Last week Brian wrote a fascinating article about Guinness and its history. Brian's article mainly focused on the draught variety of Guinness, while I've just opened up what Guinness refers to as Extra Stout. It's important to note that Extra Stout is brewed by the Guinness Brewing Company in New Brunswick, Canada. Yes, the labels on the front say "Imported" and "St. James's Gate Dublin", but the back label clearly gives away its Canadian origins.

Extra Stout is a bit confusing; Guinness calls it "the one that started it all", and Extra Stout is called Original in Europe. However, the label on the back of this bottle only has generic Guinness marketing and makes it difficult to determine exactly what it is you're supposed to be drinking. According to Wikipedia, it's brewed a bit differently in different locations and has different alcohol contents. This bottle is 5% alcohol by volume.

Extra Stout certainly has a stronger taste than Guinness Draught. It has more roasted flavor and bite than the more popular variety. However, I'm not sure that makes it better than the draught variety. It's harsher than Guinness Draught, probably because it's carbonated with carbon dioxide rather than nitrogen. It also doesn't have the widget that makes canned or bottled Guinness Draught extremely similar to Guinness from the tap. Instead, it's similar in feeling to most beers out of a bottle.

Overall, Extra Stout is definitely not a bad beer, but I'd drink a Guinness Draught before I would drink an Extra Stout. The nitrogen used in the Draught produces a creamy beer that goes down easy. For the most up-to-date information on Extra Stout at Walt Disney World, visit the Guinness Extra Stout page on our beer list!