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Guinness

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Guinness

The Story of the World's Greatest Beer

Wiley,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Pull up a stool and discover the history behind your pint of Guinness.

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Overview
  • Engaging

Recommendation

The perfect pint of Guinness takes exactly 119.5 seconds to pour. However, you would be hard-pressed to recount even a fraction of the Guinness story within that time frame. Spanning 250 years, it is a tale of dedication, pride, craftsmanship and innovation. Bill Yenne offers a detailed, affectionate look at the history of the family and its product. He passionately pursues the Holy Grail of the stout world, the perfect pint of Guinness, and recounts the trials and tribulations that the company experienced over the centuries – revolutions, World Wars, cold wars and crises. getAbstract advises quality connoisseurs, innovation enthusiasts and history buffs to pull up a seat at an Irish pub, and experience world events in Guinness’ signature black and white. Those who enjoy a happy ending can rest assured that the company has one thing in common with its famous product: The cream always rises to the top.

Summary

“Dripping with History”

For 250 years, Guinness stout has held a unique place in the history of beer and of Ireland. No other brand enjoys such a wide appeal coupled with such a strong connection to its native soil. The brand has established a name worldwide, partly thanks to the emigrating Irish, who took “the black liquidation with the froth on top” with them wherever they went.

Arthur Guinness, the founder of Guinness stout, first opened a brewery in Leixlip, County Kildare, in 1756. Ireland was still a British colony, and the class system favored Protestants and those of English lineage over the native Catholics. As a Protestant, Guinness was able to buy the premises. Colonization also allowed heavily subsidized shipments from Britain to Ireland. In fact, Britain could send beer across the Irish Sea on such favorable terms that it cost Irish consumers less than native-made beer.

Arthur moved his brewery to Dublin and, in 1759, took over the now world-famous St. James’s Gate premises beside the Liffey River. The terms of this lease were fairly standard – except that the rental period ran for a staggering 9,000 years. Thanks to the riverside location and some...

About the Author

Bill Yenne has written more than 40 books on historical topics, with a special focus on brewing history. His titles include The American Brewery and Beers of the World.

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