After knocking back the standard Guinness Draught and the special Guinness Extra Stout I was excited to finally get a chance to try the Foreign Extra Stout. The Foreign Extra Stout is the highest rated Guinness product on RateBeer.com and is otherwise widely regarded as their best product. This is one of the oldest variants of Guinness available and is basically their extra stout with a kicked up level of hops for export, quite like how Pale Ale became India Pale Ale. I’m pretty psyched for this beer!
Brewery: Guinness
Beer: Foreign Extra Stout
Style: Foreign Extra Stout
Alcohol by volume: 7.5%
Pure blackness topped with some of the thickest darkest tan head I’ve ever seen. I do aggressive pours in general and clearly went far to aggressive on this one. That head hung around for a very long time but what was beneath it was fantastic.
Lots of roasted grain and alcohol aroma gets all up in your nose mixing with some sweetness that I can’ quite identify, but I’m guessing is caramel.. There is a small bit of hoppy aroma as well, but not too much.
Like most stouts the flavor is malt forward with roasted malts bringing in some bread & bitterness. The amount of alcohol I’m getting is a bit surprising since it only clocks in at 7.5%. There is also a slight balance brought in by some hops that come off mostly with earthy flavors.
Silky smooth medium body with some carbonation. Really an amazing mouth feel.
Great beer that is far better than the standard Guinness. It’s not about to convert me to being a stout-fanatic and I still prefer Sierra Nevada’s Stout. Still, if you see this around grab it. You should be able to find it at any better beer seller as well as Kroger Marketplaces… but check the date code as follows:
The lot code will be listed as a number starting with L followed by four numbers, such as L1244, with additional digits. This would be the 1st of September, of 2011. In this example the first 1 is 2011, and the 244 is the 1st of September using the Julian date calendar in which each day is sequentially numbered, i.e. January 1st is one, the 2nd is two, and so on.
BrewMinds 
I’ve come across many who don’t know that Guinness makes multiple beers, let alone some really great variations from their traditional draught brew. (For sake of quality, Black Lager will remain out of this conversation)
While the draught will always hold a special place in my heart, I agree with you. I like the complexity of the foreign extra stout a bit more.
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Not to quibble on any fine points, but FES, while being available inconsistently here in West Virginia, is a beer I will always pick up wherever I find it. If I’m on the road, I buy it and then drink it as soon as I can get it down to forty-five or fifty degrees Fahrenheit. I want a stout that represents a stout: that is, something from GB that’s made so well that it can’t have any apologetics. Drop a shot glass of Jameson’s twelve-year old whiskey in this beer, and you have my “Bombardier”, arguably the best boilermaker-derived, working-class drink ever conceived. And it must be noted clearly that The Bombardier works astoundingly well with Foreign Extra Stout, but is only whiskey and beer with ANY other stout. Buy this black stuff when you find it for sale. And make sure you then thank the store owner for stocking it.
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I had this in Jamaica and am on a mission to find it here in San Diego. Don’t think I’ll have any luck, though. I embrace all Guinness, but this was a cut above the rest.
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I’m on a mission to find this in San Diego. Or California, for that matter. I had it in Jamaica, and it was excellent. I know it won’t necessarily be the same, here, but I’ve got to get my hands on it. I’ve called all the surrounding bottle shops and BevMos, etc., with no luck.
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If you can’t find any I’d be delighted to trade you some in exchange for some excellent San Diego brews
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Sounds like a deal!!
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I found it, I found it! In a dusty, banged up case of Guinness Winter Selection at BevMo in north county San Diego.
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