Wednesday 3 March 2010

G is for...

Guinness

Guinness was named after the founder of the brewery, Arthur Guinness. The stout was based on a porter that was popular amongst London dockers of that period. Arthur Guinness started a brewery in Leixlip, Ireland in 1759, but at the end of that year moved to Dublin for 45 pounds per year over a period of 9,000 (nine thousand) years! A decade later he exported for the first time.

The brewery still stands on the original brewery grounds, but it has expanded a tiny bit over the years. The Guinness family was highly active in all aspects of social life. Housing, parks, theaters. In the twentieth century all the parks that were owned by the family were given to the city of Dublin, to be used by its people.

According to legend, Guinness is a great fertility enhancer. The original owner is said to have had quite a few children. The Guinness Book of World Records was started by one of the family. Rutger Hauer (a famous Dutch actor) was the the face of Guinness for several years. Dressed in black and with his blonde/white hair he looked like a pint himself!

Guinness isn't in family hands anymore, but it's still a great tasting stout! In small quantities that is...

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12 comments:

  1. What a great post! Loved learning some of the history of the stout. Interesting about Rutger Hauer! Hope you're having a great week!

    Sylvia

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  2. I like a pint or two of The Black Stuff

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  3. Oh, my, Guinness is a little to bitter for me. I prefer a nice hefeweissen!

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  4. Sounds really good to me. I could go for one of those. Thanks for all the information about it.

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  5. I had my first taste of Guinness the first day I arrived in England some 30 years ago. It was so rich and I was told that calories from one point of Guinness equal to that of one bowl of rice.

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  6. Terrific photo and information. That's what I love about blogging. Interesting information from all over the world.
    Cheers!

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  7. Years ago their advert was "Guinness is good for you", I think there was lots of iron in it. Rutger Hauer as the face of Guinness, who knew. Here's saying Slainte to you, as the Irish say when raising a glass.

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  8. My goodness, another great choice Mara. A

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  9. Oooh, I used to love Guinness! I still like the smell, but I can no longer take the yeast, darn it!

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  10. Nice to know about the history of this.

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  11. good history. love the book. wish i liked the beer.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!