Some people are fanatical; me, I could take it or leave it. But you have to respect a beer that’s been around for 250 years. Heck, that’s nearly twice as old as my country.
This Sept. 24, Guinness will celebrate its semiquincentennial — or is that its bicenquinquagenary?
Apparently, the time to hoist a pint of the black stuff is just one minute to six o’clock — or, 17:59, which is the year that Arthur Guinness leased his brewery in Dublin. From an article in the Toronto Star:
In the lobby of the Guinness Storehouse, a glass panel set into the floor. Below the glass is an old document, dated Dec. 31, 1759. This piece of paper records, perhaps, the greatest real estate bargain since Dutch explorer Peter Minuit bought Manhattan for $24 worth of beads.
Arthur Guinness, owner of a small brewery near Dublin, had come to the capital with expansion on his mind. He spotted a run-down brewery, but didn’t have the cash to buy it outright, so he leased it.
“A very profitable move,” the guide says. “He got the lease for £45 a year – for 9,000 years.”
No, it’s not my favourite beer, but you gotta respect that foresight.
(PS. The poster is from Wikipeida, where they translate it as “Guinness is Good for You”)
Grant Hamilton
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Matt Goerzen
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Colin Corneau
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Colin Corneau