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Guinness Beer Options: Looking for Something Similar

What are some good options in a darker beer without getting something that's overly bitter. I enjoy Guinness, but want to look around. There's just no many good options at my local store, so I'm looking for suggestions. Boddingtons has been a good option, but again, selection is very limited. Hope this is the right place to post this.

19 Comments:

Sam Adams makes a real good dark, also Chamey is rather strong you just got to try it once..

If you can get it, Great Lakes Brewing out of Cleveland makes a number of darks. The Blackout Stout, named for the 2003 blackout from Michigan to NYC, was the first I tried and it was very nice. Their Elliott Ness is also goo, along with their Edmund Fitzgerald. I haven't had a bad beer from this company yet.

If you want to cheat on Guinness - Murphy's is always a good choice. We used to have an office in the same building as Mustang Harry's in Manhattan in which they have it on tap. Spent many a business meeting over that beer.

Otherwise I tend to like porters more than stouts. The Boulder Beer company has a Boulder Porter that is excellent which many stores sell. From the tap (only if you are in Boulder unfortunately) its truly nectar from the gods.

Having no idea where you live I would hunt down microbreweries in the area. Most have seasonal that are darker but not as heavy as stouts. I have never had good dark beer from the likes of Sam Adams, Coors, Miller, etc.

Samuel Smith's Stout is excellent, and is also organic.

Boddington's isn't dark. It's a pale ale: bitter and hoppy. Pale ales can range from light to dark in color, but they altogether different from Guiness, which is a stout.

Is pale ale more what you're leaning towards? If so, and you can get ahold of St. Arnold in your area, the Elissa IPA, the Brown Ale and the Amber Ale are truly excellent. Mainstream-wise, Bass makes a decent pale ale as does Sierra Nevada, but I prefer the smaller guys (microbrews) like Red Hook ESB, for example.

But if it's stout that you're after, New Belgium's Fat Tire is also a good place to start; it's got the nutty, chocolatey taste of Guiness but it isn't quite as strong. Young's Double Chocolate Stout is also deeeelicious.

And I agree with bravian: find some good microbrews and start there. Even better is a microbrew tour, if there are any in your town. Free beer and excellent beer guides along the way! :)

Brooklyn Chocolate Stout is nice although its very different from Guiness. If like sheeats suggests you are just looking to try a variety of different beers check out beers made by the Dogfish brewery. They have an interesting selection.

another vote for Sam Adams, their cream stout is like a beginners Guiness. dark, chocolately, smooth, delicious, and I hate Guiness.

Thanks everyone. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do this weekend. :) Now I'm going to search the site for some good munchie food ideas, sit back, and relax. Appreciate the ideas.

I don't know if they have it around you, but Yuengling makes a really nice Black & Tan and their Porter is quite good as well.

Another vote for Young's Double Chocolate Stout! It's like dessert in a can!

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout is my favorite stout. Black Flag Imperial Stout is supposed to be good as well, but I haven't had the chance to try it.

Rogue Brewery in Oregon has a gold medal winning Renaissance Stout....slightly more carbonated than Guiness, and with a deeper flavor spectrum in the finish.

cv

Brooklyn Black Chocolate is definitely a different beast than Guinness, so I wouldn't recommend that. Agree with Old Rasputin - quite good, and have always liked Anchor Porter, but that's definitely not creamy like Guinness.

I think Sheeats misspoke on Fat Tire, which is an amber, definitely not a stout. Although it is definitely tasty.

Beamish is an awesome beer - similar to Guinness, but a little sweeter and more chocolatey. Another favorite of mine is Shakespeare Stout - it even made 3Luxe's top three beers!

Link: http://www.3luxe.com/best_ofs/Beer/Shakespeare_Stout

Also, finding some local microbrews would be a good idea as well - and trying all the different beers is just fun! I know that most bars that carry a wide variety of beers in Chicago (where I live) have "tasting menus", where you can try two or three ounces of a bunch of different kinds of beer. It's a good way to sample new styles.

Yeti by Great Divide (Denver) is my favorite. May be hard to find in the northeast, but worth the trouble.

The Sixpoint Craft Ales "Black Market Porter" which pours at The Spotted Pig (on tap and cask), or for a little hoppy a beer, their Brownstone. Both tops!

Guinness is an Irish Dry Stout. It style is very balanced between malt (sweetness) and hops (bitterness and spiciness). That said it appears that you haven't developed a taste for highly hopped beer. There are a whole range of balanced to malty beery styles out there. First I'd suggest any dark lager as they are all more malty than hoppy. Bock, Dopplebock, Marzen, Oktoberfest, Alt and Dortmunder are all good styles to explore for your taste preference. In the ale category try: brown, porter and cream/milk stouts. None of those styles are dominated by hops. You do not want: ESB, India Pale, Pale Ale, Imperial Stout, Barleywine or even some Trappist styles.

If you work with the above listed styles you are not likely to find a seriously hoppy porter as it doesn't fit the style guidelines.

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