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86-465: Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford , and Hertfordshire 's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957. While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well known in north London and Hertfordshire, through being used as a brand name on many tied houses into the 1990s, and in some cases later. Benskins had its roots in

172-510: A scandal and criminal trial concerning the artificial inflation of the Guinness share price during the takeover bid engineered by the chairman, Ernest Saunders. A subsequent £5.2 million success fee paid to an American lawyer and Guinness director, Tom Ward, was the subject of the case Guinness plc v Saunders , in which the House of Lords declared that the payment had been invalid. In the 1980s, as

258-413: A beer tax in 1004 AD. Early breweries were almost always built on multiple stories, with equipment on higher floors used earlier in the production process, so that gravity could assist with the transfer of product from one stage to the next. This layout often is preserved in breweries today, but mechanical pumps allow more flexibility in brewery design. Early breweries typically used large copper vats in

344-441: A brief period in 1997. In 2017, Diageo made their beer suitable for consumption by vegetarians and vegans by introducing a new filtration process that avoided the use of isinglass from fish bladders to filter out yeast particles. Guinness stout is made from water, barley , roast malt extract, hops , and brewer's yeast . A portion of the barley is roasted to give Guinness its dark colour and characteristic taste. It

430-440: A conical bottom and a cylindrical top. The cone's aperture is typically around 70°, an angle that will allow the yeast to flow smoothly out through the cone's apex at the end of fermentation, but is not so steep as to take up too much vertical space. CCVs can handle both fermenting and conditioning in the same tank. At the end of fermentation, the yeast and other solids have fallen to the cone's apex can be simply flushed out through

516-545: A formal education in the subject from institutions such as the Siebel Institute of Technology , VLB Berlin , Heriot-Watt University , American Brewers Guild, University of California at Davis , University of Wisconsin , Olds College or Niagara College . They may hold membership in professional organisations such as the Brewers Association , Master Brewers Association , American Society of Brewing Chemists ,

602-417: A minute, and then topped up with beer from a cask that had been pouring longer and had calmed down a bit. With the move to nitrogen gas dispensing in the 1960s, it was felt important to keep the two-stage pour ritual in order to bring better consumer acceptance of the change. As Guinness has not been cask-conditioned for decades, the two-stage pour has been labelled a marketing ploy that does not actually affect

688-509: A more carbonated beer. When the sugars in the fermenting beer have been almost completely digested, the fermentation process slows and the yeast cells begin to die and settle at the bottom of the tank. At this stage, especially if the beer is cooled to around freezing, most of the remaining live yeast cells will quickly become dormant and settle, along with the heavier protein chains, due simply to gravity and molecular dehydration. Conditioning can occur in fermentation tanks with cooling jackets. If

774-570: A move as a rumor, but as speculation mounted in the wake of the Sunday Independent article, the company confirmed it was undertaking a "significant review of its operations". This review was part of the company's ongoing drive to reduce the environmental impact of brewing at the St. James's Gate plant. On 23 November 2007, an article appeared in the Evening Herald , a Dublin newspaper, stating that

860-857: A new black lager , in Northern Ireland and Malaysia . As of September 2010, Guinness Black Lager is no longer readily available in Malaysia. In October 2010, Guinness began selling Foreign Extra Stout in 4 packs of bottles in the United States. In 2014, Guinness released Guinness Blonde , a lager brewed in Latrobe, Pennsylvania using a combination of Guinness yeast and American ingredients. When Guinness opened their new brewery in Baltimore, Maryland in August 2018 they recreated "Blonde" to "Baltimore Blonde" by adjusting

946-585: A new larger brewery is opened near Dublin. The result will be a loss of roughly 250 jobs across the entire Diageo and Guinness workforce in Ireland. Two days later, the Sunday Independent again reported that Diageo chiefs had met with Tánaiste Mary Coughlan , the deputy leader of the Government of Ireland, about moving operations to Ireland from the UK to benefit from its lower corporation tax rates. Several UK firms have made

