Guinness’s stout recovery

GUINNESS is one of the most recognised stouts in the world.

But owner Diageo has had to react fast to defend the Black Stuff from a boom in craft beer. Back in 1759 when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on Dublin’s St James’s Gate brewery there was not much by way of innovation in Irish dry stout.

Fast forward 250 years and the craft beer industry is booming, with the number of breweries in Europe up more than 70pc since 2008 as entrepreneurs introducing bold flavours and cool packaging reinvigorate the declining industry.

The established players have had to move fast to catch up. Just before Christmas Diageo (down 39.5p to 1817p) opened an experimental bar at the Guinness brewery as a hub for its master brewers to incubate new ideas.

This is meant to tap into the trend for something different. It has also dug up recipes from its archives and introduced a raft of variants using the Guinness badge.

It has rolled out a new Dublin Porter, West Indies Porter, Hop House 13 lager, and Guinness Nitro IPA.

Diageo’s global head of beer and Baileys Mark Sandys said their strategy is ‘about putting [the brand] in the right places and having the right products so consumers drink it week in week out’.

‘Our innovations have doubled in size,’ he said. ‘The new Open Gate Brewery bar is the latest development in what has been a step change in our innovation strategy and innovation ambitions for the Guinness brand over the last 18 months.’