Oh my Guinness

Last week Fergal Murray, Brewmaster for Guinness, was in town doing a pre-St. Patrick's Day tour of several cities. We met up at Foley's Irish Pub downtown and had a pint. Part of the reason he was here was to promote Proposition 3-17, a resolution to make St. Paddy's an official holiday. A big whatever to that, but Murray did teach me some interesting stuff about Guinness. Unlike many alcohol products, their work isn't done once the product is in its container, because the visual impact when served is one of the most crucial aspects of the Guinness experience. While other brands may have an iconic bottle or color, Guinness has an iconic fresh pint that must be poured correctly in order to match all the posters. He described enjoying their product in three parts- "crafting of the pint" or watching it being poured slowly and correctly; the "reverence of the pint" or seeing that stereotypical pint with its foamy head (he called this the most important part); and "savoring the pint" or the actual taste of the stuff and the special way you drink it getting the beer from out beneath the foamy cover. All three of those are dependent on the bartender pouring the drink the right way- and they have instructions and training on how to do just that. And they also have teams of people who come into bars to make sure things are running smoothly, that the tap lines are kept clean, and that the servers serve them properly. The hands-on work seems quite a bit different than for spirits, where it's more like, "Here are some cocktail suggestions- good luck with that!"