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1032-714: A notable exception). Heating in the brewhouse usually is achieved through pressurized steam, although direct-fire systems are not unusual in small breweries. Likewise, cooling in other areas of the brewery is typically done by cooling jackets on tanks, which allow the brewer to control precisely the temperature on each tank individually, although whole-room cooling is also common. Today, modern brewing plants perform myriad analyses on their beers for quality control purposes. Shipments of ingredients are analyzed to correct for variations. Samples are pulled at almost every step and tested for [oxygen] content, unwanted microbial infections, and other beer-aging compounds. A representative sample of

1118-519: A number of products for other producers, including Guinness ' Dublin Brewery, and Gaymer's of Attleborough, Norfolk. As of late 2012, Carlsberg UK were again producing a beer under the Benskins name, a limited availability product known as Benskins Smooth Bitter. Benskins had close ties to the local football team, Watford F.C. In 1921, Benskins purchased the current Vicarage Road ground and leased it to

1204-635: A port at the apex. Open fermentation vessels are also used, often for show in brewpubs, and in Europe in wheat beer fermentation. These vessels have no tops, making it easy to harvest top-fermenting yeasts. The open tops of the vessels increase the risk of contamination, but proper cleaning procedures help to control the risk. Fermentation tanks are typically made of stainless steel . Simple cylindrical tanks with beveled ends are arranged vertically, and conditioning tanks are usually laid out horizontally. A very few breweries still use wooden vats for fermentation but wood

1290-508: A sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to confirm whether this type of blending still occurs. The draught beer 's thick, creamy head comes from mixing the beer with nitrogen and carbon dioxide . The company moved its headquarters to London at the beginning of the Anglo-Irish trade war in 1932. In 1997, Guinness plc merged with Grand Metropolitan to form

1376-417: A system of delivery using a nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas mixture, all beer leaving the brewery was cask-conditioned . Casks newly delivered to many small pubs were often nearly unmanageably frothy, but cellar space and rapid turnover demanded that they be put into use before they could sit for long enough to settle down. As a result, a glass would be part filled with the fresh, frothy beer, allowed to stand

1462-422: Is pasteurised and filtered . Until the late 1950s, Guinness was still racked into wooden casks. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Guinness ceased brewing cask-conditioned beers and developed a keg brewing system with aluminium kegs replacing the wooden casks; these were nicknamed "iron lungs". Until 2016 the production of Guinness, as with many beers, involved the use of isinglass made from fish. Isinglass

1548-465: Is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over 20 million visitors. Guinness's flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley ; the unmalted barley is a relatively modern addition that became part of the grist in the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give

1634-425: Is an optional process. Many craft brewers simply remove the coagulated and settled solids and forgo active filtration. In localities where a tax assessment is collected by government pursuant to local laws, any additional filtration may be done using an active filtering system, the filtered product finally passing into a calibrated vessel for measurement just after any cold conditioning and prior to final packaging where

1720-564: Is available in a number of variants and strengths, which include: In October 2005, Guinness announced the Brewhouse Series, a limited-edition collection of draught stouts available for roughly six months each. There were three beers in the series. Despite an announcement in June 2007 that the fourth Brewhouse stout would be launched in October that year, no new beer appeared and, at the end of 2007,

1806-513: Is credited with developing the refrigeration machine in 1871. Refrigeration allowed beer to be produced year-round, and always at the same temperature. Yeast is very sensitive to temperature, and, if a beer were produced during summer, the yeast would impart unpleasant flavours onto the beer. Most brewers would produce enough beer during winter to last through the summer, and store it in underground cellars, or even caves, to protect it from summer's heat. The discovery of microbes by Louis Pasteur

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1892-501: Is difficult to keep clean and infection-free and must be repitched often, perhaps yearly. After high kräusen, the point at which fermentation is most active and copious foam is produced, a valve known in German as the spundapparat may be put on the tanks to allow the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast to naturally carbonate the beer. This bung device can regulate the pressure to produce different types of beer; greater pressure produces

1978-470: Is now prohibited in Ireland. A 2003 study found that stouts such as Guinness could have a benefit of helping to reduce the deposit of harmful cholesterol on artery walls. This was attributed to the higher levels of antioxidants in stouts than in lagers, though the health benefits of antioxidants have been called into question, and Diageo, the company that now manufactures Guinness, said: "We never make any medical claims for our drinks." Guinness stout

