Guinness: Foreign Extra Stout

Let me start off this review with simply stating that when it comes to Arthur Guinness, I am quite a fan. It seems as though Ireland and England get so many different brews from this company on a regular basis. When my brother was over in Wales doing some Archeological digs, he wrote to me about Guinness Red and how it was different in this way and that way, etc. However, us Yanks over here in the United States have been stuck with the same (delicious) Guinness Draught and Extra Stout for so long. Granted, I am a huge fan of Smithwick's as well and it is single-handedly because of me that a Blacksmith is on the menu at the Brea Yard House. The last thing I want to do is to sound pompous, so that is neither here nor there. Harp is great as well but since I have broken my "creature of habit" form when it comes to beer, I always want to try something new. I was more than excited when the 250 Anniversary Stout was released a couple years ago that I called and drove all around trying to be the first one to have his lips touch such a brew. I wound up finding it in Irvine, and my 250 Anniversary Stout collection of signs, glasses, and labels began and today has become pretty impressive if I may say so myself.

Naturally, you can imagine my excitement this morning when I was scouring BeerAdvocate.com for a beer to get and review tonight. I was having trouble, though, considering when one reads about beers, it does not necessarily mean he/she will be able to find it. My buddy Brandon also mentioned how when you see a beer in person, it speaks to you and it can do no such action online with a .jpg of the brew. I could not agree more so I decided to end the search online. However, then I saw that Guinness was releasing the Foreign Extra Stout in the United States starting on October 1. I made it my mission today to find it. Needless to say, I was successful. Let's review some beer, shall we?

Photo courtesy of BeerAdvocate.com

Before I review this beer, let me just mention that the goblet above leaves me at a loss of words in terms of its awesomeness. I have now made it my mission to acquire that goblet by any means necessary, if it even exists. The beer: It pours black, with almost no translucence. The only light you see through this beer is at the very top, directly underneath the head if you hold it at above your head but under the light source. The head is a dark khaki color, pretty much like a cappuccino, and dissolves down leaving very little lacing on the glass.

The nose has lots of roastiness and smokiness. I was actually surprised by the amount of smokiness on the nose of this beer. You can smell some alcohol on the nose, but that has never scared me away from any beer. Upon sipping, and swirling it around the tongue, I get flavors such as dark chocolate, roasted malts, smoke, and hints of caramel and alcohol. It is medium bodied. Not too heavy, not too light. The finish is my favorite part of the beer. It's a bitter, dark chocoalty finish which is obviously due to the hops. To me, there is nothing like a brew from across the Atlantic with a bitter finish. For a beer that ranks in at 7.5% ABV, this is a relatively smooth brew in my opinion. However, I have come across a number of people who say that they do not like "hoppy beers." I think I would have them try this to see if it is the bitterness they do not like, or if it is the grassy/green/earthy hoppy flavors and aromas that have become ever so popular in Northern America in the past couple of years.

I like this beer a lot. I had some preconceived knowledge in regards to this beer because I always wondered why we never had it here. It was available here in the early twentieth century, but then after Prohibition in the United States, Guinness said, "Screw it," and never sent it back over here. It was available in a number of other places around the world, and finally we can purchase this beer here yet again. Hopefully, it is here to stay. Will I buy this beer again? Yes. On the other hand, a 4-pack runs close to $10.00 and the beers are 11.2 oz. All in all, this was a great experience with a great beer. Good job Guinness on sending it over here to us Yanks again. Now if we could only get some original Guinness Porter brewed like back in the mid-to-late 1700s (and possibly the 250 Anniversary Stout re-released). What do you say?