Guinness is facing increasingly stiff competition from rival brewers looking to muscle in on their enviable market share – but only one can claim to go toe-to-toe with the original, according to beer rating site Untappd.
The Dublin-based beer has proven to be a hit among younger drinkers since the pandemic and is now officially Britain’s most popular pint, accounting for one in every nine pints pulled in the country.
The result is echoed across Europe, with Guinness enjoying an impressive 19 per cent boost in sales over the preceding 12 months.
Shrewd marketing has been credited for its success, but as Mark Ritson points out here, it helps when those marketing skills are applied to a brand that exhibits such immense extant appeal.
It should come as little surprise, therefore, that of the main copycat rivals to have launched in the past few years, only one enjoys a better rating than Guinness – and it’s based right here in London.
Here’s how they stack up:
5. Camden Stout (3.47 / 5)
A relatively new entrant in the competition, Camden Stout from Camden Town Brewery was launched in a bid to provide a ‘more refreshing’ stout for drinkers to enjoy in a bid to “liven up the stout category” (or loosely translated, steal Guinness’s lunch).
Having already got Ink as part of the brewery’s core range, the new stout was aimed at providing a more balanced and sessionable beer (AKA Guinness) that you might go to as your first pint as well as your last.
The beer can be found in an increasing number of London pubs, although the reviews are, on the whole, below par.
“Thin and watery” and “lacking in flavour” are among the charges, both of which are a far cry from the reviews of its Ink Stout, which is revered for both flavour and finish.
4. BrewDog Black Heart (3.53 / 5)
Never one to miss an opportunity to muscle in on an increasingly popular phenomenon, BrewDog unapologetically launched its own Guinness rival in February, with founder James Watt laying down the gauntlet to the Diageo-owned brand in a bid to rouse his band of faithful punkers.
Billed as a “no-nonsense dry Irish-style stout” the 4.1 per cent abv drink has been described as “the malty stout we didn’t know we needed” by one reviewer, while others described it as “a little thin”.
So far on Untappd, the BrewDog rival falls well below the mark compared to the original, coming in at 3.53 out of 5.
3. Forged Irish Stout (3.67 / 5)
Conor McGregor’s latest foray into the booze market comes in the form of Forged Irish Stout, rated 3.67 out of five by drinkers on Untappd.
First brewed in late 2020, the stout has (until recently) only been available exclusively in McGregor’s The Black Forge Inn near his childhood home in Crumlin, Dublin.
But it has since hit the supermarket shelves giving fans of the MMA man a first glimpse at how it stacks up next to its fellow countrybrew, Guinness.
@daraghcurran_ Tasting McGregors new stout in The Black Forge Inn #guinness ♬ original sound – Daragh Curran
The results, according to Untappd, are a mixed bag, with some people calling it a “straight up Guinness clone” and others saying it doesn’t compete with the original.
Expect a slightly sweeter version of Guinness, with hints of chocolate and coffee.
2. Guinness (3.77 / 5)
The original and the best? Well, not quite.
Few can do what Guinness has done for centuries now, and although times and brewing practices have changed, the product has remained as popular as ever.
As I wrote here, no other drink commands such respect at the bar, with punters from Ho Chi Minh to San Fransisco waiting patiently as bartenders tilt the glass at a 45-degree angle before leaving it to rest at the three-quarters mark.
But few places compare to Dublin when it comes to enjoying a pint of the black stuff, and it tends to be taken as read that the Irish stout tastes better in the capital than anywhere else in the world.
1. Anspach & Hobday – London Black (3.78 / 5)
Anspach & Hobday of the famous Bermondsey mile in London is the only producer who can claim to have a better alternative to Guinness in the stout market.
According to drinkers on Untappd it scores an impressive 3.78 out of five, with drinkers crediting it’s rich, complex, silky texture that makes it “incredibly drinkable”.
It might be hard to find a London Black outside of the Big Smoke, but for those who are in town the brewery has compiled handy guide of where to get your hands on a pint: