Believe it or not, more than one million pints of Guinness stout will be drank across Canada this coming St. Patrick’s Day.
If you think you’re missing something in your glass because you’re not having one in Ireland you’re wrong. If I learned one thing during my trip there last fall it was that Guinness tastes the same from a tap in Belfast, Galway, Cork and Dublin as it does from one anywhere in our country.
What you might have a little trouble believing is that the liquid inside a can of Guinness Draught (4 x 440 ml, $10.95 – $12.49) – that you can pick up at your local liquor store – also tastes the same as a freshly poured pint from any tavern on the Emerald Isle.
Save your emails, beer geeks. I drank my body weight in the stuff during my week-long trip – including one at the bar on top of the brewery itself – and couldn’t tell the difference.
It’s the nitrogen-laden widget floating inside the can that allows the beer to keep its true Irish personality. Released when the can is opened the gas gives the brew its thick head and fresh from the tap flavour. Sláinte!
Prices reflect the range across the country. Some products may not be available in all provinces.
Peter Rockwell is the everyman’s wine writer, working in the liquor industry for more than 25 years and travelling the globe looking for something to fill his glass and put into words.
