Originally, I had planned a series of posts where I experimented with different pouring techniques in an attempt to find what I liked best. Guinness says the perfect pour is 119.5 seconds, but what if I did it quicker? Or a lot longer? Should you go with two pours or three? Or ten? But the first test I did was trying a proper pour against a quick one stage pour. I found that it has no impact on taste. At least to me. Your results may vary. That’s not to say that pour technique has no impact. It definitely contributes to the experience in two ways that I think of.
The first is appearance. We’ve all seen pictures of pints where the head extends well into (or beyond) the harp logo. They look terrible. Some of these pints are irredeemable due to variables unrelated to pour technique. But some could have been saved by allowing more time for the pint to settle. This isn’t something exclusive to Guinness or nitro beers. No matter the beer, if you allow the head to dissipate then you end up with a thinner head.
If you’re paying for beer by the glass then the more important impact of a poor pour is the volume of beer. By allowing the Guinness to settle you end up with more beer in the glass. With my kegerator, I find that allowing the beer to settle yields around 5% more beer. Those results will vary based on everything from temperature, to pressure, to the length of the lines. What does not change is that the less a beer settles, the less actual beer ends up in the glass.
So how long should Guinness settle? Well, if you are pouring Guinness on draft at home then I think that it doesn’t matter. Pour it in one go and you’ll end up with a less aesthetically pleasing beer. And less beer in the glass. But since you own the keg, that just means that you will get more pours out of it. If you want a better looking beer, allow it to settle for longer. If you want Guinness now, then pour it without settling. Conversely, if you’re ordering Guinness at a bar, then the pour technique is out of your hands. Us Guinness drinkers are already seen as persnickety. I can’t imagine what would happen if I gave my bartender a recipe for pouring my beer. I just have to hope the bad pour isn’t in one of those tiny 14 ounce glasses.