Are You Ready to Get Lucky?

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and World of Beer is excited to partner with our friends from Guinness to reward one of our WOB Rewards members with a trip to visit St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, the home of Guinness. Starting March 1^st, WOB Rewards members can participate in the Irish Brewery Challenge and enter to win their chance at this all expenses paid trip to one of the world’s great beer destinations.

For those of you not lucky enough to win the trip, we wanted to share a little history about Guinness and how it became to be one of the most popular beers in the world.

In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a lease for the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin. He leased the brewery for 9000 years at an annual rent of £45. At the time, the brewery was only 4 acres in size and had little brewing equipment. Despite this, Arthur Guinness quickly built up a successful business and by 1769 he started to export his beer to England.

Arthur Guinness began by brewing ale at St. James’s Gate. In the 1770s, he began brewing ‘porter’, a new type of English beer that was brewed using roasted barley, giving the beer a dark ruby color and rich aroma. Arthur’s porter was successful and in 1799 he decided to stop brewing ale and brew solely porter. Guinness brewed different types of porter, including a special export beer called ‘West India Porter’. This beer is still brewed today and is now known as Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.

It wasn’t until 1862 that the first trademark label for Guinness Stout was introduced. The main features of the trademark label are still used today – the Arthur Guinness signature, Harp device and ‘Guinness’ word.

The beer that we know today was launched in 1959 for the first time on tap as Draught Guinness. For the first time Guinness was dispensed under pressure using a mixed gas dispensing system in bars, producing a pint with the distinctive creamy head that we all know and love today.

Guinness Stout is sold in over 150 countries around the world and 10 million glasses are enjoyed daily around the world.

Beer of the Week: Guinness Draught. Distinctively dark, with a rich creamy head. Sweet smelling with a coffee and malty nose. Perfect balance of bitter and sweet with malt and roast characters.

Want to try this beer? Ask a local WOB*Star if this beer is on tap near you!