Guinness

History

Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in 1759 at the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. On 31 December 1759, he signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery, and it would become one of the largest in the British Empire.

Arthur Guinness started selling porter in 1778. The first Guinness beers to use the term "stout" were Single Stout and Double Stout in the 1840s. Throughout the bulk of its history, Guinness produced only three variations of a single beer type: porter or stout (single, double or extra) and foreign stout for export. "Stout" originally referred to a beer's strength, but eventually shifted meaning toward body and colour. Porter was also referred to as "plain", as mentioned in the famous refrain of Flann O'Brien's poem "The Workman's Friend": "A pint of plain is your only man."

Already one of the top-three British and Irish brewers, Guinness's sales soared from 350,000 barrels in 1868 to 779,000 barrels in 1876. In October 1886, Guinness became a public company and was averaging sales of 1.138 million barrels a year. This was despite the brewery's refusal to either advertise or offer its beer at a discount. Even though Guinness owned no public houses, the company was valued at £6 million and shares were 20 times oversubscribed, with share prices rising to a 60 per cent premium on the first day of trading.

The breweries pioneered several quality control efforts. The brewery hired the statistician William Sealy Gosset in 1899, who achieved lasting fame under the pseudonym "Student" for techniques developed for Guinness, particularly Student's t-distribution and the even more commonly known Student's t-test.

By 1900 the brewery was operating unparalleled welfare schemes for its 5,000 employees. By 1907 the welfare schemes were costing the brewery £40,000 a year, which was one-fifth of the total wages bill. The improvements were suggested and supervised by Sir John Lumsden. By 1914, Guinness was producing 2.652 million barrels of beer a year, which was more than double that of its nearest competitor Bass, and was supplying more than 10 per cent of the total UK beer market.

When World War I broke out in 1914, employees at Guinness St. James Brewery were encouraged to join the British forces. Over 800 employees served in the war. This was made possible due to a number of measures put in place by Guinness: soldiers' families were paid half wages, and jobs were guaranteed upon their return. Of the 800 employees who fought, 103 did not return.

Composition

Guinness stout is made from water, malted barley, roasted barley, hops, and brewer's yeast. A portion of the barley is roasted to give Guinness its dark colour and characteristic taste. It is pasteurised and filtered.

Until the late 1950s, Guinness was still racked into wooden casks. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Guinness ceased brewing cask-conditioned beers and developed a keg brewing system with aluminium kegs replacing the wooden casks; these were nicknamed "iron lungs".

Until 2016 the production of Guinness, as with many beers, involved the use of isinglass made from fish. Isinglass was used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass was retained in the floor of the vat but it was possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer. Diageo announced in February 2018 that the use of isinglass

in draught Guinness was to be discontinued and an alternative clarification agent would be used instead, making the drink acceptable to vegans and vegetarians.

Present day Guinness

Arguably its biggest change to date, in 1959 Guinness began using nitrogen, which changed the fundamental texture and flavour of the Guinness of the past as nitrogen bubbles are much smaller than CO2, giving a "creamier" and "smoother" consistency over a sharper and traditional CO2 taste. This step was taken after Michael Ash—a mathematician turned brewer—discovered the mechanism to make this possible.

Nitrogen is less soluble than carbon dioxide, which allows the beer to be put under high pressure without making it fizzy. High pressure of the dissolved gas is required to enable very small bubbles to be formed by forcing the draught beer through fine holes in a plate in the tap, which causes the characteristic "surge" (the widget in cans and bottles achieves the same effect). This "widget" is a small plastic ball containing the nitrogen. The perceived smoothness of draught Guinness is due to its low level of carbon dioxide and the creaminess of the head caused by the very fine bubbles that arise from the use of nitrogen and the dispensing method described above. Foreign Extra Stout contains more carbon dioxide, causing a more acidic taste.

Although Guinness is black, and is referred to as "the black stuff" in Diageo marketing, it is also "officially" referred to as a very dark shade of ruby.

The most recent change in alcohol content from the Import Stout to the Extra Stout was due to a change in distribution through North American market. Consumer complaints influenced subsequent distribution and bottle changes.

Health

Guinness ran an advertising campaign in the 1920s which stemmed from market research – when people told the company that they felt good after their pint – the slogan, created by Dorothy L. Sayers, "Guinness is Good for You". Advertising for alcoholic drinks that implies improved physical performance or enhanced personal qualities is now prohibited in Ireland.

A 2003 study found that stouts such as Guinness could have a benefit of helping to reduce the deposit of harmful cholesterol on artery walls. This was attributed to the higher levels of antioxidants in stouts than in lagers, though the health benefits of antioxidants have been called into question, and Diageo, the company that now manufactures Guinness, said: "We never make any medical claims for our drinks."

