Beer #386 - Guinness Dublin Porter

The entire beer blogging community seemed to review this beer when it was released last Autumn alongside a West Indies Porter. The smart retro branding indicated an attempt by Guinness to tap into the 'craft' market (or whatever you want to call the current wave of beer enthusiasm), unfortunately the beer itself is a fairly pitiful effort that demonstrates quite nicely how badly the 'big boys' are getting it wrong and why they are losing some of their market share to smaller breweries. The beer itself is far too light in body, almost watery. The flavour is inoffensive; roasted malts give it a pleasant coffee backbone but the mouthfeel is way off. Part of the reason that smaller breweries are doing well is because they are really pushing the boundaries flavour-wise and making beers that make you think about what you're drinking. The likes of Guinness really need to up their game in that regard, it simply isn't enough to design a nice label and put it on a distinctly average beer.

Brewery: St James's Gate (Diageo)
Country: Ireland
ABV: 3.8%