2064-632: The IRA 's bombing campaign spread to London and the rest of Britain, Guinness considered scrapping the harp as its logo. The company merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form Diageo . Due to controversy over the merger, the company was maintained as a separate entity within Diageo and has retained the rights to the product and all associated trademarks of Guinness. The Guinness brewery in Park Royal , London, closed in 2005. The production of all Guinness sold in

2150-503: The Institute of Brewing and Distilling , and the Society of Independent Brewers . Depending on a brewery's size, a brewer may need anywhere from five to fifteen years of professional experience before becoming a brewmaster. Guinness Guinness ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ n ɪ s / ) is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate , Dublin , Ireland, in

2236-726: The UEFA Champions League with its namesake lager; Carlsberg sponsors the English Premier League as well as the 2012 and 2016 UEFA European Championships . Meanwhile, the AB InBev Group supports the FA Cup and the FIFA World Cup . The head brewer (UK) or brewmaster (US) is in charge of the production of beer. The major breweries employ engineers with a chemistry / biotechnology background. Brewmasters may have had

2322-611: The brewer expects to evaporate . Fermentation begins as soon as yeast is added to the cooled wort. This is also the point at which the product is first called beer. It is during this stage that fermentable sugars won from the malt (maltose, maltotriose, glucose, fructose and sucrose) are metabolized into alcohol and carbon dioxide . Fermentation tanks come in many shapes and sizes, from enormous cylindroconical vessels that can look like storage silos , to 20- litre (5  US gal ) glass carboys used by homebrewers. Most breweries today use cylindroconical vessels (CCVs), which have

2408-735: The brewing process. Beer may have been known in Neolithic Europe and was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. In some form, it can be traced back almost 5000 years to Mesopotamian writings describing daily rations of beer and bread to workers. Before the rise of production breweries, the production of beer took place at home and was the domain of women, as baking and brewing were seen as "women's work". Breweries, as production facilities reserved for making beer, did not emerge until monasteries and other Christian institutions started producing beer not only for their own consumption but also to use as payment. This industrialization of brewing shifted

2494-438: The starches in the grain into sugars , especially maltose . Lautering is the separation of the extracts won during mashing from the spent grain to create wort . It is achieved in either a lauter tun , a wide vessel with a false bottom, or a mash filter, a plate-and-frame filter designed for this kind of separation. Lautering has two stages: first wort run-off, during which the extract is separated in an undiluted state from

2580-579: The 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo . It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to 850,000,000 litres (190,000,000 imp gal; 220,000,000 U.S. gal). In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually. The Guinness Storehouse

2666-543: The 1960s." Guinness thought they brewed their last porter in 1973. In the 1970s, following declining sales, the decision was taken to make Guinness Extra Stout more "drinkable". The gravity was subsequently reduced, and the brand was relaunched in 1981. Pale malt was used for the first time, and isomerised hop extract began to be used. In 2014, two new porters were introduced: West Indies Porter and Dublin Porter. Guinness acquired The Distillers Company in 1986. This led to

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2752-402: The 21st century, it was popular to serve Guinness at cellar temperature (about 13 °C) and some drinkers preferred it at room temperature (about 20 °C). According to Esquire magazine, a pint of Guinness should be served in a slightly tulip-shaped pint glass , rather than the taller European tulip or 'Nonic' glass, which contains a ridge approx 3/4 of the way up the glass. To begin

2838-695: The 800 employees who fought, 103 did not return. During World War II , the demand for Guinness among the British was one of the main reasons why the UK lifted commerce restrictions imposed in 1941 to force Ireland into supporting the Allied Powers. Before 1939, if a Guinness brewer wished to marry a Catholic , his resignation was requested. According to Thomas Molloy, writing in the Irish Independent , "It had no qualms about selling drink to Catholics but it did everything it could to avoid employing them until

