How to Pour the Perfect Guinness

St. Patrick's Post:

It's not as easy as you think. Brewmaster Fergal Murray guides us through the six-step ritual.

Image courtesy Guinness

Dilettante bartenders beware -- Guinness brewmaster Fergal Murray's life mission is to eradicate your sloppy Guinness-pouring habits. "It is a ritual," he says. "It's theater. It's about creating an experience." And he demands that the ritual be executed with the kind of respect usually accorded for religious ceremonies. "A bartender who's being irreverent -- smoking a cigarette, multitasking -- No! Be reverent to the pint."

"These six steps are what we call the Guinness experience. It's much more than just pouring liquid into a glass and handing it across the bar."

Step One: The Glass
"The bartender takes a dry, clean glass, which should be a 20-ounce tulip pint glass," Murray says. "The internal aerodynamics of a tulip glass allows the nitrogen bubbles to flow down the sides of the glass, and the contour 'bump' in the middle pushes the bubbles back to the center on their way up."

Step Two: The Angle
"The glass should be held at a 45-degree angle under the tap. The tap faucet should not touch the tulip glass or beer. If you just hold it straight under the faucet, you'll get a big block of bubbles and a fish eye."

Step Three: The Pour
"Let the beer flow nice and smoothly into the angled glass and fill it up three-quarters of the way."

Step Four: The Head
"Let it settle. On the way through the faucet, the beer passes through a five-hole disk restrictor plate at a high speed, creating friction and bringing out nitrogen bubbles. The bubbles are agitated now -- they can't go back into the solution, so they flow down the interior sides and back up the middle -- but they can't escape. So they build this wonderful, creamy head on top. It's like an architect building a strong foundation."

Step Five: The Top-Off
"Once it settles, you want to fill up the glass and top it off. You allowed it to settle, you created a domed effect across the top of the pint, and now your head is looking proud over the glass. That's the perfect vision of the perfect pint."

Step Six: The First Sip
"You drink with your eyes first. The cosmetic look of the pint is critical to the Guinness experience. We don't want anybody just putting liquid in a glass. And finally, drink responsibly."

Oh, and Murray also wants to spread the word that the whole "meal in a glass" thing is a misconception. "There are less calories and alcohol in a pint of Guinness than most other domestic beers. It pairs really well with seafood. Shrimp and oysters are my personal favorite."

Fuente: http://www.esquire.com