Not yet named food entry: Irish Stout Porters (Ireland)

I’m back from Ireland and I am pleased to report that I was able to sample my Irish Food Trinity.  I started on day two at Abrakebabra with my chips and curry and went until my second to last day to get the brown bread ice cream at Gogarty’s.  In the middle, I enjoy many pints of Guinness, Smithwick’s, Bulmers (Cider) and the odd European beer.  The majority of my drinks were one of the three well-known Irish Stout Porters – Guinness, Murphy’s and Beamish.

I lauded Guinness before leaving for Ireland and I finally got to visit the Guinness Storehouse in St. James’s Gate to learn more about the brew.  First, it is truly red.  The malted barley is roasted a deep brown to bring out the flavor through the burnt sugars.  This roasting is responsible for the deep ruby red color that Guinness actually is.  If you don’t believe, take a glassful of Guinness (or some of you will just take mine) and hold it up to the light and see that it’s a very deep red.

Getting schooled on Guinness draught  pouring

Then, I learned how to pour a legitimate pint of Guinness.  Nitrogen gas gives us the cream-like head and it takes 119.5 seconds at minimum to pour the perfect draught.  You pour the beer into a pint glass ¾ of the way full, and then wait for the Guinness surge to finish.  This tumbling of nitrogen and carbon dioxide takes a tan looking pour and settles into the start of the iconic black beer with creamy head that we all know.  After the surge has settled, you top off the pint to make the head.

The Irish stout porter tasted even more surprisingly light in my mouth than I remembered.  The mouth feel was light and airy for a liquid, not abrasive like a carbonated soft drink. In Ireland, Guinness had more sweet favors like malt, chocolate and caramel without the usual peaty, bitter aftertaste that I recall from Stateside Guinness. The more pungent flavors of molasses and burnt sugar are lacking, too.

Said Murphy's in honor of my friend, Murph

I didn’t seek out any tours of remaining 2 famous stouts’ facilities, but I’m going to assume that the creation and the pouring of the beers are similar to Guinness. Therefore in honor of my friend, Murph, I made sure that I had a Murphy’s Irish Stout, the main competitor of Guinness.  The drink has a similar mouth feel to Guinness; it was a rolling liquid with a hint of thickness.   This beer has more of a nutty flavor with a slight hint of mocha. Unlike Guinness, there is no bitter aftertaste.

Finishing out the troika of Irish Stout, I made sure that I had a Beamish in Courtney’s in Killarney. Beamish is the pride and joy of Cork. (Ironically, though, the Beamish & Crawford brewery, the originator of the beer, closed in 2009 and now Beamish is brewed at the nearby Heineken Brewery, which was previously a Murphy's Brewery.) Do not go to Ireland’s largest county and expect Guinness. Meanwhile, this beer is the lightest stout in mouth feel and taste.  While Beamish is malty, dark and chocolaty, it is not as intense as the other two brews.  The beer’s consistency still rolls yet it’s light and covers the palate rather than fill the mouth.

The Quays, a site of many Murphy's and Guinness downed

When in Cork, I will always order a Beamish! On the rest of the island, it will be a tough decision between Murphy’s and Guinness.