Barman says he’s settled Guinness ‘double pour’ debate... but his claim falls flat with pint drinkers
GUINNESS fans are in a froth over claims that the famous double pour does not make the perfect pint and is just a ‘marketing ploy’.
Pouring two-thirds of the pint and leaving it to rest for 60 to 80 seconds has become regular practice for any barman worth their salt – with Guinness insisting it is necessary to achieve the ‘perfect head height’ and ‘balanced flavour profile’.
As the company itself says: ‘Good things come to those who wait.’
But now an Irish barman based in the UK has ignited a row by insisting the double pour is simply a marketing ploy and does not affect the stout’s quality or taste.
Nate Brown, owner of Paloma Café, Soda & Friends and Nebula cocktail bars in London, dismissed the practice in an article entitled ‘There’s no such thing as the perfect Guinness pour’.
‘This isn’t done for the beer’s sake; it was practice in the Guinness brewery to speed up serving the masses at home time – the brand has always had the savviest of marketing departments,’ he wrote in FT Magazine.
Oisín Rogers, co-owner of the Devonshire in Soho, described Mr Brown’s assertion as ‘absolute horses***’.
He tweeted: ‘It’s impossible to get a correctly presented pint of Guinness in one pour because the meniscus is negative. Therefore a dimple rather than a dome.’ He added that the texture would be ‘completely disappointing leading to a far inferior drink’.
The row bubbled over on social media as aficionados defended the two-part pour policy.
‘Not true, has to be in 2 stages, too many times it’s been poured terribly in one go,’ said David Lace, an Irishman living in the UK.
Mr Brown’s heretical suggestion found support among some former barmen. Joe Mealing said: ‘Yeah, I used to work behind a bar and we had decent Guinness. Could do it in one pour.’
Despite his controversial claim, Mr Brown still pours Guinness in two parts at his bars because ‘it’s what our guests want’.
Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, added: ‘Can confirm you get a slightly larger head if you pour in one go, that’s it.’
But stout fan Gareth Edwards insisted: ‘If it was true, I’m not sure it’d have been universal in every pub in every small Irish town, including those doing Murphy’s or Beamish.
‘Or that at the pubs doing so you’re guaranteed a good pint of stout.’
A Diageo spokesman told the Mail in response to Mr Brown’s comments: ‘This is not the case.
‘In order to get the right consistency in the head, get the right head height, and the dome over the top of the glass perfectly, you need to pour in two stages.’
Since the 1960s Guinness has been pasteurised and as such is a dead beer in a keg. It is pressurised with a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide with one barrel having a higher pressure to mimic the lively barrel of the past.