It just wasn’t fair. For months, I had been seeing all of these great pictures of beers from The Guinness Brewers Project, a collection of three classic Guinness beers resurrected for today’s craft beer drinkers. They included Guinness Original, Guinness Dublin Porter, and Guinness West Indies Porter, the beer I’m here to tell you about today.
Try as I might, though, I couldn’t find them. Folks talked of finding them at Total Wine and Costco; numerous trips to both of those retailers here left me coming up empty. Again and again. Then fate intervened and sent me on a business trip to Charlotte. Knowing I would be passing through Greeneville, South Carolina, I checked the Total Wine website and, sure enough, they had these in stock when I stopped there. I bought one of the last two in the store, but the important thing was I got one.
It’s hard to say which one of the three I like best, but you could make a strong case for Guinness West Indies Porter.
From the brewery website:
A beer well traveled, Guinness West Indies Porter was inspired by a recipe devised by our brewers back in 1801, when we first decided to export our legendary porter across the globe. The mother of what we now know as our Foreign Extra Stout, it was the pioneering brew that began it all, crafted with more hops to preserve the beer during sea voyages of four-to-five weeks in tropical climes.
Guinness West Indies Porter is not an exact replica of that original recipe, since as Guinness says “the recipe has been reimagined by our master brewers.” It has an alcohol content of 6% by volume making it the heartiest beer in the collection. I paid $23.99 for my 18 11.2 ounce bottles.
Guinness West Indies Porter pours to a jet black color with a very thick creamy tan head formation and a robust nose of roasted malt, toffee and licorice. Taking a sip, the beer has a firm body up front followed by a hearty roast character, a delightful creamy texture, lush toffee, chocolate, and licorice. The finish is roasty and gently tart, refreshing and decidedly moreish.
I would drink this constantly if I could, it’s that good. Pete Brown likes to remind us that not only IPAs were sent to India and points far, but porters and stouts were as well. Guinness West Indies Porter joins the tradition of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout as a beer worth exporting, and worth seeking out.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler