Perfect pint of Guinness: the conditions

The devil is in the details, they say… A saying to which Guinness would give an almost military importance! It must be said that the famous Irish brewery has managed to make its beer the most drunk national beer in Ireland! An extraordinary success since 1759, due to an important attention to detail! Brewing quality, respect for taste, huge marketing communication… Even the way Guinness is served in an Irish pub is almost like a religious doctrine! So here are the secrets of Guinness, to serve the perfect pint!

The perfect pint of Guinness

A beer to be served in 119.50 seconds!

Hang on, because Guinness is extremely precise when it comes to pouring its beer into a pint! In fact, the brewery has determined that it takes exactly 119.5 seconds to serve a pint of Guinness accurately!

A precise time, which can be explained by several steps to be followed scrupulously.

This starts by cooling the beer barrel to a temperature of 6°C. Any self-respecting Guinness should be served at this temperature, otherwise it will spoil the experience when tasting.

The keg must then be connected to a specific nitrogen beer filler (most standard beers use carbon dioxide, but not Guinness). Nitrogen produces a creamy head and much finer bubbles, but they take longer to settle. (This is called the “Guinness Cascade” phenomenon)

That’s why it takes 119.5 seconds to serve a Guinness: barmen have to serve the pint twice and give it time to settle down. The operation goes something like this:

1. The waiter fills 80% of the pint on pressure..
2. He then rests the pint and is patient until the bubbles settle and the cream comes down slightly
3. The waiter takes the pint and fills it to the brim with care
4. Then he serves it to the customer.

For the anecdote, it’s not uncommon for some tourists to start drinking their pint when the pint hasn’t been completely served yet. This often brings a smile to the faces of Irish barmen, who then explain that Guinness is a beer that requires a bit of patience to be tasted in the best conditions.

In fact, the brewery itself has launched major communication campaigns on this subject: “Good things come to those who wait”.

Please note that this process does not necessarily apply to other brands of Irish beer. As you can see, Guinness likes to stand out… And it obviously works!

L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé. A consommer avec modération.

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