Varieties

Guinness stout is available in a number of variants and strengths, which include:

Guinness Draught, the standard draught beer sold in kegs (but exist also a texture-like version in widget cans and bottles): 4.1 to 4.3% alcohol by volume (ABV); the Extra Cold is served through a super cooler at 3.5 °C (38.3 °F).

Guinness Original/Extra Stout: 4.2 or 4.3% ABV in Ireland and the United Kingdom, 4.1% in Germany, 5.0% in continental Europe and Scandinavia (such as Sweden), 4.8% in Namibia and South Africa, 5.6% in the United States and Canada, and 6% in Australia and Japan.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout: 7.5% ABV version sold in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and the United States. The basis is an unfermented but hopped Guinness wort extract shipped from Dublin, which is added to local ingredients and fermented locally. The strength can vary, for example, it is sold at 5% ABV in China, 6.5% ABV in Jamaica and East Africa, 6.8% in Malaysia, 7.5% in the United States, and 8% ABV in Singapore. In Nigeria a proportion of sorghum is used. Foreign Extra Stout is blended with a small amount of intentionally soured beer. Formerly, it was blended with beer that soured naturally as a result of fermenting in ancient oak tuns with a Brettanomyces population; it is now made with pasteurised beer that has been soured bacterially. It was previously known as West Indies Porter, then Extra Stout and finally Foreign Extra Stout. It was first made available in the UK in 1990.

Guinness Special Export Stout, Commissioned by John Martin of Belgium in 1912. The first variety of Guinness to be pasteurised, in 1930. 8% ABV.

Guinness Bitter, an English-style bitter beer: 4.4% ABV.

Guinness Extra Smooth, a smoother stout sold in Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria: 5.5% ABV.

Malta Guinness, a non-alcoholic beverage, produced in Nigeria and exported to the UK, East Africa, and Malaysia.

Pouring and serving

Before the 1960s, when Guinness adopted a system of delivery using a nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas mixture, all beer leaving the brewery was cask-conditioned. Casks newly delivered to many small pubs were often nearly unmanageably frothy, but cellar space and rapid turnover demanded that they be put into use before they could sit for long enough to settle down. As a result, a glass would be part filled with the fresh, frothy beer, allowed to stand a minute, and then topped up with beer from a cask that had been pouring longer and had calmed down a bit. With the move to nitrogen gas dispensing in the 1960s, it was felt important to keep the two-stage pour ritual in order to bring better consumer acceptance of the change. As Guinness has not been cask-conditioned for decades, the two-stage pour has been labelled a marketing ploy that does not actually affect the beer's taste.

The manufacturer recommends a "double pour" serve, which according to Diageo should take two minutes. Guinness has promoted this wait with advertising campaigns such as "good things come to those who wait".

The brewer recommends that draught Guinness should be served at 6–7 °C (42.8 °F), while Extra Cold Guinness should be served at 3.5 °C (38.6 °F). Before the 21st century, it was popular to serve Guinness at cellar temperature (about 13 °C) and most drinkers preferred it at room temperature (about 20 °C).

According to Esquire magazine, a pint of Guinness should be served in a slightly tulip-shaped pint glass, rather than the taller European tulip or 'Nonic' glass, which contains a ridge approx 3/4 of the way up the glass. To begin the pour, the server holds the glass at a 45° angle below the tap and fills the glass 3/4 full. On the way out of the tap, the beer is forced at high speed through a five-hole disc restrictor plate at the end of the tap, creating friction and forcing the creation of small nitrogen bubbles which form a creamy head. The server brings the glass from 45° angle to a vertical position. After allowing the initial pour to settle, the server pushes the tap handle back and fills the remainder of the glass until the head forms a slight dome over the top of the glass (or "just proud of the rim"). Guinness recommends that, to avoid the bitter taste of the nitrogen foam head, gulps should be taken from the glass rather than sipping the drink.

In 2010, Guinness redesigned their pint glass for the first time in a decade. The new glass was taller and narrower than the previous one and featured a bevel design. The new glasses were planned to gradually replace the old ones.

Sinking bubbles

When Guinness is poured, the gas bubbles appear to travel downwards in the glass. The effect is attributed to drag; bubbles that touch the walls of a glass are slowed in their travel upwards. Bubbles in the centre of the glass are, however, free to rise to the surface, and thus form a rising column of bubbles. The rising bubbles create a current by the entrainment of the surrounding fluid. As beer rises in the centre, the beer near the outside of the glass falls. This downward flow pushes the bubbles near the glass towards the bottom. Although the effect occurs in any liquid, it is particularly noticeable in any dark nitrogen stout, as the drink combines dark-coloured liquid and light-coloured bubbles.

