Guinness is one of those rare beers that simply pisses me off. Why? Because I remember drinking the famous Irish stout back when it truly was an appetizingly roasty delight. Despite its low alcohol content, it was remarkably full-bodied, richly complex, and most importantly, seriously dry and even slightly tangy.
Sound like your last pint of the black stuff? Didn't think so.
These days, Guinness, to me, tastes more bland than anything, an effect I attribute to a combination of the absurdly low temperatures at which publicans are now encouraged to serve it and what I believe has been a gradual muting of the beer's once robust, roasty character. I taste Guinness today and I miss what I remember, and then I get angry at the loss.
So, in a recent tutored tasting I hosted, I decided to try to recreate that former flavour, using as my base beer a stout I find to be richer and more complexly flavourful than Guinness - St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. What the St. Ambroise is not, of course, is dry, it being a creamy oatmeal stout and all. So to achieve that effect, I added to a pitcher of draught a small amount of Cantillon Gueuze that I had cellared for two or three years. The effect, I'm pleased to say, was very positive.
With the tart dryness of the lambic added to the mix, the full roastiness of the St. Ambroise emerged in spades and the beer's naturally creamy and faintly sweet character gave way to a leaner but no less flavourful body, with a wonderfully dry and slightly tangy finish. It only took a little Cantillon - I actually over-poured a bit in the pitcher I served to the class, but corrected my mistake when I doctored a half-pint for myself - but the impact was both satisfying and delicious.
We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer.
