Our gig was we would set everything up for the guy on shift on New Year's Eve to change and put a temporary sign up for the painters in the first week back in the new year, so they could set up ladders and hand-paint the sign for the full year,
Growing up in Ireland, you either start out as a Guinness drinker or learn to like it over time. My experience was the latter, and I can pinpoint the moment my taste changed. It was during a visit to the Guinness Storehouse in my early 20s. "This is the best Guinness you'll ever have," I was told. They were right. People have declared that Guinness tastes better in Ireland, and after years in the U.S., I'm sorry to tell you it's true.
Whether you're a fan of the black stuff or more partial to a crisp pint of lager, the UK's refreshed obsession with Guinness is undeniable. Steven Knight's Netflix series The House of Guinness threw the lore and legend around the stout into the global spotlight earlier this year, with a stellar cast depicting the early trials and tribulations of the family behind the pour.
Head brewer and founder Arthur Guinness (1725-1803) created his famous dark beer in the 1770s after exports of the so-called London 'porter' proved a hit in Dublin and beyond. So Guinness - famed for its robust malty sweetness - is arguably returning to its true home as the firm opens a new brewery in Covent Garden this week. 'Historically, the development of porter and stronger stouts originated with the English brewers,' Dr Purinton told the Daily Mail.
Looking out over the soot-covered ground of the Guinness plant, Rafferty wants answers. He's looking for the "men of poor judgment" who allowed "men of poor character" into the cooperage, and he knows that, given the chance, workers loyal to Guinness will snitch on those responsible for setting the stage for such a heinous act of vandalism. It's an effective bit of persuasion, one that finds Rafferty appealing to the esprit de corps the Guinness company has created
exposing the cracks and toxicity behind the scenes. Last year, Baby Reindeer, a Netflix show about a bartender being stalked by a customer, elucidated something that civilians (those outside the industry, in bartender speak ) don't always understand. It showed, plainly, that "bartending is an office that makes its holder a captive audience in a way that few other jobs do," Rosie Schaap wrote for Punch .
Since moving to the U.S., I've learned that being Irish here gives you automatic authority on all things Guinness. And while not every drunken-leprechaun stereotype is true, we do know a thing or two about stout. In case you're wondering, the way you pour it is so important that you can tell the difference between drafts in Ireland and abroad. And there is a proper way to sip a pint of Guinness.
