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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&u=/nm/20020225/od_nm/guinness_dc_1
Drinkers Bitter Over 'Fast' Guinness
Mon Feb 25, 9:08 AM ET
By Kevin Smith
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Plans by British drinks giant Diageo to cut the time needed to pour the perfect pint of Guinness stout were met with cries of "blasphemy" in the beer's homeland on Saturday.
In a bid to revive declining sales, the makers of Ireland's national tipple are testing a new pouring system which they say will slash the waiting time on a pint to 15-25 seconds from the traditional two minutes.
News of the move came after Diageo's half-year results this week showed a one percent dip in overall Guinness volumes, with a four percent fall in the Irish republic.
"A two-minute pour is not relevant to our customers today," the company's chief executive Paul Walsh said.
For more than two centuries -- since Arthur Guinness founded his famous brewery at Dublin's St. James' Gate -- drinkers have been accustomed to waiting for their stout.
The new technique, which uses ultrasound to release bubbles in the stout to form the characteristic white head instantly, will all but eliminate waiting time.
Emmet Bunting, barman at The Brazen Head in Dublin -- reputedly Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to the 12th century -- said the move would be stoutly resisted.
"Our customers will certainly not go for that. Guinness is a traditional drink and I don't think people will sacrifice that for a little extra speed and efficiency," he said.
Richard Donovan, manager of Doheny & Nesbitt's bar in central Dublin, concurred.
"You pull a pint (of Guinness) for an Irishman and he expects to wait. If you pull one in less than a minute he'll say 'where the hell did you drag that from'," he said.
Saturday afternoon customers at O'Dwyers bar were skeptical.
Declan McCauley, a student, doubted whether the move would make any difference even if it were accepted by Ireland's notoriously conservative drinking community.
"Most young people drink cider and lager not because it's quicker but because they don't like Guinness. If anything this could alienate the core stout drinkers," he said. Guinness sales may be declining -- volumes have been slipping for the past two years, according to a Guinness Ireland spokeswoman -- but the drink and its iconography are inextricably linked with the image of Ireland.
Attempts to tamper with such a cherished touchstone could well bring matters to a head.
Drinkers Bitter Over 'Fast' Guinness
Mon Feb 25, 9:08 AM ET
By Kevin Smith
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Plans by British drinks giant Diageo to cut the time needed to pour the perfect pint of Guinness stout were met with cries of "blasphemy" in the beer's homeland on Saturday.
In a bid to revive declining sales, the makers of Ireland's national tipple are testing a new pouring system which they say will slash the waiting time on a pint to 15-25 seconds from the traditional two minutes.
News of the move came after Diageo's half-year results this week showed a one percent dip in overall Guinness volumes, with a four percent fall in the Irish republic.
"A two-minute pour is not relevant to our customers today," the company's chief executive Paul Walsh said.
For more than two centuries -- since Arthur Guinness founded his famous brewery at Dublin's St. James' Gate -- drinkers have been accustomed to waiting for their stout.
The new technique, which uses ultrasound to release bubbles in the stout to form the characteristic white head instantly, will all but eliminate waiting time.
Emmet Bunting, barman at The Brazen Head in Dublin -- reputedly Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to the 12th century -- said the move would be stoutly resisted.
"Our customers will certainly not go for that. Guinness is a traditional drink and I don't think people will sacrifice that for a little extra speed and efficiency," he said.
Richard Donovan, manager of Doheny & Nesbitt's bar in central Dublin, concurred.
"You pull a pint (of Guinness) for an Irishman and he expects to wait. If you pull one in less than a minute he'll say 'where the hell did you drag that from'," he said.
Saturday afternoon customers at O'Dwyers bar were skeptical.
Declan McCauley, a student, doubted whether the move would make any difference even if it were accepted by Ireland's notoriously conservative drinking community.
"Most young people drink cider and lager not because it's quicker but because they don't like Guinness. If anything this could alienate the core stout drinkers," he said. Guinness sales may be declining -- volumes have been slipping for the past two years, according to a Guinness Ireland spokeswoman -- but the drink and its iconography are inextricably linked with the image of Ireland.
Attempts to tamper with such a cherished touchstone could well bring matters to a head.