Guinness

From time to time I quite enjoy a Guinness.  They've got the canning of this pretty well down these days, but it wasn't always the case.

In my early drinking days, Guinness, was a tough thing to swallow.
With so many Irishmen in England however, there was a regular call for their national beer.

The trouble was, and they were the first to admit it, it just didn't taste the same as "back home."

Guinness had a brewery in north London at Park Royal, and they tried really hard to get the flavor right, but it just would not comply.
They even tried trucking in the water from Ireland - the stuff that originated in the River Liffey.  If you've ever seen the River Liffey, you'd wonder about that.

Eventually, some tests were done in a lot of different pubs.  What they found was interesting.  It seemed that in an average British pub, a barrel of Guinness was consumed about once every five days, whereas in an Irish pub they drank a barrel every morning and every evening.  The trick was to drink it as quickly as possible, a bit like Beaujolais Nouveau.

Funnily enough a taste was developed for the bitterer flavored Guinness that was brewed in England.  I think this must be why you can buy it in bottles and also in cans with a small "widget" that puts the fizz in it once it's opened.  The latter is much smoother - take your pick!