Guinness Foreign Extra Stout - Nigerian style

As a kid, Draught Guinness was the first beer I really enjoyed. Even now, I occasionally reach for a pint of it, usually in places where there's nothing else to drink but cooking lager or keg bitter. Nevertheless, the nitrokeg Draught Guinness you'll find on just about every bar in Britain isn't a beer I'd waste any time writing about. It might look impressive in the glass, but it's a bland beer with a flat taste profile and a curious lack of any aroma. It simply isn't good beer. Thankfully, it isn't the only Guinness on offer.

You may be surprised to hear that fully 40% of sales of Guinness beers worldwide are of a much more interesting variety - Foreign Extra Stout. FES has been brewed using slightly different recipes and ingredients in a variety of countries across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean since the 1960s. There's also a version brewed at the Arthur Guinness mothership in Dublin. The real outlier in the group, and my favourite, is the Nigerian version.

Much as I love drinking and writing about the likes of Liefmans Goudenband and St Bernardus Abt 12, these beers are often very hard to track down. Obscure Belgian ales don't offer an easy route into quality beer for those more accustomed to fizzy yellow swill. Nigerian FES, however, is imported into the UK in relatively large quantities, and is widely available. As far as I am aware the same is not true in the USA, unfortunately.

The recipe for this 7.5% abv stout includes the use of sorghum, of which Nigeria is a major producer, in place of barley malt. This unusual ingredient produces the distinctive flavour and aroma which really sets it apart from it's Irish cousin. Although malt extract is also used, the end result is low in gluten, apparently making it safe (in small quantities) for sufferers of coeliac disease. In the glass, the beer doesn't have the unsettling, artificial appearance of Draught Guinness. It's a very dark brown (as opposed to black), and the head is a more pleasing dark beige (as opposed to white). The mouthfeel is also entirely different - much less smooth, but then much less bland. A complex mix of flavours offers up burnt coffee, blackcurrant, banana and sweet malt. The aroma really is striking and unusual, defying description (by me, anyway). The alcohol is certainly evident but not overpowering. If you pour it straight from the fridge and drink it slowly, allowing it to warm up in the glass gradually, I think you'll get the most from it.

Guinness Foreign Extra won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you want to try a challenging beer that you can pick up easily on the way home from work, the Nigerian's your man.

Cheers.

Information:

1. Nigerian FES is currently on sale in larger Tesco branches, but you will also see it in convenience stores such as Costcutter. Off licenses in areas with large Afro-Caribbean communities are extremely likely to sell it. Expect to pay about £1.30 / £1.40 for a 33cl bottle. If you are having real problems finding it, I can give specific pointers in London, so leave a comment below and I will respond.
2. The Nigerian stuff is easily distinguishable from the Dublin version due to the red "imported" logo on the label (see photo). Often the two versions are sold side by side, so it's important to bear this in mind if you go hunting for it.