Guinness on tap

[bandregg]

Durham, NC - James Joyce, a tritely named Irish Pub with the quiant trait of being owned and operated by the Irish. Guiness, Boddies, Murphy's Stout and Amber on tap, Premiership football, formula-1, or hurling on the tele. I'm off for an afternoon pint with co-workers and a bunch of nursing students in an hour or so.

[Mayhaw Man]

The Kerry on Decatur St in New Orleans pours one of the best pints you will find in the U.S. THe place is operated by (and pretty much serves) ex pat Irishmen living in New Orleans. The combination of the Irish gift for gab and the New Orleans bar culture is a really nice thing if you are looking for a nicely poured pint and a place for a little good craic. When I lived in the Quarter full time it was my local and I highly reccomend the place. There aren't many like it in the US and certainly not many like it in the Deep South.

A fine place for a lovely pint.

[babyluck]

The Kerry on Decatur St in New Orleans pours one of the best pints you will find in the U.S. THe place is operated by (and pretty much serves) ex pat Irishmen living in New Orleans. The combination of the Irish gift for gab and the New Orleans bar culture is a really nice thing if you are looking for a nicely poured pint and a place for a little good craic. When I lived in the Quarter full time it was my local and I highly reccomend the place. There aren't many like it in the US and certainly not many like it in the Deep South.

A fine place for a lovely pint.

Damn--that information would have come in real handy on any of the 5 first business trips I took in my career--all to New Orleans. I piggybacked a vacation onto one of them (actually my boss covered all the costs as a reward--those were the days!) and didn't think it would be too crazy over St. Patrick's Day--I didn't know there were any Irish living there! Also didn't realize it was spring break--ouch.

And thanks to everyone else who has responded--I will keep compiling the results and cut you in on the book deal.

Heading to DC soon so I will try Al Dente's suggestion if I can.

[Lew_Bryson]

Getting good draft Guinness at bar relies on three things: the turnover, the temperature and gas pressure on the line, and the cleanliness of the line. Of these three, the most likely to ruin your pint is the first one. Best way to find a good jar is to go to a place that sells a LOT of it.

My calls in Philly: Fergie's, Irish Bards, Black Sheep.

In NYC, the best pint of Guinness I've found is at Maggie's Place, where it's so perfectly poured it's positively meticulous.

And Guinness is to stout as Bud is to lager? Please! It's become fashionable among the geekerie to bash Guinness, but the stuff is what it is, the premiere Irish dry stout, the very definition of the type, the beer other dry stouts compare themselves to. It is NOT a milk stout, nor an oatmeal stout, nor an "export" stout, nor an imperial stout, nor a porter. It is Guinness, and it is the touchstone.

[dankphishin]

Williamsport PA: the Cellblock has Guiness, Harp, and Boddington's on tap.

[Rich Pawlak]

Williamsport PA: the Cellblock has Guiness, Harp, and Boddington's on tap.

How comfortable can it be to have a Guinness, Harp or Boddingtons in a place called THE CELLBLOCK?

Sheesh.

[Mayhaw Man]

Williamsport PA: the Cellblock has Guiness, Harp, and Boddington's on tap.

How comfortable can it be to have a Guinness, Harp or Boddingtons in a place called THE CELLBLOCK?

Sheesh.

A hell of a lot more comfortable than a cellblock WITHOUT Guinness.

[phaelon56]

I am no longer a beer or stout drinker nor do I still consume alcohol but I do know that not all draught Guiness is equal - certainly not here in the US. Some places don't have proper delivery systems or don't fully understand the necessary procedures in maintaining them and the manner in which the pints must be drawn.

That said.... Syracuse NY, my current residence, is blessed in that there's a long local history of ale production and and consumption that was steady long after ales in general had been replaced by lagers. Many of us guys (and gals) my age (mid 40's) drank plenty of Labatt's 50 ale and Molson Export ales back in the 70's when it was known mostly just in the central and upper portions of NY state - this ata time when Miller and Bud lagers were at the top of the heap.

In more recent times we've had a local specialty microbrewer appear - Middle Ages Brewing. They make excellent traditional English style ales - I think some are cask aged.

