Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (Africa)
I'm suprised at some of the bad or indifferent reviews this beer has received, as it is an old favourite of mine and I rate it much more highly than regular Guinness. It's comparable to other 'third world' stouts such as Lion from Sri Lanka or Dragon from Jamaica - I'd say this one is better than Dragon but not as good as Lion. Personally, I'd also say this trumps the excessive and unbalanced Belgian version as well. A 33cl bottle pours a viscous and opaque black stout with a lively brownish head which coats the glass and stays stubbornly put throughout the drink. The aroma is powerful and a little harsh, a wildly exaggerated variation of a typical coffeeish stout smell. Flavourwise, it is extremely rich with a (very) subtle fruity sweetness to balance the fiercely bitter coffee and rum notes. Alcohol is undetectable at this temperature (it spent an hour in the fridge earlier) but makes its presence felt in a warming finish. Sadly it lacks the almost chewy mouthfeel of Lion stout - as others have noted, it is a little on the thin side. Not for everyone, then, but if you can acquire the taste for it it will surely become a favourite. It is possibly too rich in recent bottlings - I did get hold of some 66cl bottles that were a few years old and much more smooth and mellow. Also, gnoff wrote: "Bottle brought over from Leeds, England, by a friend of mine. Bought in a special beer shop in Leeds." That's almost certainly the shop I work at. Tell your friend to say hi next time!