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Lately there has been a bit of Guinness’s shortage in the United Kingdom. In the period prior to Christmas, many pubs were high and dry; And several months later, supplies are still in narrow assignment. Guinness said he was blind for the “unprecedented demand.” Maybe I should have seen it come: Stout salts in the United Kingdom, the largest drink of the drink, grew 24 percent between 2019 and 2023 (in contrast to the wider beer category, which decreased by six percent in the same period). Since 2023, Guinness has been the best -selling beer in the United Kingdom, which represents one in 10 pints sold in pubs.
Its popularity has been driven in part by social networks: Guinness is diabolically photogenic, with a ritualized service that can be, and has been debated. ad nauseam. Photos of Kim Kardashian enjoying a pint In a pub in London he went viral; And Tiktok has been flooded with people “dividing G”. The launch of the variant phenomenally successful No Alc Guinness 0.0 has also helped the Irish brand to reach a completely new audience.
Five to try
Big Gall Galactic Milk Stout
This alcohol -free black beer of specialists in Teetotal Big Drop is so good that it is known that the real business in competitions expires. <0.5 percent of ABV, £ 1.80 for 330 ml of can, ocado.com
Anspach and Hobday London Black
Very well balanced, with a satin texture and subtle notes of milk chocolate and roast black coffee. The finish is fresh and not too sweet. 4.4 percent of ABV, from £ 3.75 for 440 ml of can, Anspachandhobday.com
St Austell Mena Dhu Stout
A black beer with Cornwall bottle that is large with flavor: black chocolate, espresso, raisins and a touch of oak smoke, but still very drinkable. 4.5 percent of ABV, £ 2.05 per 500 ml bottle, ocado.com
Siren broken sleep
Brief with a true espresso, this indulgent growl is as sweet and silky as a coffee liquor. A former Supreme Camra champion. 6.5 percent of ABV, £ 3 for 330 ml of can, CLAPTONCRAFT.co.uk
Kernel Export Stout London 1890
Rich, dark and dense with a charming foamy head and complex espresso, marmita, cigar, smoked leather and ginger stem. 7.5 percent of ABV, £ 3.50 per bottle of 330 ml, Thekernelbrewery.com
But there is life beyond Guinness, as more Drinkers They are starting to realize. “If you want a black beer that is tastier and more complex than Guinness, there are hundreds of them out there,” says beer writer Pete Brown. “Now there are many brewers doing Nitro Stout [which is dispensed with a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, to make it extra-creamy] And it has become a fairly fashionable style. “
A dark beer favored by many is London Black by Anspach and Hobday In Croydon. The independent beer was launched in 2021, and proved to be so popular in the height of Guinness’s scarcity last year that also dried. London Black looks and poured as Guinness, but the co -founder of A&H, Jack Hobday, says that he is actually closer to a former London goalkeeper, the dark beer of lighter style that gave birth to Stout. “It is definitely not designed to be a Guinness imitator. You still get that creamy and nitro mouth feeling, but where Guinness is more toasted, London Black is more coffee, milk chocolate and dark fruit. It has a depth of flavor, but at 4.4 percent of ABV, it is still very sessionable. “Another brand that has benefited from shortage is Murphy’s -To -born in Cork saw a sales leap in trade 632 percent in December.
Ireland is seen by many as Stout’s spiritual home, but in reality he was born in London, created in the 18th century for dock workers who sought a richer and more robust version of the goalkeeper they drank. Southeast of London Kernel brewery It keeps that tradition alive with a range inspired by historical recipes. These include the core of London Porter of London Kernel and Stout of 1890, a Victorian -style recipe made with black and chocolate malts that give wonderfully roasted characters, smoked and quite tasty (all these are in a bottle, if you want to try the Stout Nitro of the Kernel, you will need to find it in a pub in the draft).
Wenlock’s arms Alehouse in Hxton changed Kernel Nitro Stout when he could no longer grab Guinness. For the owner Heath Ball, who also runs the popular Red Lion & Sun Pub in highgate, north of London, now there is no turning back. “I am so boring all the rhetoric around Guinness,” he says. “I think the best thing that happened was that they ran out of stock, since it made people see alternatives. And the nucleus is simply fabulous, so with all body. “
The price increases for Guinness, and other beers in the Diageo portfolio, have been another reason for the pubs jump of pubs. Kavanagh’s New Street Pub in Dublin reached the exchange holders recently when he announced that he was changing his popular offer of € 5 to paint Guinness to Lamp (Another cork classic) as a way of “telling AF@%K off”.
The future seems bright for robust beers and other dark beers, now you have it in black and white.