out from Dublin. The last four beers that have come out have been much better and not trying to bandwagon or ape popular styles which is a plus.
