Your intrepid liquor reporter has been noticing a lot of manufactured booze-related holidays pop up on the calendar over the past few years.
Sure, there are the old standbys of St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and Oktoberfest, but the drinks industry seem to be inventing new holidays as fast as the calendars can be printed.
Your humble narrator had only recently recovered from World Whisky Day and International IPA Day, when Arthur Guinness Day appeared in my social calendar, requiring a night out of enjoying all things Guinness-related.
For those readers not familiar with the rich and storied history of this noble drink, I will provide a little background information.
Arthur Guinness was an Irish businessman who took over a disused brewery in Dublin in 1759, wisely signing a 9000 year lease for the princely annual sum of £45.
Yes, gentle reader, the landlord somehow thought that a 9000 year lease made sense at the time, although I’m sure the rent will be renegotiated slightly upwards when the lease ends in the year 10,759.
Guinness has gone through a few mergers and acquisitions since 1759, and is now part of the London-based Diageo conglomerate, also known as the world’s largest drinks company.
Seizing on any opportunity for exploiting brand awareness, those sly beer marketeers created Arthur’s Day in 2009, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Guinness Brewery.
On September 26 at 17:59pm local time (see how they worked the year in there), all Guinness drinkers are requested to raise their glass and toast the memory of Arthur Guinness.
As you might imagine, the Irish Tourism Board has jumped on this new holiday wagon train with both feet, and is enthusiastically promoting it to all visitors to the Emerald Isle.
2013 marks the 4th annual Arthur’s Day, with the marketing muscle of Diageo playing up the live music and cultural events, as well as their own charitable Arthur Guinness Fund, which supports community entrepreneurship around the world.
Sadly, the events of Arthur’s Day are largely confined to Ireland and surrounding countries. So, despite Canada’s ongoing love affair with Guinness, there will be no official Arthur’s Day events in our fair land this year.
Not one to be easily discouraged in the face of adversity, your intrepid liquor reporter headed straight for my favourite Irish pub with a few drinking buddies, and made sure to raise our glasses to Arthur at exactly 17:59.
For the readers in the audience who have been raised on a steady diet of Coors Lite, and have been too intimidated to try the dark and mysterious elixir that we call Guinness, let your humble narrator help ease you into a wider world of boozing.
To begin with, Guinness is made the in the style of a Dry Irish Stout. In fact, such is their market dominance, you could say that Guinness is the textbook example of a Dry Irish Stout, that all other beers in the same category try to emulate.
The distinctive burnt flavour in Guinness comes from the heavily roasted unmalted barley, which also influences the dark hue. Despite popular belief, Guinness in not truly black in colour, but is actually a very deep ruby.
Unlike most beers, Guinness is pressurized with nitrogen, as well as the more common carbon dioxide, with the highly soluble nitrogen gas contributing to the distinctive tiny bubbles that appear to sink down in your pint glass from the top to the bottom.
Despite its long reputation as a “meal in a glass”, Guinness is surprisingly low in calories, with a 20oz pint weighing in at 198 calories, which is less than an equivalently-sized glass of skim milk or orange juice.
At 4.2% ABV, it’s not a particular strong beer either, so feel free to knock back a few when you gather with your drinking buddies.
Although modern advertising standards now prohibit such tomfoolery, Guinness ran a popular advertising campaign in the 1920’s, stating that “Guinness is good for you”, based on then-current research that the antioxidant compounds in Guinness helped reduce cholesterol buildup on arterial walls.
At the time, Guinness was even prescribed to nursing mothers to help combat anemia. Apparently, the mothers did not raise a fuss, except when their husbands tried to sneak a sip for themselves.
So, pay your respects to the most noble of the dark beers by raising a glass of your own at 17:59, and be sure to dedicate it to Arthur!
