Friday, 2 May 2008

The Pint Bottle & The Sunny South East

Aside from the alleged finer weather in the South East corner of our damp isle the thing I like about visiting Waterford and Wexford is the proliferation of The Pint Bottle Of Guinness.

Staying in the Brandon House Hotel, New Ross, last night I had high hopes, considering the location, of finding The Pint Bottle behind their bar.
I was only slightly disappointed.
The Bottle was there but only in the fridge.
Ah well, it'll always warm up.

Taking into account that Guinness Extra is far from my favourite beer, why get so excited?

Think of a typical hotel bar. If I want to drink beer, the average pub or hotel has nothing to offer me - several mainstream long-necks, industrial draught (and I include Guinness,Beamish and Murphy's as the best of a bad lot here) and nothing else. Okay, maybe (and a big maybe) Erdinger will be there but I just don't really like Erdinger.

But..
If in The South East, then the Pint Bottle of Guinness is a saviour.
A proper, full flavoured, slightly challenging beer with a lot of tradition behind it. It's what one imagines Guinness should taste like. Oh, and trust me, it really is much, much nicer off the shelf - smoother and fuller flavoured as opposed to a little thin and bitter when cold.

So, people of the South East;
Drink The Bottle!
If you don't, publicans will stop stocking it as they have in most parts of the country and I'll stop visiting and Guinness will probably stop making it - the one product that hasn't been tweaked beyond recognition to suit the ever changing taste of the fickle consumer.

I thank you, Waterford and Wexford and I thank all the other pups around the country that still stock The Pint Bottle.

Try one - off the shelf, with a half-pint glass and if you don't like it, try mixing it with a Pint Bottle of Smithwicks to make a Black & Tan.
Nice

6 comments:

Ptegan said...

Well I'm off to the pub to order a couple of Large Bottles and support you in your flight the only way I know how !

The Beer Revolution said...

Nice one, tell all your friends!!

The Beer Nut said...

I'm a pint bottle newbie and have an etiquette question:

When I'm served a bottle I'm usually given a half pint glass with it. I've tried drinking from this but I end up spending too much time fiddling with the pour and trying to get the head right. So, I always ask for a pint glass now. Is this inappropriate behaviour? Do other people do this?

The Beer Revolution said...

Oh dear.
You must never speak of this again!

But seriously, I just think it's very ugly from a pint glass and I quite enjoy all the topping up too.
I do the same with a 50cl lager (when in desperate situations) but i prefer a straight (slim jim) glass for this.

I'm not particular am I?

The Beer Nut said...

You're the customer: you're allowed to be :)

Any European beer which comes in a half-litre bottle will generally have a corresponding half-litre branded glass, so I think that's how they're meant to be served.

What a pint bottle of Guinness needs is a corresponding pint glass with an extra big German-style head space.

Dear Diageo...

Jade said...

Hello nice poost