My first time, as I recall, drinking Guinness, was when I was thirteen or fourteen. We we're on a cruise from Finland to Sweden with my mother and stepfather. They had an evil scheme to deploy me back to Sweden because I had behaved worse than most people of my age. There was an idea to soften me up for the trip that could be the end of me. We were in a bar, and as I used to look a lot older then I really were, we drank all evening and perhaps small part of the night with my stepfather. At that time I didn't know Guinness was really a stout, not a lager. Not that it mattered at all. Next day my mouth tasted like old cream.
Years later I learned the beauty of the Irish brewermanship. I did a very long career in bars as a paid worker and as a paying customer. During this path I collided with an old forgotten friend, which I wasn't that fond of. I used to work in a big beerhouse where they had 120 different brands of beer for sale and one of those brands was Guinness. As a first step working there I had to learn how to serve this black beast. Officially Guinness is supposed to be filled up to three fourths of the pint's size and take a 119,5 second break and then pour rest of it in the pint. My interest grew during the work hours. I tasted it again and the black beast was turned into a black beauty.
It's 27th of september and today at 17:59 we'll all drink one for Arthur. Just in case, we could make it again on 28th. Arthur Guinness' real birthday is still a mystery, but historians seem to very certain that he was born on dates between fall of 1724 and early 1725. So if we'll really want to celebrate the guy who gave us the black stuff, we should drink one every day. Just in case.
