Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

This week as I was browsing the shelves, I decided to grab a bottle of Guiness Foreign Extra Stout. Now, if you are reading this column you have probably either tried, or at least heard of Guinness. This particular beer, however, is a new offering on this side of the Atlantic, and brewed to a different style than what you normally think of as Guinness.

Guinness is one of the most famous beer brands in the world, enjoying immense popularity with its Guinness Draught and Extra Stout brands. The brand actually dates back to 1759 when Arthur Guinness leased the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland for 9,000 years. The complex now covers over 60 acres, and is the largest brewer of stouts in the world. The company has continued to grow as well, merging with Grand Metropolitan plc in 1997 to form Diageo plc. Diageo has also acquired many brands of liquor such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, José Cuervo and Baileys, becoming the world’s largest producer of spirits in addition to being a major player in the beer market.

Breweries in the United Kingdom have long exported their beer around the world, with several distinct styles being created as a result. The most famous of these, at least in America, is the India Pale Ale, but Guinness has also produced its Foreign Extra Stout since 1801. Importation of this Guinness variety into the US was started in 1817, but was stopped by prohibition in 1920, and has only been restarted in 2010.

Foreign Extra Stouts typically have a higher alcohol and hop content to help preserve them during shipping (7.5% vs the typical 5% of Guinness in America ), but also come in two distinct varieties; Export Type and Tropical Type. Export type typically are higher gravity (more sugar to start, hence more alcohol) versions of Sweet or Dry Stouts, while the Tropical Type is typically more fruity. Some examples, including the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, are dosed with Brettanomyces, which will sour the beer over time. This is important, since while it helps to keep the beer from spoiling, it will also change the flavor profile over time. The beer is also brewed differently for different markets, which you may run across if you travel abroad.

Guinness recommends serving this beer in a Guinness-brand goblet or drinking straight from a properly chilled bottle. Pint glasses also work equally well, although personally I’d grab a tulip, snifter or wine glass to allow for a proper appreciation of the complex aroma. I’d also recommend having some dark chocolate or a good, U.K. cheese on hand; personal favorites of mine are Collier’s welsh cheddar, Dubliner or Stilton (careful, the last is a strong blue). Or just pair it with some red meat, as the strength of this beer will overpower many lighter foods.

The beer pours a jet black, so dark that I cannot tell if it is cloudy or not. This is typical with Foreign Extra Stouts, and Stouts in general, and the clarity is probably excellent anyway as this is a mass production beer, which are generally filtered. The head is quite large and a light brownish tan head, like coffee with a lot of creamer in it, and the texture is quite fine and pillowy. The head is very long lived and the lacing quite good, reminiscent more of a nice Belgian than the typical Dry Stout. The aroma is moderately strong and dominated by a roasted grain aroma, but with distinct chocolate and fruit notes, such as orange and plum. The chocolate and fruit notes actually blend very nicely together, giving an effect not unlike that of a chocolate orange. The body is surprising thick for a stout, much more so than in standard Guinness Draught; Guinness Draught gets its creamy texture mainly from the use of nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide, which produces finer bubbles. The Extra Stout, on the other hand, appears to derive much of its body from longer chain sugars which were left over after the mashing process. The carbonation has a sparkly start, which quickly subsides to a fairly low level that enhances the already creamy mouthfeel. The taste is quite bitter, which I did not expect given the lack of hop aroma, with the dominant flavor being a roasted maltiness which is backed up by traces of fruit. The finish on this beer is a surprisingly chocolaty one, with hints of coffee as well, while lacking any of the acrid aftertaste I usually associate with Guinness.

This was a very good beer, far better than Guinness Draught in my opinion, and it is much more reasonably priced than many of the other beers I’ve reviewed recently. The bottle I tasted had been in my refrigerator for about two months when I drank it, which gave the Brettanomyces time to work on the beer, but as this is fairly dry to begin with it did not gain a very sour character. I recommend picking up a four pack of this if you get the chance, and drink one a month so that you can see how it changes over time.

Size: 11.2 oz

Price: $2.95

ABV: 7.5%

Look: 4.5/5

Smell: 5/5

Taste: 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: 4.75/5