Locally we have a handful of places serving both English style ales and Belgian, including the Omegang (spelling?) that is produced near Cooperstown.

Great destinations for beer lovers passing through the area are:

Clark's Ale House

The Blue Tusk

Both are in the Armory Square "entertainment district" of downtown Syracuse. Offering a much smaller selection but very authentic (for the US) pints of Guiness is Coleman's Pub, just west in the Tipperary Hill neighborhood of Syracuse. Middle Ages Brewing has a retail store at the brewery with tasting samples, bottled beer and growlers to go.

[Rick Cook]

How comfortable can it be to have a Guinness, Harp or Boddingtons in a place called THE CELLBLOCK?

Sheesh.

A hell of a lot more comfortable than a cellblock WITHOUT Guinness.   

Rick

[GG Mora]

The Red Fox, Bondville, VT. And mighty well-pulled pints, to boot.

Every year, on the Sunday closest to St. Paddy's Day, the town of Bondville holds a parade – a hokey, dopey hometown parade that lasts all of 10 minutes. Bondville is effectively home to Stratton Mountain (ski resort); it and all the surrounding little towns are pretty much overrun with out-of-towners for the duration of ski season. Mid-March brings the winding down of high ski season (although that's usually when the skiing just starts to get good), and the Bondville parade somehow marks the taking back of our towns for those of us what live here year-round. Whole families turn out, several generations' worth, and it's an entirely equitable affair – socio-economic boundaries disappear, if only for the afternoon. As soon as the parade is over, most of the crowd move on to the Red Fox for an afternoon of Guinness-guzzling and catching up...people mill in and out if the day is fine, little kids, big kids rejoicing in the coming end of winter. Around 4 in the afternoon, as the buzz reaches a pitch, an Irish punk band – Big Bad Bollocks – crank up and get the place reeling. A little later, a spread of corned beef and cabbage is laid to soak off some of the booze. I can't believe I lived here for 16 years before I got hipped to the party by my new husband. Now it's a family affair.

Also – The Equinox Hotel, Manchester, VT. A much tonier venue, owned until recently by Glen Eagles, Guinness' parent company. Highly recommended in summer when you can sit out front in a big, green rocker, sipping your Guinness and watching the day fade into the mountains.

Edit: Right. It's GuinNess, not Guiness.

Edited February 6, 2004 by GG Mora (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

How can you not love a band called the Big, Bad, Bollocks!

[Rick Cook]

Never Mind The Sex Pistols, Here's The Bollocks

[dankphishin]

it actually is an old prison........

[chengb02]

Getting good draft Guinness at bar relies on three things: the turnover, the temperature and gas pressure on the line, and the cleanliness of the line. Of these three, the most likely to ruin your pint is the first one. Best way to find a good jar is to go to a place that sells a LOT of it.

This is why this post is required. A lot of bars have Guinness, but very few have bartenders who know, or care, enough to take the time to give its customers a really good pour. I have found very few in Chicago that are willing to give a pint the care it deserves. I had a very fine pint (or two) at a pub/restaurant in NYC on St. Patty's Day, not far from Grand Central, and filled with Irish policemen, though the name escapes me (I think it was named after the first Irish woman to enter through Ellis Island or something like that)...As for Beijing, Durty Nellie's is the closest you will get to a decent pint of Guiness.

[AlexP]

In the Twin Cities area, The Dubliner in Saint Paul pours the best Guiness by far IMHO. Great music as well.

I agree that there are too many places out there that do not know how to serve this great beer. I do find this thread quite useful Thanks.

Alex

[Rustmeister]

In Memphis, I guess the best place to get a good pint of Guinness would be here, as quoted in the Peabody Place website:

"There's Dan McGuinness Irish Pub, built from the ground up in Ireland and shipped to Memphis to recreate the décor, music, food, drinks and hospitality of an authentic Dublin pub."

Their Shepherd's Pie simply rocks, BTW.

Others would be the Flying Saucer (downtown) and the Blue Monkey (Overton Square). I'd bet the Young Avenue Deli (square) has it, but I haven't been there yet.

Rust