Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
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Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is a
stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...
produced by the
Guinness Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...
, an Irish
brewing company A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...
owned by
Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...
, 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, which gives it a more bitter taste, and typically has a higher alcohol content (at around 7.5% ABV). 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. Over four million hectolitres of the beer were sold in Africa in 2011. Guinness Flavour Extract, a dehydrated, hopped
wort Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...
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. FES was marketed in Nigeria as "gives you power" in the 1960s. This was updated for 1999–2006 with the Michael Power campaign, which aired across Africa.


History

Guinness West India Porter, the direct predecessor of Foreign Extra Stout, was first exported from the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin in 1801. The product was formulated for Irish immigrant workers in
the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, a ...
. The beer was brewed solely in the cooler months between October and April in order to reduce 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. The 1801 recipe included 73 per cent pale malt and 27 per cent brown malt. The first recorded shipment of the beer to the United States was in 1817. In 1827, the first official shipment of Guinness on the African continent arrived in Sierra Leone. The beer was renamed Foreign Extra Stout from around 1849 onwards. The first recorded exports to South East Asia began in the 1860s. FES accounted for around five per cent of all Guinness production at the turn of the twentieth century, with two-thirds destined for Australia and the United States, where it was largely used as a medicinal product. Australia remained the single largest export market for the product until 1910, when it was eclipsed by the United States. Due to the expense of importation, FES was a premium product, retailing for double the price of domestic stouts. Total production had reached 105,000
hogshead A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large Barrel (storage), cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial Product (business), product) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial ...
s by 1912. The American trade was disrupted by the onset of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and then discontinued entirely with the introduction of
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. The product was not popular when it returned in the 1930s, as drinkers now preferred the lighter and cheaper Guinness Extra Stout. Following discontinuation of export during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, FES did not return to the United States until 1956, but this was to prove unsuccessful, and the beer was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Guinness export sales were mostly to British and Irish expatriates before 1920. This changed from the 1920s onwards, and among the first local people to develop a taste for the drink were the ethnic Chinese of the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
. A global Guinness salesman was appointed by the company in 1924, and sales began to be pursued among local populations. In 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the British
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
purchased 500,000 half-pint bottles of FES for distribution to hospitals. In 1951 exports totalled 90,000
barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...
s, but by 1964 had grown to 300,000 barrels. By 1959, sales in Ghana had grown large enough for Guinness to establish a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
in the country with the
United Africa Company The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of Royal Niger Company, The Niger Company, which had b ...
. By 1962, Nigeria had become the largest export market for Guinness, with around 100,000 barrels exported to the country every year. This led the company to build a brewery in
Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, cl ...
in western Nigeria to supply the demand; it was only the third brewery in the company's history. The brewery cost over £2 million, had a 150,000 barrel capacity, and was 60 per cent owned by Guinness Nigeria, 25 per cent by the United Africa Company with the remaining shares held by local Nigerian interests. Breweries followed in Malaysia (1965), Cameroon (1970) and Ghana (1971), whilst licences were granted to other companies to brew Guinness under contract in other African countries and the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
. Historically a small proportion of Guinness production, it was this success, especially in Africa but also in Asia, that allowed FES to grow into a 4.5 million hectolitre brand. A new bottle design was debuted in Malaysia in 2005, and later rolled out worldwide. In 2013, FES received a packaging redesign in Africa and other selected markets, with a gold foil top and a new label.


Production

The Irish version of FES is brewed with pale malt, 25 per cent flaked barley (for
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
retention and body) and 10 per cent roasted barley, the latter being what gives the beer its dark hue. It uses the bitter
Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...
, Nugget and
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
hop varieties which have undergone an isomerized kettle extract process. The beer contains about a third more hops, and nearly double the amount of roasted barley than Guinness Draught. The beer is force carbonated. The beer has 47 Bitterness Units. Guinness have used a slightly different variant of their yeast to brew FES since 1960. It provides extremely poor
flocculation In colloidal chemistry, flocculation is a process by which colloidal particles come out of Suspension (chemistry), suspension to sediment in the form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition of a clarifying agent. The actio ...
and produces relatively high levels of diacetyl in the finished beer. Some breweries regard diacetyl as an off-flavour, but Guinness consider it as a "signature flavour" of FES. Guinness Flavour Extract, a dehydrated, hopped
wort Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...
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. Each year, six million litres of GFE are made using 9,000 tonnes of barley. Guinness Flavour Extract was first created by scientists working for the company in the early 1960s. In 2003, production of GFE was relocated from St James's Gate to the former Cherry's brewery in Mary Street,
Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
, but in 2013 production returned to St James's. FES is produced at Diageo controlled breweries in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Seychelles.Diageo Annual Report 2013, 29-75 In addition, it is produced under licence in 39 other countries. Diageo has brewing arrangements with the
Castel Group Castel Group (French Groupe Castel) is a French beverage company. It was established in 1949 by Pierre Castel, who continues to run the company as a family-owned concern. Castel is the largest French wine producer and owns the biggest French and ...
to license brew and distribute Guinness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Guinea. FES is the oldest variant of Guinness that is still available, although its ingredients and production methods have varied over time. In 1824, it had an original gravity (OG) of 1082. After a peak in strength in 1840, when the beer had an OG of 1098, by 1860, the beer was reduced to its current standard strength of around 1075 OG. FES was originally brewed with pale and brown malts. Black malt was used from 1819, and by 1828 its use had entirely replaced brown malt. In 1883, the beer was produced with 85 per cent pale malt, 10 per cent amber malt and 5 per cent roasted malt. From 1929 – 1930 onwards, Guinness switched from using roasted malt in the beer's production to roasted barley. Amber malt continued to be added to the
grist Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. It can also mean grain that has been ground at a gristmill. Its etymology derives from the verb ''grind.'' Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on h ...
until 1940. Flaked barley was introduced in the early 1950s, and the hopping rate was decreased. Originally a
bottle conditioned Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
beer, FES has been
pasteurised In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...
to ensure quality consistency since 1948. Since 1950, in an attempt to recreate the flavour profile of bottle conditioned FES, the beer has been produced by blending fresh FES with two per cent FES that has been aged for up to 100 days, and has developed a high
lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...
content. Finally, the beer is allowed to mature in the bottle for 28 days before being sent out for distribution.


