Style: Dry Irish stout
Brewery: Nigerian Breweries
Origin: Nigeria
Size: 32.5cl
Alcohol: 7.5%
Price: 56kr
Systembolaget: 89152
Nigeria is the third-biggest Guinness market in the world, after UK and Ireland. A Guinness factory was established in Lagos in 1962, 2 years after Nigeria’s independence. Their version of the beer is brewed with locally farmed sorghum (durra) and maize (majs) since the ban on the import of foreign barley in 1990. Marketing aimed at men showing that drinking Guinness was a sign of strength, with characters such as “Michael Power” proved immensely popular. I had heard of the immense popularity of Guinness in Nigeria, so I thought it would be fun to see if there were major differences between the Irish original and this. As soon as I took my first sip, I realised it was completely different!
This poured with the classic deep chocolate brown to black, with some ruby highlights glimpsed as well. A creamy, beige head settled nicely on top of the beer and continued to be present long after pouring. This was rather different from other Guinness I’ve tested, with a bigger emphasis on fruit in the aroma. Plum, dates and red grape notes were all found in the aroma along with tobacco, leather and a slight hint of alcohol. This taste was completely unexpected, with a massive smokey edge that I’ve never experienced with Guinness before. It was almost like licking an ashtray, with a deep wood smoke note that threw me off guard. No wonder tobacco was noted in the aroma before I tried this! There were hits of cacao and leather in the taste as well, but this was all about the ash. The aftertaste was full and long-lasting, almost like smoking a cigarette whilst drinking.
This was completely unexpected because this is so different from every other Guinness I’ve tried. From the increased fruity aroma to the massive ash taste, this was definitely an interesting experience. If you were served this in a pub, I’m pretty sure no one would guess this was brewed under the Guinness name. I’m not even sure if I like it if I’m honest, because the ash note was so big and overpowering. If you like dark, smokey beers, then this would be perfect for you. For others that are used to the taste of regular Guinness though, I would suggest you stick to that.