Thursday, October 21, 2010

Is Guinness Preppy?



Is Guinness a preppy beer? According to the bible of preppy drinking, titled 'Tipsy in Madras' by Johnnie Walker & Mitzy Walsh, Guinness is not even listed! Is this because it was a long forgotten friend they just forgot to mention (that happens sometimes, and if that's the case, we forgive you Mitz & J) or is Guiness just so non-preppy it was not even mentioned?




Here are the top 18 preppy beers, according to Mitz & J, from preppy to least preppy order:
1. Heineken (aka Greenie) because its served on tap at the Yale Club in NYC
2. Lowenbrau because its the drink of choice for the rat pack, at least in the movie St. Elmo's fire
3. Molson Goldon (this one is my mum's favorite in the ski season)
4. Becks (aka the Keymasterrr) because its served on tap at the Harvard Club in NYC
5. Labatt's Blue because it's Canada's version of Budweiser
6. Amstel Light because the Farmington & Nightingale-Bamford set like it
7. Anchor Steam because there are some beer snobs in San Fran
8. Rolling Rock because "when you're going to a party at a yuppie's house but you don't want to spend a lot of money, and know that Bud would be ill-received"
9. Knickerbockers... not sure why this is on the list considering the company that produces it went out of business in 1997... oh wait, because if you can say you at least used to drink it, your part of an extinct preppy era
10. St. Pauli Girl because the good ol' boys like it
11. Corona.... I really don't know how this got on the list Mitz & J... really.I know you mention this is on the list because of the GDPs (Greateful Dead Preps), but really... I think they'd prefer a a Rolling Rock over this lime-needing Mexican beer
12. Budweiser aka "The King"... again, not sure how this one got on the list, but my only justification is because of the preppy house parties in high school when mum and dad went to the cape for the weekend with their friends and someone's older brother would buy a few 30 packs of Bud...
13. Coors... because the kids in Vail need something to drink after skiing all day (surprised this one is not higher on the list!!)
14. Foster's because the kids on the crew team need a favorite beer too
15. Red Stripe because Tom Cruise drank it in the preppy movie "Cocktail"
16. Grolsch Premium Lager... again!! ... for the A cappella singers? I don't think so. This should be removed from the list M & J...
17. Busch, for the innocent and young (I can justify this the same way I can justify Bud being on this list)
18. The Beast (Milwaukee's Best) because there are lots of Marty McFly wannabees out there.

And where is Guinness? At 9CHF a glass in Geneva, and 3CHF a can, only those who truly enjoy the taste or are willing to throw down extra cash, are buying it in Europe. Is it because its too flashy? No, since when was beer flashy or too nouveau? Mitz, J.... I think we should add it to the list.



Why do I like it? Normally a lover of light beers, I visited the Guinness factory in Dublin a few years ago. As they say, I had the best glass of Guinness from the top of the factory's view room. Prior to then, Guinness was just this bitter dark beer that was just hard to swallow. However, the creamy rich Guinness coaxed me to the "dark side" and since then, I have always loved Guinness. Its a beer you drink, not chug, and it reminds me of enjoying a really dark piece of bitter chocolate. AND it has the fewest amount of calories out of all non-light beers at 112 calories per glass.