2924-685: The Benskins name, either by Benskins at the Watford Cannon Brewery or by Ind Coope at Burton-upon-Trent or Romford. Pale Ales: India Pale Ale, Guinea Ale, Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Light Ale, Light Sparkling Ale Mild Ales: Pale Mild, XX Ale, XXX Ale, XXXX Ale, KK Cask Mild Bitters: Best Bitter, Jubilee Beer, Watford FC FA Cup Commemorative Ale 1984 Stouts: Brown Stout, Single Stout, Double Stout, Digestive Stout, Imperial Stout, Porter Barley Wines: Strong Ale, Colne Spring Ale Uncategorised: Coronation Ale (ER II), Primrose Ale, Bitter Ale Additionally, Benskins held contracts to bottle

3010-837: The Brewhouse series appeared to have been quietly cancelled. From early 2006, Guinness marketed a "surger" unit in Britain. This surger device, marketed for use with cans consumed at home, was "said to activate the gases in the canned beer" by sending an "ultra-sonic pulse through the pint glass" sitting upon the device. Withdrawn Guinness variants include Guinness's Brite Lager, Guinness's Brite Ale, Guinness Light, Guinness XXX Extra Strong Stout, Guinness Cream Stout, Guinness Milk Stout, Guinness Irish Wheat, Guinness Gold, Guinness Pilsner, Guinness Breó (a slightly citrusy wheat beer ), Guinness Shandy, and Guinness Special Light. Breó (meaning 'glow' in Irish)

3096-563: The Dublin City Council, in the best interests of the city of Dublin, had put forward a motion to prevent planning permission ever being granted for the development of the site, thus making it very difficult for Diageo to sell off the site for residential development. On 9 May 2008, Diageo announced that the St. James's Gate brewery will remain open and undergo renovations, but that breweries in Kilkenny and Dundalk will be closed by 2013 when

3182-623: The Import Stout to the Extra Stout was due to a change in distribution through North American market. Consumer complaints influenced subsequent distribution and bottle changes. Guinness ran an advertising campaign in the 1920s which stemmed from market research – when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan, created by Dorothy L. Sayers –"Guinness is Good for You". Advertising for alcoholic drinks that implies improved physical performance or enhanced personal qualities

3268-422: The UK and Ireland was moved to St. James's Gate Brewery , Dublin. Guinness had a fleet of ships, barges and yachts. The Irish Sunday Independent newspaper reported on 17 June 2007 that Diageo intended to close the historic St. James's Gate plant in Dublin and move to a greenfield site on the outskirts of the city. This news caused some controversy when it was announced. Initially, Diageo dismissed talk of

3354-612: The adverts printed on football team's kit. For example, Liverpool F.C. had the logo of the Denmark-based Carlsberg brewery group on the front of its shirts for nearly twenty years, from 1992 to 2010. Nowadays major brewing corporations are involved in sponsorship on a number of different levels. The prevailing trend is for the leading brand not to be linked to individual teams; rather, they achieve visibility as sponsor of tournaments and leagues, so all fans can engage with them regardless of which team they support. Heineken sponsors

3440-627: The beer is put into the containers for shipment or sale. The container may be a bottle , can , of keg , cask or bulk tank. Filters come in many types. Many use pre-made filtration media such as sheets or candles. Kieselguhr, a fine powder of diatomaceous earth , can be introduced into the beer and circulated through screens to form a filtration bed. Filtration ratings are divided into rough, fine, and sterile. Rough filters remove yeasts and other solids, leaving some cloudiness, while finer filters can remove body and color. Sterile filters remove almost all microorganisms. Brewing companies range widely in

3526-491: The beer's marketing, sales, and distribution, while leaving the brewing and packaging to the producer-brewery (which confusingly may also be referred to as a contract brewer). Often the contract brewing is performed when a small brewery can not supply enough beer to meet demands and contracts with a larger brewery to help alleviate their supply issues. Some breweries do not own a brewing facility, these contract brewers have been criticized by traditional brewing companies for avoiding

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3612-409: The beer's taste. The manufacturer recommends a "double pour" serve, which according to Diageo should take two minutes. Guinness has promoted this wait with advertising campaigns such as " good things come to those who wait ". The brewer recommends that draught Guinness should be served at 6-7 °C (42.8 °F), while Extra Cold Guinness should be served at 3.5 °C (38.6 °F). Before

