Magic in a Pint

Guinness is good for you. Guinness gives you wings. Guinness was the first beer to be consumed in outer space. These are a few rumours surrounding the magic in a pint of Guinness. In a land filled with luck and gold clad leprechauns, it’s no wonder Ireland created a magical beer.

We gathered hungryhouse employees to do a bit of ‘company research’ surrounding the claims of Guinness. After a few rounds, everyone started spouting off &”facts” about Guinness. Our content managers fiercely took notes and googled such statements. Can you sort through this Guinness malarkey?

1. Guinness is good for you Up for debate: Guinness ran an advertising campaign in the 1920s which stemmed from market research – when people told the company that they felt good after their pint. A slogan was born – “Guinness is Good for You.”

2. Queen Elizabeth II guzzled down a pint when she visited Ireland in May 2011 FALSE: Though master brewer Fergal Murray did his best to persuade her otherwise, the Queen didn’t want to feel tipsy on her big day. What a light weight!

3. The first Guinness exports were sent to Belgium FALSE: The Belgians do like their beer, but the first barrel of Guinness to sneak out from an Irish port was sent Britain. That’s enough reason to go grab a pint now!

4. Before 1939, if a Guinness brewer wished to marry a Catholic, his resignation was requested TRUE: What ever happened to the separation of pubs and prayer?

5. It’s illegal in Ireland to advertise the benefits of an alcoholic beverage TRUE: Being popular, and looking beautiful are not considered ‘a benefit’ of consuming alcohol. Though many commercials will lead you to believe popularity and beauty to be after effects of alcoholic consumption.

6. Guinness gives you wings FALSE: Red Bull and fairy dust does that.

7. You never look down at a pint of Guinness you always look to the horizon TRUE: But what does this mean? According to master brewer Fergal Murray, you’ve got to &”bring that elbow up” when you consume a pint. A pint of Guinness is kind of like the sun, you never want to look directly at it, just focus on the peripheral.

8. Niger is the third largest Guinness drinking nation FALSE: We’re not sure about how much Guinness they drink in Niger, but we do know that they drink a lot in Nigeria. Nigeria consumes less Guinness than Ireland and the UK, and more than the USA.

9. Guinness is only brewed in Ireland FALSE: This is actually only half way false. The unfermented but hopped Guinness wort extract is shipped from Dublin and blended with beer brewed locally. Guinness Stout is brewed under licence internationally in several countries, including Nigeria, the Bahamas, Canada, and Indonesia.

10. Vegetarians can’t drink Guinness TRUE: If you’re a pescaterian, no need to worry, chug away. The production of the stout involves the use of isinglass, a by-product of the fishing industry derived from dead fish. Isinglass is used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the beer vat, and while it’s kept at the bottom of the tank, some isinglass may end up in the final product.

11. The Guinness book of World records was created to settle a bar fight TRUE: Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Breweries, needed to settle a debate about the fasted game bird in Europe. Beaver had a hunch that numerous other philosophical questions must be debated across the pubs in Ireland and that a world record book would prevent many bar fights from breaking out. We still don’t know about the fastest game bird in Europe.

12. Someone at the hungryhouse office is drinking a pint of Guinness right now! TRUE: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!