I’m sharing the spotlight this week. Please welcome to the stage fellow Yinz Team softball all star, Uncle Crappy. Crappy stood out at Podcamp Pittsburgh 2 during our SIDT/WMS session on grassroots podcasting as the only person to applaud and cheer as if the Stanley Cup was brought into the room. We broke his heart shortly afterward when he found out there wasn’t any free beer.

UC is a die hard Ohio State fan, fellow craft beer enthusiast, a great friend and helluva model American. If you see one of us at a craft beer festival there is a good chance the other isn’t far behind. You can follow Uncle Crappy on his blog at unclecrappy.com

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
brewery: St. James Gate - guinness.com
style: Irish Dry Stout
abv: 5%
serving size: 12oz
glass used: Spoon said “I used a Guinness pint glass that mysteriously appeared one night after a trip to Mad Mex.” Uncle Crappy sighed “I don’t know what the hell it’s called; Mrs. Crappy picked it up at Penn when we thought the place was closing down. It’s a pretty good approximation of an imperial pint glass, though.”
price: Spoon paid $3.25 at 3 Sons Dogs and Suds in Wexford, PA. Uncle Crappy paid $10 for the six. God bless the State of Ohio. Purchased at the Andersons general store, Dublin, Ohio. If you’re in Columbus and you’re thirsty, this is the first place you should stop.

What Uncle Crappy thinks

I’m a Guinness fan. Yeah, I know — it’s sort of like the Irish Budweiser, but it’s always a reliable choice when the pickings are slim. And you can’t beat the history; I mean, it’s been around for, like, 250 years or something.
Oh. Right. The name.

I knew I wanted to bring some home from our last trip to Columbus, and I was pleased to see it was pretty easy to find. I sat down with a couple bottles the other night; here’s what I came up with.

You see a difference right away. The 250 is carbonated differently than the nitrogen carbonation Guinness uses for the draught bottles or cans we have here, and it shows. You don’t see that beautiful cascade; you get something closer to a traditional beer pour with this one, setting up a half-inch head that dissipated pretty quickly. The aroma is also a bit different; the roasted malts are more prominent than in the Guinness I’m accustomed to.

That carries over to the taste, as well. Roasted coffee is right up front, followed by a hints of bread and, uh, not much else. My biggest gripe, though, is the mouthfeel; the more traditional carbonation naturally leads to a more traditional kind of feel; it’s not bad, but I really missed the silky Guinness texture.

Don’t get me wrong — this isn’t a bad beer. But if you’ve had a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout, you already have a pretty good idea of what the 250 is all about, and I was hoping for a little more.

Uncle Crappy’s rating: C+

What spoon thinks

This isn’t your typical Guinness so before you open it remember that not all are created equal. The pour was disappointing as the head was weak and vanished fast. I looked at it for a second and though “this looks like really cheap root beer from Aldi.” The aroma and taste, it turned out, was better than the appearance. I could smell a roasted coffee in the glass and the taste followed suit with a dry finish. I found it kinda light and watery as it seriously lacked body. That was it? That was what Guinness wasted a 250th anniversary on? Serious let down but better than some I’ve had.

This is a dry stout and lives up to the style but isn’t anything special besides a name.

Spoon’s rating: C-