Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout

Before today's entry, I would like to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day. Please party responsibly.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to have a special Guinness: their 250 Anniversary Stout, released last year to honor the 250th anniversary of Arthur Guinness signing a 9000-year lease on a disused brewery in Dublin at St. James' Gate in 1759. Apparently, he had an initial cost of £100 and an annual rent of £45, which makes me wonder if the deal is still on (I'd hope so). So, what better way to celebrate the start of the next 250 years than with the anniversary stout? This marks the third Guinness product I've reviewed, after the Extra Stout and the Jamaican version of the Foreign Extra Stout; I plan to review the Draught when I get a proper pint at the St. James' Gate brewery in May. (Diageo Beer Brands)

Here come the stats:

Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout
BREWERY: Guinness Ltd., Dublin, Ireland
U.S. IMPORTER: Diageo-Guinness USA, Inc., Norwalk, CT
STYLE: Stout
FIRST BREWED: 2009
CALORIES/SERVING: 136.3 per 11.2 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY:
MALTS: "Two types"
HOPS: "Triple hops"
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

I got the first brewed, calories, ABV, malts and hops from an MSNBC article on the beer. I'll probably fire off an e-mail to Guinness or Diageo for the rest, but I won't hold my breath.

The beer, like every other Guinness product I've had, pours black as night into the bottle. I messed up and poured this beer as I would've poured a Guinness Draught, but it turns out I wasn't supposed to; what little head that resulted was tan in color, a little whiter than the other Guinnesses. The aroma was similar to that of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout: a pleasing dark chocolate nose. The taste of the beer was certainly more carbonated and less creamy than the Draught, with a little more malty flavor. That maltiness lingered slightly in the aftertaste, but it wasn't overbearing.

Overall, a well-crafted beer from Guinness, but it doesn't evoke the same memories that the Draught does. This beer is only available for a limited time in the US, Australia, and Singapore (but not Ireland, curiously), and may already be sold out in some locations. (Booze Bros. in Reno, where I grabbed this one, still had 5 after I grabbed mine.)

Sláinte!