3698-499: The brewer more control of the process, and greater knowledge of the results. Breweries today are made predominantly of stainless steel , although vessels often have a decorative copper cladding for a nostalgic look. Stainless steel has many favourable characteristics that make it a well-suited material for brewing equipment. It imparts no flavour in beer, it reacts with very few chemicals, which means almost any cleaning solution can be used on it (concentrated chlorine [bleach] being

3784-485: The brewery founded in Watford by John Pope, a local miller and baker around 1693. The brewery was inherited by his second son, Daniel Pope in 1722, and passed to Daniel's sister Sarah Pope and her husband William Dyson in 1741 at his death. For the next three generations part of the brewery was inherited by a John Dyson (son, grandson, and great-grandson of Sarah Pope and William Dyson) each of whom bought out his co-heirs. When

3870-461: The brewery. It gave brewers the ability to mix liquids more reliably while heating, particularly the mash , to prevent scorching, and a quick way to transfer liquid from one container to another. Almost all breweries now use electric-powered stirring mechanisms and pumps. The steam engine also allowed the brewer to make greater quantities of beer, as human power was no longer a limiting factor in moving and stirring. Carl von Linde , along with others,

3956-633: The brewhouse, and fermentation and packaging took place in lined wooden containers. Such breweries were common until the Industrial Revolution , when better materials became available, and scientific advances led to a better understanding of the brewing process. Today, almost all brewery equipment is made of stainless steel . During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture , and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by

4042-624: The club, at a peppercorn rent. In 2001, the club purchased the ground from Punch Taverns , who had inherited the freehold as part of their acquisition of the Allied Domecq estate. In 2006, the club also purchased the freehold of the Red Lion pub opposite the ground, which had previously been part of the Benskins tied estate. The pub, notable for its external tiling advertising "Benskins Celebrated Watford Ale & Stout" still extant, re-opened briefly between 2012 and 2014 under new ownership; however, it

4128-539: The company James Panton of the Wareham Brewery in Dorset, reputed to be the first person to study scientific brewing at University College, London. Thomas' son Eric Seagrave Benskin later became a director, and Colonel William Briggs, husband of Doris Benskins was appointed to the board in 1908, latterly becoming chairman. The brewery as taken over by Benskin and Bradley in 1867 was one of the smaller Hertfordshire brewers of

4214-581: The construction of the Wellspring Centre for Watford Community Church, a 15-metre deep industrial well was discovered, likely to have been the brewery's primary source of water drawn from the River Colne . Brewery The diversity of size in breweries is matched by the diversity of processes, degrees of automation , and kinds of beer produced in breweries. A brewery is typically divided into distinct sections, with each section reserved for one part of

4300-819: The costs associated with a physical brewery. Gypsy, or nomad, brewing usually falls under the category of contract brewing. Gypsy breweries generally do not have their own equipment or premises. They operate on a temporary or itinerant basis out of the facilities of another brewery, generally making "one-off" special occasion beers. The trend of gypsy brewing spread early in Scandinavia . Their beers and collaborations later spread to America and Australia. Gypsy brewers typically use facilities of larger makers with excess capacity . Prominent examples include Pretty Things, Stillwater Artisanal Ales, Gunbarrel Brewing Company, Mikkeller , and Evil Twin . For example, one of Mikkeller's founders, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, has traveled around

4386-414: The dark beer porter in 1778. The first Guinness beers to use the term "stout" were Single Stout and Double Stout in the 1840s. Throughout the bulk of its history, Guinness produced only three variations of a single beer type: porter or single stout, double or extra and foreign stout for export. "Stout" originally referred to a beer's strength, but eventually shifted meaning toward body and colour. Porter

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4472-416: The dissolved gas is required to enable very small bubbles to be formed by forcing the draught beer through fine holes in a plate in the tap, which causes the characteristic "surge" (the widget in cans and bottles achieves the same effect). This "widget" is a small plastic ball containing the nitrogen. The perceived smoothness of draught Guinness is due to its low level of carbon dioxide and the creaminess of

4558-515: The end of the 19th century. In addition to changes in manufacturing capacity, the number of breweries grew throughout industrialization. For example in America, number of breweries rose from 431 to 4,131 between 1850 and 1873. A handful of major breakthroughs have led to the modern brewery and its ability to produce the same beer consistently. The steam engine , vastly improved in 1775 by James Watt , brought automatic stirring mechanisms and pumps into

