Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is reviewed by Chris Hall.
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
Guinness
ABV 7.5%
While the Draught and Original varieties are all very well and good, if you want to truly grasp how great Guinness can be, you need to seek out a bottle of Foreign Extra Stout. Here’s why: Guinness is a global brand, one of the first, and certainly one of the longest-lasting global brands. The likes of Budweiser taste almost exactly the same wherever in the world you drink it (a fact that some people find impressive). Guinness Foreign Extra is always different. Guinness believe in letting the locals make the beer how the locals want to drink it, and so only the basis of Foreign Extra leaves the gates of the Guinness brewery in Dublin. Once it gets toMalaysia,Jamaica,China, Nigeria etc., it is made complete by a team of local brewers, supervised by people from Guinness.
This 7.5% ABV variety is the most commonly found here in theUK, and is a good benchmark for all the varieties available. Black as black can be, it burns with an intense, mystifying broodiness as you draw the glass closer to your lips. The aroma gives almost nothing away. Indeed, you could just as easily be smelling the Original, making the flavoursome onslaught all the more incredible. Red berries, chocolate, espresso and liquorice are all to found in its bountiful, crispy texture, even notes of chicory and cinnamon. A lasting, tingling sweetness amongst a dry, espresso-finish caps off each sip with class and, frankly, gravitas.
This is very special beer, and something to be savoured over the course of an hour. Give this exceptional stout your full attention and it will reward you. Do keep an eye out for the Nigerian version, blended with local sorghum beer, which makes for a unique, powerful and even more magnificent finish.
