Ardara in Donegal is host to this place. The Guinness, even for the South of Ireland which is uniformly good, is stunning. They serve food but there are no chips to be had. Sea-food chowder with wheaten bread is my favourite washed down with their black milk.

Live music too. It used to be more homely - it was literally just a house with a bar built in the living-room - but it has been gradually changed to be more pub-like as the years have gone by. Bit of a pity but still a great spot.

Does Guiness actually vary from one place to another? Why would it?

The Maypole Bar, Holywood, Co. Down. aka Ned's  This is as close to a local as I have (it is a few miles away from me).

No music, no TV ,no food. Drink and conversation. On occasions the TV is switched on for certain rugby matches or horse races. That's it.

Spectacular Guinness, particularly for the North of Ireland. Features table service. You only have to place your order once - after which a raised finger or eyebrow will suffice. Superb place.

Ned's keeps its kegs in a small quad in the centre of building and the kegs probably only get hit by any sun rays for a few minutes each day , if that. They are about 20feet from the taps. On a busy night the junior staff simply pour pints and have no interaction with customers to keep up with demand.

I can remember the old till they had up until the 90s - it was the old mechanical type and the most you could ring in at one time was £5.

equinox_code wrote:

Does Guiness actually vary from one place to another? Why would it?

Guinness outside Ireland, unless specially imported is treated to last longer - some sort of pasteurisation I'm led to believe. It isn't as processed in Ireland and tastes fresher. The head in Ireland is different too - it requires two stages to fill a pint and if conditions are right it will hold a match upright right to the bottom.

The length of pipe to the keg makes a difference - shorter runs are better, and the storage temperature. A pub I frequented once offered Guinness from the cold store, under the counter or a mix - it did make a difference. Cold Flow is vile. There is a pub in Killarney that throws out its stock after a lightening storm - claims of atmospheric pressure and its effect - but that could be hokum.

It varies a great deal from pub to pub. It took a serious dive in the North of Ireland about 20 years ago (at that time I moved to drinking it from a bottle) but it's pretty good now if the pub is well run. I have rarely enjoyed a pint outside Ireland. Had a few good ones in Cricklewood while in London and I think I remember a decent pint in Liverpool too.

The Rotterdam Bar , Belfast. Sadly now gone.

Live music with a back bar if you just wanted to drink. It had an array of bottles on the top shelf with no labels comprising of over strength rums etc. Great beer, great atmosphere. Sadly bulldozed due to progress. This was right down on the quay-side. The pic shows it in its last days...

davyK wrote:

equinox_code wrote:

Does Guiness actually vary from one place to another? Why would it?

Guinness outside Ireland, unless specially imported is treated to last longer - some sort of pasteurisation I'm led to believe. It isn't as processed in Ireland and tastes fresher. The head in Ireland is different too - it requires two stages to fill a pint and if conditions are right it will hold a match upright right to the bottom. The length of pipe to the keg makes a difference - shorter runs are better, and the storage temperature. A pub I frequented once offered Guinness from the cold store, under the counter or a mix - it did make a difference. Cold Flow is vile. There is a pub in Killarney that throws out its stock after a lightening storm - claims of atmospheric pressure and its effect - but that could be hokum. It varies a great deal from pub to pub. It took a serious dive in the North of Ireland about 20 years ago (at that time I moved to drinking it from a bottle) but it's pretty good now if the pub is well run. I have rarely enjoyed a pint outside Ireland. Had a few good ones in Cricklewood while in London and I think I remember a decent pint in Liverpool too.

The biggest difference stems from the water used to make it. You know how hard and soft water tastes different? Well, subtle changes in the PH and treatment of the water effects how beers taste. 

Loving the pubs mentioned so far. I also like pubs which have no music, tv just chatter. I kinda miss the misty smoke from cigarettes too even though i've never been a smoker.  

There are some nice bars i've been to as well which i'll post over the weekend.

All the Guinness you get in the UK and Ireland comes from Dublin now, all brewery conditioned. How well it's kept and how quickly it's sold should be the only real difference.

Never have the first pint of the day!

davyK wrote:

What I do miss about English pubs are the pub games. Darts, bar billiards , skittles etc. I thought it was a marvellous thing to have in a pub. Not many pubs in Ireland go in for that. There are a few but they are relatively rare.

Giant Jenga is always a winner.

People down south don't like a head on their beer apparently, they don't put a sparkler on their cask stuff either. That might be the reason for the head. Exactly the same beer though. Very few places will be selling it constantly though.

I can only do this for Tokey, unhelpfully.

But with that caveat:

The Aldgate, Goodbeer Faucets, Popeye, Ushitora, Craftheads, Devilcraft, The Griffon, Baird Taprooms. All sound establishments. Adequate atmosphere, high tier beverages.

I'd imagine the Japanese, when they set their mind to it, can be top of the class at whatever.

You get the global second best of everything in this town that isn't actually indigenous. Zero arseholes too, which is nice.

Jesus I really do drink too much these days.