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Featured Ireland Story | Guinness


Legends of "The Black Stuff"
Wine-lovers may flock to the vineyards of France, but for connoisseurs of beer, Europe's sacred site is the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. The old St James Gate Brewery was derelict when it was leased by Arthur Guinness in 1759 using £100 left by his godfather. When a craze for a new, heavy style of beer called 'porter' began sweeping Dublin about 20 years later, Mr. Guinness decided to beat the English brewers at their own game, and devised the velvety, pitch-black Guinness Stout. It soon became an Irish staple. Today, Guinness is an international, $3 billion-a-year business, but the recipe for "the Black Stuff" is still a closely guarded secret – part chemistry, part mystery. We do know that Guinness' unique color and flavor stem from the addition of barley -- rolled and roasted – to beer's traditional ingredients of malt, hops and yeast.
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