The world’s most famous stout is cool again. Here are a few reasons why.
They’re calling it the ‘black gold rush’ – people everywhere are finding themselves pining after a pint of Ireland’s iconic stout, Guinness. It’s not like Guinness has ever been obscure (the brand itself estimates that, worldwide, we’re drinking 1.8 billion glasses each year) but if you’ve been in a pub or bar lately, you’ll know that Guinness is having something of a renaissance – particularly with the younger, drinking-age generation.
Guinness, if you’re not yet acquainted, is a nearly-black (officially, it’s dark ruby red) stout from Dublin in Ireland that’s been brewed since the 18th century. The beer is smooth with a creamy head, owing to the use of nitrogen (as opposed to carbon dioxide), and is generally poured in a signature two-stage ritual when on draught (more on that later).
For all its ritual and history, though, Guinness is not something we’d naturally consider a trendy bev. And yet, here we are. So, with its recent rise in social cache only adding to the mystique, we thought we’d better take a look at why Guinness is cool again.
The Guinness boom owes plenty to social media. It’s been the fuel behind various growing TikTok trends, some more responsible than others. Then there are the dedicated social accounts like @shitlondonguinness, which exists to rate Guinness across London, pointing people towards (or away from) pubs based on pouring standards. In Australia, where Guinness is surging, Facebook groups like Melbourne Guinness Hunters and Perth Guinness Hunters 2.0 and Instagram accounts like Guinness of Sydney are doing the same job, with thousands of newly converted Guinness fans following along for tips on finding a decent pull.
And, whether you like the beer or not, it’s fair to say Guinness is a photogenic ale, which makes it a prime candidate for social sharing – something the brand has taken advantage of with campaigns like #LooksLikeGuinness, inviting people to share images that look like a pint of the black stuff. It doesn’t hurt that you can get your face printed on the foamy head, either.
When we take a risk or do something out of the ordinary, it’s nice to have someone to point to as a reference to back us up. Remember when Crocs were an iffy fashion choice? Well, when someone like Margot Robbie proudly totes a pair, it’s hard to argue there’s anything uncool about them. The same sort of thing has happened to Guinness recently.
On St Patrick’s day last year, Kim Kardashian was snapped in a London pub holding a pint and drinking a baby Guinness (a mix of coffee and Irish cream that looks like a wee pint of plain). Whether it was staged or not (and yeah, it was probably a set-up), people were chuffed to see the most famous person on the planet endorsing Guinness. Kate Middleton, too, is another ultra-famous woman who has been papped sipping Guinness. Sure, we’ve all got that uncle who drinks nothing but the black stuff, but it’s a different story when Kim and Kate are doing it.
Caretaker’s Cottage in Melbourne’s CBD is one of Australia’s best bars – a statement backed up by being named the 23rd best bar in the world in 2023. If you pop in, you’ll find plenty of the hallmarks of bar-coolness: a tiny cocktail list of obscure classics and inventive originals, Clarified Milk Punch, vinyl records and…Guinness. Yup, Victoria’s premier cocktail bar has one beer tap and it’s Guinness.
It used to be that you’d only find Guinness in places where the atmosphere is, well, not for everyone – definitely not for the young set, anyway. Irish-themed pubs and old-school watering holes have been the traditional place to seek out a Guinness but, these days, you’re every chance to find Guinness at an after-hours club, trendy pub or cocktail bar.
For a beer, there are lots of extra details to Guinness, and this is definitely part of its ongoing appeal. One of Guinness’s idiosyncrasies is in how it’s poured – a two-step process that sees a little more than half of the glass filled, then rested for a few minutes, then topped up. Visit those social media accounts we linked above if you want any indication of how important the pouring ritual is to people young and old because there’s little doubt that people love Guinness for more than just the flavour.
Rituals, though, have always been subtly updated with Guinness, which may help explain why it keeps tapping the next generation on the shoulder. In 1989, Guinness released cans designed to mimic the nitro-smooth pour of the draught version, using a little device called a widget to release nitrogen as the beer is poured. Recent updates include the alcohol-free Guinness 0.0 and the MicroDraught and Nitrosurge devices, which are some fancy kit for getting draught-like pours at home.
Sure, Guinness has been around for more than 200 years but, thanks to some imagination-capturing updates, it seems to have the knack for staying relevant without tinkering too much with what makes it popular in the first place – the beer.
