Guinness Dublin Porter (rsp £3.65) and Guinness West Indies Porter (rsp £4.00 ) are said to mark the first step in a “significant commitment to brand growth through innovation,” and are interpretations of beers brewed by Guinness in the 1800s (see below).
The company estimates the beers will deliver an estimated £58m incremental value to the premium ale category over the next two years and it is hoped they will spark a craft stout category in the UK, aping the success of the sub-category in the US.
The beers have emerged from an initiative called the Guinness Brewers Project, a team of six brewers who work from a small innovation brewery housed within the St James Gate complex in Dublin.
The team have been given free rein to reinterpret beers from the Guinness canon and invent new brews.
Commitment
“The new Brewery beers mark the first step in a significantly bigger commitment to brand growth on Guinness, through innovation, in the years to come,” said Stephen O’Kelly, marketing director, Western Europe.
“These beers are our first releases, and we will engage in further collaborations and co-creation in the coming years to launch beers to excite and delight our consumers.”
The beers will be supported with a £5m campaign, as part of which ambassadors from the Brewery Project will visit pubs and bars around the country.
Both of the new beers will be available in 500ml bottles with Dublin Stout also available on draught, as it is the “more accessible” of the two beers.
Tasting notes
- Interpreted from Guinness' earliest Porter recipe in the 1800s, Dublin Porter is a sweet, tasty, smooth beer with warm notes of caramel. This refreshing tasting beer has a lower ABV and is designed to appeal to a broader market of seasoned beer drinkers who are looking for a more characterful beer. It also goes well with food and is set to open up a new stout-alfresco occasion which will attract new drinkers
- Guinness West Indies Porter is an interpretation of a beer the brand brewed back in 1801. With its lingering notes of toffee, the complex beer offers consumers a real depth in flavour with a distinctive yet rounded taste. Designed to be consumed with friends during a relaxed occasion, this variant is set to appeal to the slightly more discerning consumer who is looking to explore new and different flavours of dark beer