The ECHO explored if the place where you drink a Guinness does make a difference
Drinking a pint of Guinness in Ava’s Bar(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
Is there such a thing as a bad pint of Guinness? The famous Irish stout has become the most talked about pint on the planet, as I can’t think of any other drink that has quite inspired the same lore and subculture about what makes it good.
Guinness connoisseurs like to debate the perfect pour, the ideal temperature and if the glass is in a tulip shape when discussing where they should go to get their fix of the velvety Irish beverage. This is all subjective, of course, and the conversation continues to divide drinkers about whether all this is fascinating or insufferable.
One thing that is true is, at its heart, Guinness is a mass produced stout with the official website boasting 10 million glasses are consumed every single day and 1.8bn worldwide per year. This, of course, begs the question: Does an individual pub really make much difference when it comes to the quality of a Guinness?
St Patrick’s Day is almost upon us and, in celebration, the ECHO thought we’d put this to the test. As part of our experiment, we thought we’d select pints of Guinness at differing ends of the price spectrum to see if there was any difference.
While Guinness was previously consigned to being the weird pint your grandad loved, it is now universally loved and it’s rare you will find an establishment that doesn’t serve up the creamy good stuff.
Our search took place on the day of the Cheltenham Gold Cup (March 13) when there was no shortage of drinkers looking forward to enjoying a pint of Guinness to accompany an afternoon of racing. The many pubs where Lime Street meets Renshaw Street are always a hotspot for drinkers in the city centre – and there was a vibrant buzz on the Friday afternoon the ECHO explored.
The wealth of pubs on this strip seems to keep the Guinness prices competitive as bar-owners are keen to keep people coming into the crowded market. As we made our journey from ECHO offices, I spotted a sign outside McHale’s Irish pub on Lime Street that listed Guinness at £3.60, whereas the Adelphi Wave Bar advertises it for £3.50 in their Happy Hour.
However, the cheapest we could find was a bit further down the road on the corner of Renshaw Street at Ava’s Bar. A pint of Guinness came in at the very reasonable £3.40 and it would be hard pressed to find a cheaper alternative in the city centre (let us know in the comments if you know a lower one).
The bar was putting up St Patrick’s Day banners ahead of what promises to be a busy few days and there was a typical pub atmosphere on the day we attended. A group of regulars meant the pub was alive with the hubbub of conversation and the racing was on the telly so it felt like classic surroundings to enjoy a pint of Guinness.
There was a no nonsense vibe about the establishment as there was no time wasted with the pour of my Guinness, which came served in a John Smith’s branded glass. While this meant it was a different drinking experience than usual, I couldn’t argue with the price and the pint went down nicely enough.
A pint of Guinness in Ava’s Bar
Staff were busy preparing for the festivities of a busy weekend, but the hospitality was good and it’s always nice to be in a classic watering hole environment. The next step in the experiment took us to an entirely different location as we headed to Liverpool’s recently crowned five star hotel, The Municipal.
Guinness has its place everywhere now, even in the luxury market, and the Palm Court had the drink listed at £7.50 for a pint. It was a much more sedate environment, as people conducted business meetings over coffee, or wiled away the Friday afternoon drinking cocktails in the hotel bar.
A pint of Guinness in the Municipal Hotel (Image: Liverpool ECHO)
Of course, there was no racing on the TV and you weren’t as close to the conversation so it was far from the typical pub environment I’d experienced with my last Guinness. The different drinks available also meant I had to be patient for my Guinness as I waited around 10 minutes for my drink to arrive. My waiter apologised and explained this was due to it being cocktail hour.
I couldn’t see whether the traditional pour was followed from my seat in the Palm Court, but it did arrive in the typical Guinness emblazoned glass. Maybe I have been fooled by the marketing, but the drink did taste more creamy in the glass with its name on.
However, it could well be that I’m just another one of those insufferable Guinness drinkers. When the bill came and it was time to pay, a service charge had been added so that meant my Guinness came to a total of £8.44.
It’s rare you’d ever find another drink that would have such varying degrees of price points within the same city centre. The pint in Ava’s Bar was £5 cheaper and came in a more traditional pub environment. The Palm Court setting was a more glamorous five star setting, but I suppose it’s a matter of personal taste if you think this justifies an extra five pound.
Whatever your preference, the fact the drink is available in both menus is a sign of how Guinness has cast its spell on drinkers all over the city, who seemingly can’t get enough of the famous Irish stout.