Guinness Foreign Extra Stout!

This is available in the US again for the first time since Prohibition. I just got myself a 4-pack, looking forward to trying it.
http://www.drinkoftheweek.com/blog/guinness-foreign-extra-stout-arrives-in-the-us/

A meal in a glass Thomaston :thumbsup:
I hope they bring some down under in the near future
Make sure you give us a full report on the taste …and effect… 7.5% alcohol content !! whoa !!

7.5%! that’s outrageous, I’ll stick with Imperial Stout from Sam Smith, only 7%.

7.5% doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Last summer, our state laws changed, allowing beer with up to 13.9% to be sold. Around the same time, a specialty beer and wine shop opened up in town, so I’ve tried a LOT of new stuff. The highest I’ve had so far was about 11.5%! Old Rasputin and Sam Adams Imperial Stout are both around 10%. Old Rasputin was probably the best stout I’ve had so far.

By the way, I’m trying the first Guinness out now. It’s more bitter than Draught, but not as bitter as the Extra Stout. Not nearly as foamy, with very little lacing on the glass. It does leave a strong aftertaste of roasted barley on the palate. I can surprisingly taste that increase in ABV%
Overall, not bad. I’d buy it again, but it won’t become my go-to stout.

I haven’t had the Foreign Extra AFAIK. The best Guinness I’ve had was in Antwerp of all places (I liked it more than the stuff at the brewery). I guess someone figured, let’s send the best Guinness to the place with the best beer.

As far as alcohol content, Dogfish Head makes a bunch of brews above 8%. I think their IPAs* begin at about 7% and go up to 10 or 10.5. I think they have a stout and bock and dopplebock that are in the 8-11% range. They’re quasi-local here, they’re headquartered in Delaware last I knew, and have a pub right across the street from where I work. But I know you can get their brews up and down the East Coast.

*They have 60 minute, 90 minute, and 120 minute; I’m not sure what these mean, but they mean more alcohol for each 30 minutes in the name. (Maybe how long it takes to extract from the mash, or how long the wort is boiled, possibly to concentrate the sugar?)

I’ve heard really good things about Dogfish Head, but I’ve never seen it down here. I’d love to try it sometime. FWIW, my all-around favorite brewery at the moment is Terrapin Brewing, based out of Athens, GA. Terrapin Gamma Ray, which is a 10.5% wheatwine brewed with local honey, is incredible.

We had a cask of 60 minute in our local pub last week over here in Oxfordshire. Fabulous pint it was too.

The 60 (90 and 120) minutes is how long the wort has been boiled for, which increases the alcohol content.