4644-413: The finished product often is stored for months for comparison, when complaints are received. Brewing is typically divided into 9 steps: milling, malting, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and filling. Mashing is the process of mixing milled , usually malted , grain with water, and heating it with rests at certain temperatures to allow enzymes in the malt to break down

4730-589: The former stables were converted into a new pub named after Benskins' famous logo – The Pennant (latterly The Flag (and Firkin), currently O'Neill's). Benskins Best Bitter continued to be produced in Burton-upon-Trent until it ceased production in 2002. As a result of further mergers and acquisitions over the intervening years, ownership of the Benskins trademarks currently rests with Carlsberg International AS , Denmark . Chronology of breweries, beer sellers and maltsters acquired by Benskins: Beers brewed under

4816-574: The four largest brewing companies ( Anheuser-Busch InBev , SABMiller , Heineken International , and Carlsberg Group ) controlled 50% of the market The biggest brewery in the world is the Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBev . In the United States, there were 69,359 people employed in breweries in 2017. This is up from 27,805 in 2001. Some commonly used descriptions of breweries are: Contract brewing –When one brewery hires another brewery to produce its beer. The contracting brewer generally handles all of

4902-471: The fundamental texture and flavour of the Guinness of the past as nitrogen bubbles are much smaller than CO 2 , giving a "creamier" and "smoother" consistency over a sharper and traditional CO 2 taste. This step was taken after Michael Ash —a mathematician turned brewer—discovered the mechanism to make this possible. Nitrogen is less soluble than carbon dioxide, which allows the beer to be put under high pressure without making it fizzy. High pressure of

4988-530: The grain mixture and adding Citra for a citrus flavour and removed the Mosaic hops. Guinness released a lager in 2015 called Hop House 13 . It was withdrawn from sale in the UK in May 2021, following poor sales, but remains on sale in Ireland. In 2020, Guinness announced the introduction of a zero alcohol canned stout, Guinness 0.0 . It was withdrawn from sale almost immediately after launch, due to contamination. It

5074-415: The head caused by the very fine bubbles that arise from the use of nitrogen and the dispensing method described above. Foreign Extra Stout contains more carbon dioxide, causing a more acidic taste. Although Guinness is black, and is referred to as "the black stuff" in Diageo marketing, it is also "officially" referred to as a very dark shade of ruby . The most recent change in alcohol content from

5160-415: The initial pour to settle, the server pushes the tap handle back and fills the remainder of the glass until the head forms a slight dome over the top of the glass (or "just proud of the rim"). In 2010, Guinness redesigned their pint glass for the first time in a decade. The new glass was taller and narrower than the previous one and featured a bevel design. The new glasses were planned to gradually replace

5246-490: The move in order to pay Ireland's 12.5 per cent rate rather than the UK's 28 per cent rate. Diageo released a statement to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) denying the report. Despite the merger that created Diageo plc in 1997, Guinness has retained its right to the Guinness brand and associated trademarks and thus continues to trade under the traditional Guinness name despite trading under the corporate name Diageo for

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5332-508: The multinational alcoholic-drinks producer Diageo plc , based in London. Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in 1759 at the St. James's Gate Brewery , Dublin. On 31 December 1759, he signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery. Ten years later, on 19 May 1769, Guinness first exported his ale: he shipped six-and-a-half barrels to Great Britain. Arthur Guinness started selling

5418-497: The old ones. Guinness recommends that, to avoid the bitter taste of the nitrogen foam head, gulps should be taken from the glass rather than sipping the drink. A practice known as "splitting the G" has been an entry on the Urban Dictionary website since 2018. This drinking game sees the drinker attempt to bring the liquid level of the Guinness to sit at a certain level in relation to the glass' Guinness branding. Variants of

5504-487: The only regional brewer Hertfordshire ever produced, and during its life its estate included pubs, beer houses and off-licences not only in its home county, but as far afield as Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Kent and Greater London. The brewery remained a family business until a take-over bid was accepted from Ind Coope on 13 March 1957. In 1959, Ind Coope merged with Ansells , and Taylor Walker & Co to form Allied Breweries . At

