Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
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| Type | Stout |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Diageo |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Introduced | 1801 |
| Alcohol by volume | 7.5% (varies) |
| Colour | Deep brown |
| Flavour | Roasted malt, dark cherries |
| Ingredients | Grain, water, hops and yeast |
| Variants | Guinness Extra Smooth |
| Website | Foreign Extra Stout |
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is a stout produced by the Guinness Brewery, an Irish brewing company owned by Diageo, a drinks multinational. First brewed by Guinness in 1801, FES was designed for export, and is more heavily hopped than Guinness Draught and Extra Stout, and typically has a higher alcohol content (at around 7.5% ABV), which gives it a more bitter taste. The extra hops were intended as a natural preservative for the long journeys the beer would take by ship.
FES is the Guinness variant that is most commonly found in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and it accounts for almost half of Guinness sales worldwide. In 2011, over 4 million hectolitres of the beer were sold in Africa, where Diageo intend to grow the product into the continent's highest selling beer.
Guinness Flavour Extract, a dehydrated, hopped wort extract made from barley malt and roasted barley, is used for overseas production of the stout. The syrup is shipped from Ireland, where it is added at the ratio of 1:49 to locally brewed pale beer. In most overseas markets, Guinness Flavour Extract (GFE) is blended with locally brewed beer to produce FES.
In the 1960s, FES was marketed in Nigeria as "gives you power". This was updated for 1999-2006 with the Michael Power campaign, which aired across Africa. The beer is ranked highly on beer rating websites, while beer critics have varying opinions.
In 1801, Guinness West India Porter, the direct predecessor of Foreign Extra Stout, was first exported from the St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin. The product was formulated for Irish immigrant workers in the Caribbean. The beer was only brewed between October and April, which reduced acidification, and was matured in large wooden vats for up to two years, which gave the finished product greater stability. To survive the long journey overseas, which was then taken by ship, it was brewed with extra hops and a higher alcohol content, which acted as natural preservatives for the beer. Exported in barrels, the product was then bottled locally, which helped to reduce costs.
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