A study published in 2012 revealed that the effect is due to the particular shape of the glass coupled with the small bubble size found in stout beers. If the vessel widens with height, then bubbles will sink along the walls – this is the case for the standard pint glass. Conversely, in an anti-pint (i.e. if the vessel narrows with height) bubbles will rise along the walls.

Advertising

The Guinness harp motif is modelled on the Trinity College harp. It was adopted in 1862 by the incumbent proprietor, Benjamin Lee Guinness. Harps have been a symbol of Ireland at least since the reign of Henry VIII. Guinness registered their harp as a trademark shortly after the passing of the Trade Marks Registration Act 1875. It faces right instead of left, and so can be distinguished from the Irish coat of arms.

Since the 1930s, in the face of falling sales, Guinness has had prominent marketing campaigns, from television advertisements to beer mats and posters. Before then, Guinness had almost no advertising, instead allowing word of mouth to sell the product.

The most notable and recognisable series of advertisements was created by S. H. Benson's advertising, primarily drawn by the artist John Gilroy, in the 1930s and 1940s. Benson created posters that included phrases such as "Guinness for Strength", "Lovely Day for a Guinness", "Guinness Makes You Strong", "My Goodness My Guinness" (or, alternatively, "My Goodness, My Christmas, It's Guinness!"), and most famously, "Guinness Is Good for You". While modern alcohol advertising regulations prohibit such claims, vintage artefacts with the slogans remain common in Irish pubs.

The posters featured Gilroy's distinctive artwork and more often than not featured animals such as a kangaroo, ostrich, seal, lion and notably a toucan, which has become as much a symbol of Guinness as the harp. (An advertisement from the 1940s ran with the following jingle: "Toucans in their nests agree/Guinness is good for you/Try some today and see/What one or toucan do.") Dorothy L. Sayers and R. A. Bevan copywriters at Benson's also worked on the campaign; a biography of Sayers notes that she created a sketch of the toucan and wrote several of the adverts in question. Guinness advertising paraphernalia, notably the pastiche booklets illustrated by Ronald Ferns, attract high prices on the collectable market.

Many of the best known Guinness television advertisements of the 1970s and 1980s were created by British director, Len Fulford. In 1983, a conscious marketing decision was made to turn Guinness into a "cult" beer in the UK, amidst declining sales. The move halted the sales decline.

Worldwide sales

In 2006, sales of Guinness in Ireland and the United Kingdom declined 7 percent. Despite this, Guinness still accounts for more than a quarter of all beer sold in Ireland. By 2015, sales were on the rise in Ireland but flat globally. By 2023, Guinness had grown to become the most popular draught beer in the United Kingdom, with about 11% of all sales.

Guinness began retailing in India in 2007.

Guinness has a significant share of the African beer market, where it has been sold since 1827. About 40 percent of worldwide total Guinness volume is brewed and sold in Africa, with Foreign Extra Stout the most popular variant. Three of the five Guinness-owned breweries worldwide are located in Africa.

The beer is brewed under licence internationally in several countries, including Nigeria, the Bahamas, Canada, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda, South Korea, Namibia, and Indonesia.

In 2017, Guinness teamed up with AB InBev to distribute Guinness in mainland China. China is the single biggest worldwide alcohol market, especially for imported craft beers like Guinness. In 2025, AB InBev started brewing Guinness under licence in China. Initial reception was not favourable, with one publican reportedly stating that the "feedback from everyone is that it tastes like cigarettes or an ashtray. The taste is not the same at all and the aftertaste is terrible". In November 2025, Diego announced a "double-digit" decline in sales in China.

The United Kingdom is the only sovereign state to consume more Guinness than Ireland. In 2023, a pub in Worcester claimed to offer the cheapest pint of Guinness in the UK, at £2. The third-largest Guinness drinking nation is Nigeria, followed by the USA; the United States consumed more than 950,000 hectolitres (21,000,000 imp gal; 25,000,000 US gal) of Guinness in 2010.

Merchandising

The Guinness Storehouse at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin is the most popular tourist attraction in Ireland (attracting over 1.7 million visitors in 2019) where a self-guided tour includes an account of the ingredients used to make the stout and a description of how it is made. Visitors can sample the smells of each Guinness ingredient in the Tasting Rooms, which are coloured with a unique lighting design that emits Guinness's gold and black branding.

The Guinness Book of Records started as a Guinness marketing giveaway, based on an idea of its then Managing Director, Sir Hugh Beaver. Its holding company, Guinness World Records Ltd, was owned by Guinness plc, subsequently Diageo, until 2001.

The 2025 drama series House of Guinness deals with the growth of the business in 19th century Ireland.