Beer Review: Guinness Extra Stout

Guinness doesn’t make many styles of beer, at least compared to most American craft Brewers. Making just the Draught, Extra Stout, and Foreign Extra Stout regularly and then a small spattering of others which are mostly one offs. I wasn’t hugely impressed by the Draught, it’s a decent beer but not a good or great beer. I’ve heard amazing things about the Foreign Extra Stout but tonight I’m drinking the Extra Stout.

The Extra Stout has an interesting story behind it. Seems this is the original recipe for what we now think of as Guinness, according to Wikipedia the beer was toned down in the 70s to make it more marketable. That is why this same beer is the called Guinness Original across the pond. The other interesting, and far more important, thing is that this is brewed in Canada. That much is known from the label on the bottle, the following is a bit of varying info from the Internet. According to some sites Guinness exports the unfermented wort from Ireland to Canada to be brewed there. While that is all fun to know drinking is better!

Brewery: Guinness
Beer: Extra Stout
Style: Dry Stout
Alcohol by volume: 5%

Pours a deep dark black with a lot of tan head. The head started huge and thick but started to come down quickly and it came down kinda lumpy, not very attractive, but left massive lace all over the place.

Strong roasted malt aroma with a bit of coffee and some sweetness that I can’t quit place, guessing very light chocolate.

Nice flavor with some acidic malt action from the roasting. The malt also brings in some sweetness kinda like molasses. Somewhat surprisingly there is actually a bit of citrus/lemon hop flavor. Not too much bitterness going on which balances everything out quite nicely.

Smooth and creamy mouth feel with a light body.

This is a really great beer and is, in my opinion, what Guinness Draught should be. It’s got great history, style, flair, taste, and an acceptable strength. This has redeemed Guinness, after being less than impressed by the Draught, for me and leaves me super excited for trying the Foreign Extra Stout. I found this at the Kroger marketplace at Cin-day and 129 so I imagine it’s available at most better beer stores. I strongly encourage you to check it.