Irish Decalog

Ten facts about Ireland which will surprise you more than this title

I

It is very difficult to pour a perfect Guinness. A “perfect pour” should take 119.5 seconds at an angle of 45 degrees followed by a rest. After a pause, enough to make the Guinness a perfect black, the rest of the glass is filled, again at a 45 degree angle. Than you can’t stop on just one beer and have to get drunk.

II

Did you know that Guinness is produced in more than 150 countries ? So you can drink it in a place which is warmer and less rainy than Ireland. For example in Nigeria or Indonesia.

III

Contrary to a popular myth, as real as the “the empire on which the sun never sets”, Guinness does not contain oatmeal. This stuff is made of roasted malted barley, hops, yeast, and water. And it’s not black. It’s actually a very nice dark ruby red.

IV

St. James’ Gate Brewery, in Dublin City, was leased for 9,000 years at an annual fee of about $65. It was in 1759. Arthur Guinness was thinking about himself as another Homer with Guinness beer as his own “exegi monumentum”. Mr Arthur has still 8750 years to finish the deal.

V

Over 10 million glasses are sold every day. And if there wasn’t the World Football Championships, when people beat glasses because of another England loss, we would have more things to drink Guinness from every day.

VI

Forty percent of all Guinness is sold in Africa. It’s hotter there and you don’t have to pay five Euro for one pint.

VII

A pint of the Guinness contains only 198 calories. That’s less than most light beers, orange juices or even two Guinnesses.

VIII

On September 24, 2009 at 17.59 (1759 – the year when Arthur signed his lease on St. James’ Gate) Ireland celebrated 250 years of Guinness with “Arthur’s Day”. It was very difficult to find somebody sober in Ireland that day. It may have been nothing more than massive marketing ploy but it was also one of the largest united parties since the end of prohibition in USA (obviously not for gangsters). In almost every country where people live, Guinness drinkers raised their glasses and cheered “To Arthur”.

IX

When the Guinness breweries in counties Louth and Kilkenny shutdown in 2013 there was also talk of closing down the Dublin brewery and moving back to Leixlip, in Kildare, where Arthur’s career started.

X

The slogan “Guinness is Good For You” is still used around the world. Once upon a time in Ireland, pregnant women were told to drink a glass of Guinness every day to fortify herself and her baby.