5590-406: The pour, the server holds the glass at a 45° angle below the tap and fills the glass 3/4 full. On the way out of the tap, the beer is forced at high speed through a five-hole disc restrictor plate at the end of the tap, creating friction and forcing the creation of small nitrogen bubbles which form a creamy head . The server brings the glass from 45° angle to a vertical position. After allowing

5676-412: The practice see the required liquid level as either: between the letter 'G', on the horizontal line of the 'G', or between the 'G' and the harp logo. When Guinness is poured, the gas bubbles appear to travel downwards in the glass. The effect is attributed to drag; bubbles that touch the walls of a glass are slowed in their travel upwards. Bubbles in the centre of the glass are, however, free to rise to

5762-454: The pseudonym "Student" for techniques developed for Guinness, particularly Student's t -distribution and the even more commonly known Student's t -test . By 1900 the brewery was operating unparalleled welfare schemes for its 5,000 employees. By 1907 the welfare schemes were costing the brewery £40,000 a year, which was one-fifth of the total wages bill. The improvements were suggested and supervised by Sir John Lumsden . By 1914, Guinness

5848-477: The relaunch; however, this was brewed in Romford and bore no resemblance to any of the original Watford ales. Benskins continued to trade as a separate business unit, Ind Coope Benskins Limited, although now existing only to manage the tied estate, and maintained its head office in Watford during this time. Occupying the former Clarendon Hotel on Station Road, the hotel's original accommodation repurposed as offices whilst

5934-523: The responsibility of making beer to men. The oldest, still functional, brewery in the world is believed to be the German state-owned Weihenstephan brewery in the city of Freising , Bavaria . It can trace its history back to 1040 AD. The nearby Weltenburg Abbey brewery, can trace back its beer-brewing tradition to at least 1050 AD. The Žatec brewery in the Czech Republic claims it can prove that it paid

6020-404: The spent grains, and sparging , in which extract that remains with the grains is rinsed off with hot water. Boiling the wort ensures its sterility, helping to prevent contamination with undesirable microbes. During the boil, hops are added, which contribute aroma and flavour compounds to the beer, especially their characteristic bitterness. Along with the heat of the boil, they cause proteins in

6106-600: The team have now disbanded. Before its demolition, the wider brewery site was used as a filming location for the "Heroes" episode of the British TV drama series The Professionals . The former Brewery House of the Cannon Brewery, built in 1775, is now home to Watford Museum . During 2010, the main part of the original brewery site was once again redeveloped, after the demise of the Watford Springs swimming pool. During

6192-423: The third John Dyson died in 1867 the brewery was sold at auction to retired London hotelier Joseph Benskin and Watford draper William Bradley for £34,000. Bradley soon left the partnership, and in 1870 Benskin continued alone. Upon Joseph's death in 1877, the management of the brewery passed to his widow Maria, and their second son John Pusey Benskin. His third son Thomas Benskin became a partner in 1884, bringing to

6278-540: The time of the sale to Ind Coope, the Benskins estate numbered 636 pubs and hotels, and 16 off-licences. The Benskins name was retained for a number of years after the sale, and brewing continued at Watford until 1972. Despite the closure of the Cannon Brewery site, and its subsequent demolition in 1979, the brand was again revived and applied to a number of pubs in the Allied estate during the early 1980s. A new beer, Benskins Best Bitter, went into production in mid-1980 as part of

6364-536: The time, with 42 tied houses in its estate. However, over the following ninety years Benskins became predominant in the area, ultimately acquiring all other Watford breweries; Healey's in 1898, Sedgwick's in 1923, and Wells' Watford Brewery in 1951. Healey's had previously, in the months prior to its acquisition, purchased the Victoria Brewery on St Albans Road from the Chesham Brewery . Benskins rose to become

6450-408: The volume and variety of beer produced, ranging from small breweries to massive multinational conglomerates, like Molson Coors or Anheuser-Busch InBev , that produce hundreds of millions of barrels annually. There are organizations that assist the development of brewing, such as the Siebel Institute of Technology in the United States and the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in the UK. In 2012

