On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone will be — at least for the day — Irish.
Everywhere you look, people will be wearing green, people will be drinking green beer (but please don’t) and even entire rivers will be dyed green, all to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, Patrick.
St. Patrick’s Day has become, at least here in the U.S., one of the big drinking holidays, a shift that has little to do with its original purpose. Until relatively recently, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was a somber, religious time of reflection; a day to spend with family and loved ones and attend Mass.
The traditional drink of choice for St. Patrick’s Day has become an Irish stout — a beer made famous by Guinness. There are other Irish stouts, most notably Murphy’s and Beamish, but Guinness is the one most closely associated, not just with the beer style, but with the country of Ireland itself.
Itap no coincidence that the Guinness logo is an Irish harp (or cláirseach), which is also Ireland’s official national symbol. The only difference is that the country of Ireland’s harp faces the opposite direction. Even today, Guinness is brewed in about 50 countries and available in 120, although I’ve heard that there are at least 11 different recipes for Guinness depending on where itap brewed and what packaging will be used.
The Guinness brewery essentially invented the beer style we call the Irish dry stout as early as the 1820s. Arthur Guinness started the brewery in Dublin in 1759 and originally brewed lighter ales, like brown ale. Around 1778, he started making a porter, which at the time was very popular in London. When his son, Arthur II, took over the brewery, he began making a stronger version called the extra stout porter, and eventually dropped porter from the name when its popularity skyrocketed. It made Guinness the largest brewery in Ireland.
So what makes Guinness Guinness? While originally stronger than a porter, modern Irish dry stouts are actually lower in alcohol, usually between 3.8% and 5% ABV. Guinness falls within that range at around 4.2% ABV. This beer style’s defining characteristics include a jet-black appearance, often with ruby highlights, and a creamy tan head. The scent is usually dominated by coffee aromas, along with notes of chocolate and roasted grains, like toast. Floral or earthy hop character may come through, but it won’t always, depending on the beer.
Despite being low-alcohol, Irish dry stouts are relatively full-bodied and creamy, especially in the draft versions served in bars. Bottles are not as good at retaining the creaminess of the stout, which is why Guinness developed the nitrogen widget can. When the can is filled, both carbon dioxide and nitrogen are added, along with a small round plastic “widget” with two pinholes. When the can is cracked open, the widget causes the nitrogen to surge, making it taste smoother and giving it a velvety texture. The effect more closely resembles kegs of Guinness (which also use nitrogen mixed with CO2).
The resulting taste is like roasted grain and coffee or bittersweet dark chocolate. The bitterness can be moderate to high, with some sweet caramel notes balancing it. The finish is typically dry, though the overall effect should be smoothness.
Although itap hard to imagine, if you can’t find any Guinness (maybe they’re sold out?), there are many other stouts you can choose from for St. Patrick’s Day. To find the proper type of stout, look for the words “dry” or “Irish” in the beer’s name or on the label.