Markets

Foreign Extra Stout constitutes 45 per cent of total Guinness sales worldwide. Originally exported to British and Irish expatriates, the beer began to be drunk by local populations from the 1920s. A 7.5% ABV version is sold throughout most of the world, although lower strength variants are found in some locations. The beer is available in bottles and cans.


Africa

In Africa, the product retails at a premium, at up to double the price of rival beers. FES is produced at thirteen breweries in Africa.


Nigeria

FES is brewed and distributed by Guinness Nigeria. As of 2012–13, Nigeria has been the largest market for Guinness by sales. FES was initially introduced into the Nigerian market through importation in the 1940s. Guinness in Nigeria is made with heavily roasted
sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
or
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
that has been locally sourced. Some Nigerian versions also contain wheat. The switch from malted barley was made in 1986 when the Nigerian government briefly banned imports of the grain. The use of sorghum and maize continues as it is a cheaper alternative than barley, which has to be imported, and it is less vulnerable to local currency fluctuations. The Nigerian breweries use high gravity brewing techniques to ferment sorghum and pale malt to 1090 OG. Beer writer Roger Protz describes the Nigerian product as "strikingly different" from the Irish brewed version, and it has been described as being sweeter and heavier than regular FES. Diageo have also confirmed that the carbonation levels are "different" from the Irish-brewed product.


Other markets

The brewing of FES has taken place at Sierra Leone Brewery since October 1967. In Ghana, FES is brewed in
Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
by Guinness Ghana Breweries, which is controlled by
Castel Group Castel Group (French Groupe Castel) is a French beverage company. It was established in 1949 by Pierre Castel, who continues to run the company as a family-owned concern. Castel is the largest French wine producer and owns the biggest French and ...
. GFE is mixed with a locally brewed sorghum lager, but it differs from the Nigerian version in that it contains no wheat and has a higher proportion of roast barley. In Ghana, the product is believed to have medicinal properties, strengthening the blood and improving circulation. In 2003, a 5.5% ABV, lightly-
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
ated variant of FES was introduced in Ghana called Guinness Extra Smooth. It was released in Nigeria in 2005, where it constitutes 5-10 per cent of Guinness sales in the country. Guinness holds 20 percent of the
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
beer market.


Asia

Sales of Guinness in South East Asia amounted to over £100 million in 2012-13. FES (6.8% ABV) is brewed and distributed in Malaysia by Heineken Malaysia Berhad. The Malaysian variant is distributed throughout most of
South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. The brew was reduced in ABV from 8 to 6.8% in 2008, and further reduced to 5.5% ABV from 2016, in response to changes in alcohol duty. Malaysia is the largest Asian market for Guinness, where, in 2012, the brand grew by between 10 and 15 per cent. In Singapore, FES is brewed and distributed by Asia Pacific Breweries. In Indonesia, Guinness is brewed to 4.9% ABV by PT Multi Bintang (a subsidiary of Asia Pacific Breweries), and is distributed by PT Dima Indonesia. In China, small amounts of FES are sold, where it is positioned as a premium priced import in upmarket bars.


Other markets

FES was sold and then withdrawn in the UK in 1976 as Guinness XXX Extra Strong Stout; it returned in 1994 when interest in
craft beer Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
increased. The beer was again withdrawn from the UK market, returning in 2003 to cater for the increasing
African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...
. The British market is supplied with both the Irish and the Nigerian brewed variants of the beer, the latter of which has annual sales of £2 million. Official imports of FES into the US were resumed in 2010, following a resurgent interest in craft beer; this was after a period of grey imports, predominantly for African and Caribbean expatriates.


Advertising and sponsorship

In the 1960s, FES was marketed in Nigeria as "gives you power" and its consumption was linked with an increase in sexual potency. This was updated for 1999–2006 with the Michael Power campaign, which aired all over the continent. Guinness credits the campaign with allowing the company to lead the Africa beer market by 50 per cent in 2000, experience volume growth of up to 50 per cent in some markets, achieve brand recognition of a reported 95 per cent, and by doubling Guinness sales in Africa by 2003. In 1999,
Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi and Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency ...
was given worldwide responsibility for marketing the FES brand. In October 2013,
BBDO BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...
was awarded responsibility for marketing Guinness in Africa. Saatchi continues to market FES in the rest of the world. Since 2008, FES has been the largest sponsor of the Nigerian national football team.


Reception

The beer is ranked highly on beer rating websites. Garrett Oliver notes its refreshing qualities and "distinctive acidic edge". On the other hand, it has been criticised by British journalist Tony Naylor as being "more about treacly, boozy warmth" than "complex flavour".


References


External links

* {{good article Diageo beer brands Beer brands of Ireland Irish brands Food and drink in Ireland