Guinness Week Part V: McGuinness's
Friday, March 15, 2013 at 12:28PM At St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, barley, hops, yeast, and water are brewed together to make Guinness. This Sunday, over 13 million pints will be consumed, and as St. Patrick's Day approaches, we thought we'd devote the entire week to the beautiful elixir. So tag along as we uncover five of our favorite places to get a perfect pour.
The appreciation for Guinness reaches all corners of the globe, but it's important to note the regional differences that exist in the beverage. Irish Guinness is brewed to 6% alcohol by volume and remains unpasteurized. In the states, the two most significant differences are 1) It's lower in alcohol and 2) It's pasteurized. To allow for export, Guinness sold to North America is brewed to 3.5% and then pasteurized to ensure stability on the arduos journey across the Atlantic.
After the malted beverage arrives, it falls into the hands (and glasses) of some of the city's finest bars, pubs, and watering holes. At these locales, glassware, the pour (always in two runs), storage temperature, and the cleanliness of tap lines all play a role in what ends up in your glass. After Friday, we will have only scratched the surface, but if you happen to make it to any of our favorites Sunday or anytime after, your pour will be in good hands.
Lenny Rankin is a good friend of ours. Hailing from Dublin, he spent a number of years in Florence, but has always quested for the perfect pint. That journey continued in 2009, when he moved to Sunnyside, where Queens Boulevard is the main thoroughfare and, from 39th to 52nd Street, has easily more than two dozen Irish pubs. The first thing Lenny did when he moved to the neighborhood was scour the boulevard for its best pint. He found it on the north side of the street, on the corner of 45th, at McGuinness's. It was there on a recent afternoon with Lenny and his family that we had one of our favorite pints and learned how water from the Wicklow Mountains is what makes a pint of Guinness in Ireland so special.
Lenny also let us borrow his (signed) copy of Bill Yenne's book Guinness: The 250-Year Quest for the Perfect Pint. That's where we learned Guinness has been poured since 1759, and that it wasn't until two-hundred years later it became available in the form we drink it today. A scientist by the name of Michael Ash realized the potential nitrogen could play in creating the perfect head on a pint of Guinness and, in 1959, Guinness Draught was born. Fergal Murray, the brewery's current Master Brewer, explained to Yenne, "Because the surface tension of the beer is so strong, the nitrogen doesn't escape. The bubbles float to the top, surrounded by the surface tension of the beer. That's why they don't dissipate as fast as carbon dioxide bubbles dissipate because there is less surface tension to hold them in place. The nitrogen bubbles don't dissipate. The nitrogen can't escape because the protein-carbohydrate mix that holds the beer together is so strong. The quality of the raw materials in Guinness is directly associated with the sustainability of the perfect head. The strength of the head is one of the fundamentals of a good pint of Guinness. That's why we do a two-shot pour, to create a foundation for a wonderful head."
Nowhere did we wait as long as we did for a pint at McGuinness's, but nowhere was the head as dense and creamy. The bartender wiped down the rims before he filled the glasses and the smooth, clean surface became a stage for the stout's frothy, rich, whipped cream-like head.
Sitting at McGuinness's, with the late afternoon sun streaking through the windows, and after five pints in four boroughs, we couldn't help but bask in the 250-year old tradition that is Guinness. It continues to be enjoyed all over the globe, and although the beer has been drank for centuries, each pour, no matter where you are in the world, will continue to be a uniquely crafted draft.
McGuinness's Saloon | 44-23 Queens Boulevard | 718-729-9617 | map
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Reader Comments (1)
Fact: Guinness doesn't make you fat. It makes you lean.....on the bar.