My Goodness, My Guinness!

Now, I've heard from some pretty smart people that Guinness is scientifically proven to taste better in Ireland. So, in order to truly do justice to the drink, even though I am of legal drinking age in France, I decided to wait until I visited Ireland, and more specifically the Guinness Storehouse, to have my first taste of Guinness. I'm definitely glad I did.

We went on the Guinness tour on our second full day in Ireland. After a very satisfying and delicious Irish breakfast at the quaint Cafe Sofia, we made our way over to the Guinness Storehouse.

I think we might be going the right way...

The tour through the Guinness factory was self guided and very interactive. It took you through the process of making the beer, the history of the company and Guinness family, advertising campaigns throughout the years, among other things.  It was very interesting and well done. I really enjoyed seeing the different advertisements for print and television since their founding.

There is a room in the middle of the tour where you can learn the proper way to drink a Guinness so as to get the full range of flavor. Honestly, it's very silly, they literally tell you to breathe through your nose as you sip the Guinness. However, we got a free taste of Guinness in tiny plastic pint-shaped glasses.

Original Guinness storage. It was awesome to watch a video of how these were made, such hard work!

Different variations of the 'My Goodness, My Guinness' print campaign.

Hey, sir, don't you want to share?!

At the end of the tour, you are able to submit your voucher to get a 'free' pint of Guinness! Now, this is just the best part.  You can go to the sky bar and order your Guinness there or you can wait in (a quickly moving) line to learn the perfect way to pour a pint of Guinness and pour your own pint! You get a certificate and everything! Cheesy, I know, but this was the part I was most excited for, if I'm being honest. We waited in line and then were ushered into a room with four different bar/pouring stations. Our guide explained to us how to pour the perfect pint.  Do you want to know? Well, you have to hold the glass at a 45 degree angle and have the beer hit where the harp is on the glass. Once it's filled to the bottom of the harp, start leaning it up and then stop halfway up the harp. Then you've got to let it settle for a bit before pouring the rest. Very scientific.

After the explanation, it was our turn to pour a glass! When I went to pour it, the keg was running out so it just sputtered and I was scared I broke it! However, the guide just had me switch over to the other tap and I started over. We each took our turns pouring our pints and each received a very official certificate stating that we know how to pour the perfect pint. It has our name and everything!

Letting my pint settle before adding the last bit!

I'd say that's a pretty good-looking pint!

One of the Guinness pouring stations.

Clearly enjoying my first taste of Guinness!

After we got our pints, we made our way up to the Sky Bar to sip on our Guinness' while gazing at a spectacular view of Dublin on a beautiful day. I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some photos in the gorgeous lighting of this sunny day.  We enjoyed our pints, talking and laughing, and meeting an older British couple visiting Dublin for the weekend, too.

A lovely view to go along with our pints.

Not even the Irish government could take this golden harp symbol away from Guinness.

I'm going to happily admit that I'm definitely a Guinness girl now. It's very different than what I was expecting but I loved it. It'll be interesting to go home and try Guinness (come September..) to see how different it really is!

Until Next Time.