Great Guinness Blaze

Do not fret, friends. The fire at the Dublin brewery didn't harm any beer, according the the AP. Apparently it didn't even halt the tourist activties on the same campus, while the fire blazed on, per Business Week. Two Dublin firefighters are in the hospital, but no one was else was harmed. While this is another hit for Diageo, who was planning to make some dramatic shakeups before the bad economy hit, it will not cause any Guinness shortages or anything. No need to panic. But send your positive thoughts over to Ireland - they had a heck of a day.

Great Guinness - Win!

Raise your glass for a Guinness Toast! The famous Guinness story began in 1752 when Arthur inherited 100 pounds from his godfather. It wasn't until three years later that 34-year-old Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease for his new Dublin brewery 250 years ago on September 24, 1759, and began brewing stout, a very dark beer the world knows and loves today.

Today is Arthur's Day, and a global toast is organized to take place at 17:59 Dublin local time around the world. That is about 7 hours from now, or midnight for us Midwesterners. I won't be up that late tonight, I am afraid, but the kind folks at Guinness have sent me a lovely little care package to celebrate the day. It includes a bar towel, glass, baseball cap and an autographed glossy photo of Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray. I don't have enough readers to try a radio station style contest (250th commenter wins!) but I probably can still up enough of you for 25th commenter, right?

Comment away friends. 25th commenter wins the package. I'll contact you for shipping info.

Guinness 250

Available starting today!
250 years ago, brewing excellence and innovation were set in motion when Arthur Guinness signed the 9,000 year lease on the famous St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin. To mark this remarkable anniversary, GUINNESS 250 Anniversary Stout is being made available in the United States on a limited edition basis (approximately six months). This marks the first new stout offering in the U.S. from Guinness since 1966 -- more than 40 years ago -- when Guinness draught was first introduced to Americans.

The commemorative stout is carbonated, not nitrogenated like the traditional GUINNESS Draught. As a result, it has a near-white frothy stout beer head of larger bubble size than that of GUINNESS Draught, and is poured on draught in a one-part pour or gently from a bottle (as opposed to the two-part pour unique to GUINNESS draught). This product has a crisp effervescent taste with a balanced malty, roasted, hop flavor that is enhanced when released with a lively, refreshing and smooth carbonated mouthfeel. A triple hop addition regime provides a hint of bitterness.

O'Dowd's in Zona Rosa in one of two bars in KC that will have this on tap. They will be tapping it this evening. Where else can you find it?

At Last

Spot from Guinness. I don't seem smart enough to make YouTube and Blogger act like they love each other. Anyone who has hints, they'd be welcome!

Anyway, cute spot, with nerds being nerds always. Etta James' At Last is the track, which of course is a wedding song for millions of people. Me & the Husband included.

**edited to add that clearly I am not a creative person. Those 2 words, "cute spot," are enough to make some people's heads explode. To them, I am sorry.**