Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

At last - Guinness. My oxygen. Let's review.

This particular review is on the Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout (Extra Stout in a pretty bottle [Long Live Arthur Guinness]). What does it look like? It looks like fucking motor oil with a creamy, off-white head. That's about all I can say about it. I love it. Up against the light, you see a slight caramel color that shines through...but it's still black as Satan's heart. Upon smelling it, there is a very apparent scent of hops and the Irish roasted barley that is used in the brewing process. The smell seems very heavy; a sign of things to come. At the beginning of the taste, it seems pretty carbonated which is pretty misleading by the thick appearance of the brew. It also seems slightly sweet. As the taste progresses, it moves to a hoppy flavor with a hint of barley and it finishes off as you swallow it with more hops and the taste of alcohol. The texture is a little disappointing though. It's pretty flat and does not have a whole lot of body. The progression of flavors and textures isn't very complex but I do enjoy the nice kick at the end from the combination of the hops and alcohol.

Overall, this is a pretty good brew. Especially for the macrobrew designation that it has. I find it has the perfect balance of taste/cost. Of course most will disagree with this but I find nothing goes better with a meal than a fine Guinness. Yes, it is rated lower than Chimay Blue, but who cares. There are ratings and there are favorites. This is my favorite.

Appearance - 4.1
Smell - 4.4
Taste - 4.4
Texture - 3.9
Overall - 4.2/5

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

Good ol' Guinness - one of the best macrobrew beers around. Even though it is on the slightly expensive side, it is still much more affordable than any of the Belgian stouts (obviously) - but the quality shows that. It pours an extremely dark caramel color, almost black, with a small foam ring of a head. It smells of barley and roasted malt. It is ashy and dry. There is not much to the aroma as it is just a basic stout. Upon tasting, I noticed how smooth it was, a very good amount of carbonation, and a hint of roasted malt. Overall, it was a very good brew for being mass manufactured around the country; but it will only ever be a good dark and dry stout.

Appearance - 4.0

Smell - 3.2

Taste - 3.7

Texture - 4.2

Overall - 3.78/5