posted by JD on Mar 5
So how do you pour the perfect glass of Guinness - I need help!!!
- Pint glass should be cool not warm
- Take your glass and place at a 45 degree angle Guinness should NOT be chilled Stout should be served at room temperature or slightly lower
- Pouring it down the side of the glass in a thin, even stream.
- Allow to settle fully could be max of 4 minutes! then top up.
- When coming close to finished pouring take that last bit of the flow and make a two figure eight on the top of the ‘cream’ giving the four leaf clover effect remember this is not a shamrock as they only have 3 leaves
posted by Hilary on Mar 5
Well I wouldn’t be giving Dublin true credit without mentioning Temple bar as a main attraction of nightlife in Dublin. Yes there are more bars per square mile etc but to anyone who has been you will know that temple bar isn’t made up Weather spoons and characterless pubs that you can find in many city centres. Temple Bar got its name from the Temple family, who lived in the area in the 17th century; Sir William Temple, and the earliest historical reference to the name Temple Bar is on a 1673 map. The area took a massive nose dive in popularity, with many derelict buildings in the 1950’s and nasty Dublin’s property developers, who destroyed much of the city’s historic architecture during the 1960s In the 1980s, the state-owned transport company proposed to buy-up and demolish property in the area and build a bus terminus in its place!! My god can you believe it!!!! Protestors stepped in and for once got the bus station project squashed!!, and the Taoiseach Charles Haughey and, 1991, the government set up a not-for-profit company called Temple Bar Properties to oversee the regeneration of the area as Dublin’s cultural quarter. For once the ‘little person’ won out and the rest is history.
Well back to cocktails, I discovered quite a few!!!
First being in Gallagher’s Boxty House 20/21 Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland
Just a couple to sample
Gallagher’s Shamrock
Bailey’s,
Whiskey,
Crème de Menthe
Fresh Cream,
Shaken together over ice……….. Yum Yum
Boxty Blush
Vodka
Peach Schnapps
Cranberry Juice
Everybody’s Irish
Whiskey,
Tia Maria
Fresh Cream,
Shaken together over ice
posted by Hilary on Mar 3
So in preparation for going off to Dublin on Tuesdays I thought I would top up on my knowledge of the black stuff!!!
What I never really understood was just how Guinness has the monopolized the market over the years, and dominated the Irish brewing scene. The rival Findlaters closed in 1949 and by the mid-1960’s they had rounded up the last few stray ale breweries.
The only challenge to total control was in Cork, where Murphy’s and Beamish & Crawford kept Guinness at bay, at least for a while. Under pressure from their own landlords (who wanted to sell Guinness), the Cork brewers gave up in the 1970’s. But good news for the little man was on the horizon. Foreign investors snapped up the local brands, eager to own an Irish stout brand. Their stouts are now often easier to find oversea than in their native country!!!
Fact: Did you know that it originated in Arthur Guinness brewery in Leixlip, Co Kildare but it then moved to Dublin, Ireland. The beer is based on the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century.
Fact : Did you know that rumor has it beer makes up are portion for the recipe to give a sharp flavor, but Guinness has refused to comment where this still goes on but there is no disputing the unique tastes comes from the roasted barley which in unfermented.
Fact: Did you know that despite the Credit crunch Guinness & Co. makes almost €2 billion a year?
posted by JD on Mar 2
Ohh my i just have to write and tell you about how let down i felt by my drinking experience in Manchester the other week. Me and a Friend were out on a quiet Sunday afternoon and decide to stop and have a drink in Label on Deansgate in Manchester.
I have been there before but not long after it had opened. Why is it that it’s now like drinkings in a working men’s pub. Not there is anything wrong with some working men’s pub but when your paying the equivalent of a small mortgage a girl has expectations!!
The place was dead but the majority of the tables had empty glass on them. We had to return the drinks back twice for extremly dirty glasses. I don’t just mean lipstick round the glass if only! I mean cloudy glasses actual dirt all round the bottom of the glad stem!!! Yukk call me a snob but needless to say we didn’t stay for food 