6536-412: The whole fermentation cellar is cooled, conditioning must be done in separate tanks in a separate cellar. Some beers are conditioned only lightly, or not at all. An active yeast culture from an ongoing batch may be added to the next boil after a slight chilling in order to produce fresh and highly palatable beer in mass quantity. Filtering the beer stabilizes flavour and gives it a polished, shiny look. It

6622-512: The world between 2006 and 2010, brewing more than 200 different beers at other breweries. Breweries and football have had a symbiotic relationship since the very beginnings of the game. The English Football League was founded in 1888, and by the next decade several teams already had their own brewery sponsor. In return for their financial support, the breweries were given concessions to sell beer to spectators and advertise their products in stadiums. The most outwardly visible sign of sponsorship are

6708-400: The wort to coagulate and the pH of the wort to fall, and they inhibit the later growth of certain bacteria. Finally, the vapours produced during the boil volatilize off-flavours , including dimethyl sulfide precursors. The boil must be conducted so that it is even and intense. The boil lasts between 60 and 120 minutes, depending on its intensity, the hop addition schedule, and volume of wort

6794-405: Was a wheat beer; it cost around IR£5 million to develop. A brewing byproduct of Guinness, Guinness Yeast Extract (GYE), was produced until the 1950s. In the UK, a HP Guinness Sauce was manufactured by Heinz and available as of 2013. Kraft also licenses the name for its barbecue sauce product, Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce . In March 2010, Guinness began test marketing Guinness Black Lager ,

6880-408: Was also referred to as "plain", as mentioned in the famous refrain of Flann O'Brien 's poem "The Workman's Friend": "A pint of plain is your only man." Already one of the top-three British and Irish brewers, Guinness's sales soared from 350,000 barrels in 1868 to 779,000 barrels in 1876. In October 1886, Guinness became a public company and was averaging sales of 1.138 million barrels a year. This

6966-450: Was despite the brewery's refusal to either advertise or offer its beer at a discount. Even though Guinness owned no public houses , the company was valued at £6 million and shares were 20 times oversubscribed, with share prices rising to a 60 per cent premium on the first day of trading. The breweries pioneered several quality control efforts. The brewery hired the statistician William Sealy Gosset in 1899, who achieved lasting fame under

7052-584: Was instrumental in the control of fermentation. The idea that yeast was a microorganism that worked on wort to produce beer led to the isolation of a single yeast cell by Emil Christian Hansen . Pure yeast cultures allow brewers to pick out yeasts for their fermentation characteristics, including flavor profiles and fermentation ability. Some breweries in Belgium, however, still rely on "spontaneous" fermentation for their beers (see lambic ). The development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing

7138-514: Was producing 2.652 million barrels of beer a year, which was more than double that of its nearest competitor Bass , and was supplying more than 10 per cent of the total UK beer market. When World War I broke out in 1914, employees at Guinness St. James Brewery were encouraged to join the British forces. Over 800 employees served in the war. This was made possible due to a number of measures put in place by Guinness: soldiers' families were paid half wages, and jobs were guaranteed upon their return. Of

7224-471: Was relaunched in 2021 starting with pubs in mid July with cans following in late August. In September 2021, Guinness Nitrosurge was released in pint sized cans which contain no widget. Similar to the Surger, nitrogen is activated using ultrasonic frequencies. Nitrosurge uses a special device attached to the top of the can which activates the nitrogen as it is being poured. Before the 1960s, when Guinness adopted

7310-519: Was sold on again during 2015. In September 2015, the pub was designated an Asset of Community Value by Watford Council . Pubs in and around the Watford area carried Benskins branding into the 1990s. The Holly Bush pub in Hampstead , London, displayed a number of original brewery artefacts, but was bought by Fuller's in 2010. The Benskins name lived on for a number of years in the name of English folk dance team Benskins Morris of Watford, although

7396-571: Was used as a fining agent for settling out suspended matter in the vat. The isinglass was retained in the floor of the vat but it was possible that minute quantities might be carried over into the beer. Diageo announced in February 2018 that the use of isinglass in draught Guinness was to be discontinued and an alternative clarification agent would be used instead, making the drink acceptable to vegans and vegetarians. Arguably its biggest change to date, in 1959 Guinness began using nitrogen, which changed

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