Guinness is dipping its tow into the craft beer market with the launch — or revival — of Dublin Porter and West Indies Porter, beers inspired by recipes from its brewers’ diaries of the late 1700s and early 1800s. The beers will go on sale in mid-September.
The beers are the first releases from a new brewing project at the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin. The Brewers Project gives Guinness brewers license to explore new recipes, re-interpret old ones and collaborate freely to bring exciting beers to life.
The new porters started their journey in Guinness’s pilot brewery at St James’s Gate. With origins in a 1796 entry in the brewers’ diaries, Dublin Porter was inspired by the golden age of porter in the 1800s. This was a time when porter was the working man’s beer after a long day’s work in Dublin or London.
West Indies Porter is based on an 1801 diary entry for the first Guinness purposely brewed to maintain its freshness on long sea voyages to the Caribbean and beyond. To guarantee the best quality upon arrival, the porter had more hops and was brewed to a higher gravity.
Stephen Kelly, Guinnesss’s marketing director in western Europe, said: “As beer lovers’ tastes and the beer landscape itself evolves, it is important we continue to stay at the forefront of beer innovation. Our brewers, at the core of the project, are passionate about pushing boundaries, whilst keeping true to the Guinness quality our customers know and love.
“Our two new beers, Dublin Porter and West Indies Porter, are examples of this innovation and demonstrate the exciting things our brewers are continuing to do with stout.”
He added: “It’s an exciting time in the beer market, and we have made a big commitment to growing Guinness, through innovation, in the years to come. Guinness is only 255 years into its 9,000-year lease on the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin; these two new releases are the first taste of what’s to come.”
