agree on that oyster stout. I’ve had a few thousand different beers in my life (1000 since joining untappd app) and that beer is a top 10 for me.
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The pour takes about two minutes. I think they have a special spigot with two positions as well, but I forget what the two positions are for.
Which is also why canned Guinness is better than bottled since canned has the nitrogen pack.
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The Guinness in the UK is brewed here, and pretty much every pub uses nitrogen, because as Ryuthrowsstuff notes, Guiness will send someone round to your pub to fit the plumbing and the taps.
This isn’t unusual, representatives of most suppliers will pop past every month or so, and try and get the landlord to sell more of their particular booze by pushing free samples, and merchandise etc. As there’s only really a few big manufacturers, which now own many brands, the same bloke trying to get you to put up plastic Guinness tat would also be pushing some kind of cheap tequila at the same time or whatever.
I dunno about special, but you can push the tap handle forward to pour as well as pull. You’re supposed to do this for the topping-up part of the pour, but I don’t think it actually makes a difference. (I guess it makes doodling patterns in the top a bit easier because you can see the pint easier).
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I think there might be some truth to this.
Second hand vices, anvils, tools and such are oddly expensive here, whereas a ten year old SUV can be picked up for buttons.
I was recently in the market for an anvil. New Chinese-made 25 kg anvil on ebay was about 60 euro delivered. Rusty old relic of an anvil on the Irish equivalent of Craigslist - 1100 euro!
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Guinness had a brewery at Park Royal in London, but it closed in 2005 and Guinness is now imported from Ireland.
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Just foam, and free pouring liquid are the two positions.
That sort of faucet is called a creamer. Pull it all the way back and it opens the tap to pour the beer. Pull it to the first notch, or push it forward depending on the model and you get just foam.
It allows you to pour the beer, then put the head on seperately in controlled fashion.
With a standard, single position faucet you do the same thing by partially opening the tap to produce foam. But some faucets, like forward sealing perlicks that doesn’t work.
Both are charged with nitrogen. The widget (as it’s called) in the cans is not a nitrogen pack. They’re just hollow plastic beads or discs.
Gas and beer are forced inside when the package is pressurized. When you open it, that beer and gas surges out. Creating the cascade and a head inside the can. For drinking from the can.
I dunno why no one puts them in bottles anymore. But the same effect can be had pouring into a glass the right way, and it’s easier to do with a bottle.
It makes the process of pouring a beer more controllable, preserves carbonation/nitrogen bubbles, and reduces overall waste. They’re default on nitro faucets because it can be difficult to get a stable head on nitro beers without.
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This is the stuff I keep coming back to BB for. The depth of knowledge here is staggering.
Also, I’ve begun the think I’m but a simple man. The best stout I’ve ever had is the one in my hand. Just like the best beer, or the best pizza, or the best coffee…
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I’ve never had Guinness in a bar that wasn’t served on nitro, but very few places serve it at cellar temperature, which has a big effect on flavor.
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This is the true secret to happiness: let the ranking and stuff fall into the background, enjoy the taste of the moment.
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Ah, the classic American beer chauvinism.
It’s strange isn’t it that when you compare small-batch production with mass production the latter loses out. But apparently that is only valid if it’s American craft brewers.
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Vodka. Vodka is the answer. Because it was all going to get distilled anyway.
Vodka is not the solution, but it is a solution.
Or does it merely classify as a solvent?
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Not when mixed. Sprite or any manner of fruit juices. 
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While we’re on the subject of vodka…
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Svedka is fine, as is Stalinskaya. I also buy 1876 as I live near Austin.
However, with vodka, once you get past a certain price point, it’s irrelevant. (see also: Cirroc).
It’s all distilled spirits.
I saw them live a few times. They really hammed up the “Finns getting drunk on vodka before taking the stage” schtick that they have.
Me? I’m an Irish whiskey guy. Writer’s Tears for “everyday” sipping, Redbreast for celebrating life’s little victories.
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OK, I am daft and/or not in on the joke?
No joke, when I saw the band at the Summer Breeze festival they took the stage acting as if they had already gotten drunk off their asses. I assume it was mostly an act, because they were still quite good. But the stage talk was all about how so-and-so had too much vodka, should shut the fuck up, and so on.
EDIT: for those who don’t know, Korpiklaani is a Finnish folk metal band. I know of them because my daughter used to be a metal head, and I took her to the Summer Breeze festival. Kind of like Wacken.
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Ah, well. In keeping with the thread: I am not a fan of Guinness or any other beer. I tried (honestly I did), but the taste puts me off.
Yeah, I should have left well enough alone. Sorry y’all.
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