Guinness
Brewmaster Fergal Murray says Americans have a mistaken belief that Guinness is heavy and strong. |
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The reasons for Sharon Stone's fame are obvious. Who could resist her seductive performance as the Terminator, her come-hither Austrian accent or her curvaceous biceps and quadriceps?
What's that? I've mistaken Arnold Schwarzenegger for Stone?
Now you know how Fergal Murray feels. The 43-year-old Murray is brewmaster for one of the world's great – and most misunderstood – beers. How have we miscast Guinness stout? Let Murray count the ways.
1. We believe it's heavy. “Guinness has 10 calories per ounce,” he said. “There are fewer calories in a pint of Guinness than a pint of orange juice.”
2. We believe it's strong, despite a modest alcohol content of 4.2 percent. Pour a half bottle of Harp lager and a half bottle of Guinness into a pint glass for a Black and Tan. “The Guinness sits on top. It's lighter – that's graphic proof.”
3. We believe – oh, the gullible masses! – that it's Irish.
Which, actually, is true. Guinness has been made at Dublin's fabled St. James's Gate brewery since 1759. But Murray, a chemist whose career included three years brewing the stout in Nigeria, insists that there's something universal about this Irish native.
“We're moving it out of the Irish theme area,” Murray said over a pint during a recent visit to San Diego.
Clearly, there are a few obstacles to this goal. For starters, the Guinness brewery is the largest tourist attraction in Ireland, drawing 800,000 visitors a year.
If you can't visit Dublin, chances are you can visit a reasonable facsimile – at least one Irish pub opens every day somewhere in the world.
And then there's March 17. For Guinness, St. Patrick's Day is Christmas and New Year's rolled into one. Any other day, Americans consume an impressive seven pints of Guinness per second. On March 17, we chug a staggering 41 pints per second.
Guinness' challenge is to maintain its once-a-year stranglehold on shamrock-wearing drinkers while, during the other 364 days, persuading tipplers they don't need to wear green to enjoy this classic brew.
In speeches, Murray describes the typical Guinness customer in terms that have nothing to do with nationality.
“You are confident,” he said. “You feel good in your life; you are in the right place.”
As the old joke goes, a confident man has to believe in something. I believe I'll have another pint.
Tasting notes
(Beers are rated from 0 to 5, with 5 being best.)
GUINNESS STOUT
Dublin
I first tasted Guinness on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas about 30 years ago. Never had I swallowed a fouler fluid.
The bottle was warm and – a guess here, but try to prove me wrong – past its prime. However, I also was undone by my own youthful ignorance. You're 21, eager to move past the bland Budweiser, and someone hands you a bottle of one of the world's great beers. You swig first and ask outraged, disbelieving questions later.
These days, I appreciate the deep, roasted-cocoa flavors and the incredible creamy head. The beer has some bite to it but nothing to approach the crackle of a pale ale. This is an excellent session beer, a cheerful accompaniment to a night out with friends.
Perhaps due to that unfortunate introduction at Moonlight, I have never cottoned to bottled Guinness. And it's nice to know that the Guinness served on tap in the States is brewed at the original brewery in Dublin.
One more happy note: Guinness is a bargain. Murray was stunned to learn that the stout runs about $5 a pint in San Diego. In Dublin, he pays up to 5 Euros, or about $6.10. “I could send half of Ireland here,” he said. “Five dollars a pint? That's too cheap.”
SHARK BITE RED
San Marcos
I would love to be a regular at the Pizza Port breweries in Solana Beach and Carlsbad, but we live miles away. So imagine my delight when I found six packs of the Carlsbad Port's red ale in a liquor store just a short walk from our home.
Shark Bite is the first Pizza Port beer to emerge from the breweries' bottling line, in Stone's old plant, and it's an inspired choice. An old favorite of the genuine Port regulars, this beer has not received the national attention justifiably lavished on Tomme Arthur's splashier efforts.
As it is now brewed by Jeff Bagby, Shark Bite is not a fancy red ale, just an honest and refreshing example of the breed. It's a beer to drink, not build seminars around. It pours reddish brown with a thin but durable khaki-colored head. Swirl this around in a glass and take a whiff – you can detect balance here. There's plenty of malt, but the Cascade and Centennial hops are persistent and bracing.
Next time I'm in Carlsbad, I'll try this on tap. But it's nice to know that this example of the Pizza Port style is available closer to home.
FULL SAIL IPA
Hood River, Ore.
Surprise, surprise. Employee-owned Full Sail won a gold medal at last year's World Beer Championships with this India Pale Ale. I enjoyed the beer, but it surprised me on two counts:
1. This is one of the maltiest, most biscuity West Coast IPAs I have tried in ages.
2. There's an earthy aroma from the hops, but the citrusy tang threw me. In most IPAs, the bittering hops have a pronounced grapefruit or lemon flavor; these hops smacked of oranges.
Beer biz
Learning? Good. Learning about beer? Better. Learning about beer on an ocean liner? Better yet. Holland America's Oosterdam will depart San Diego on Oct. 21 for a seven-night “Suds at Sea” cruise. Peter Zien of AleSmith Brewing Company will teach classes in brewing, beer styles and beer evaluation. I hear he's a strict teacher, but no one complains about his homework assignments. Rates range from $817 to $1,152. For information, call Rose Mario at K Travel, (619) 275-4528.
One beer style Prof. Zien may lecture about: maibock, a seasonal offering now on tap at Gordon Biersch in Mission Valley.
World Beer Cup 2006 winners were announced last Friday in Seattle; Brewery Rowe will ponder What It All Meant next month. At the craft brewers' conference that preceded the awards, San Diego was well-represented. Greg Koch, Stone Brewing's president; Pizza Port's Tomme Arthur; and Vinnie Cilurzo, the honorary San Diegan who runs Russian River in Santa Rosa, all moderated panels. Stone's Steve Wagner appeared on a panel.
Speaking of Stone, brewer Lee Chase has left to take a position with White Labs, the makers of brewers' yeast.
QUAFF, a homebrewers' club, will meet April 25, 7 p.m., at Callahan's, 8111 Mira Mesa Blvd.
The Brewers Association just released its 2005 list of the 50 largest breweries in the United States. The top three: Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors. Of local note: Gordon Biersch is 29th, Stone is 48th.
Brewery Rowe appears monthly in the Food section. Peter Rowe, the proprietor, welcomes calls, (619) 293-1227; letters, c/o The San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191; and e-mail,
peter.rowe@uniontrib.com
