>>>>>>>>>Enjoy a Guinness or two. :)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The worst beer I ever tried ... < gd&r >
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Whoah! You must have tried Guiness Stout. Try Guiness Draught it is much lighter and easier to drink. I had the same opinon till I realized there was a difference... which isn't all that apparent.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness#Varieties
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Guinness Extra Stout is very bitter and something that I do not enjoy! It comes in a six pack of small bottles. The Draught comes in a four pack of cans or six pack of bottles. The Draught from a keg is very tasty and for some reason a pint of Guinness from a Pub in Ireland is even better! :)
>>>>>
>>>>>Good man! I tend not to drink beer from kegs unless I'm at a brew pub that knows what they are doing. Normal pubs and restaurants don't seem to maintain the system well and I get headaches and a stuff nose. One of our brew pubs in Vancouver does a Guinness draught clone... can't tell the difference.
>>>>
>>>>There used to be an Irish pub in Chicago that was SO determined to be authentic they bought an actual Irish pub and shipped the whole works to Chicago. Furniture, fixtures, decorations, everything. Everything but the barmaids.
>>>>
>>>>It's the only place I've ever *enjoyed* a Guinness.
>>
>>
>>There was just an article in the Tribune the other day about Irish pubs in Chicago. (Gee, I wonder why?) It focused on a few that try to offer food that is a bit more upscale than one usually associates with Irish pubs. Among them was a new restaurant/pub where every piece of wood in the place came from Ireland. I wonder whether that might have been blarney ;-)
>>
>>The article also mentioned that corned beef is not really an Irish food. It said it was adopted by Irish immigrants in the U.S. because it was the closest thing they could find to Irish bacon. The owner of one of the featured pubs said she knows it isn't Irish but people expect it so she serves it anyway. She also said she draws the line at green beer.
>
>That's the FIRST time I've ever heard anything like that, and I'm from the capital of Ireland. And to suggest that "corned dog" is anything like bacon suggests that you guys have never tasted bacon.

Corned Beef and Irish Bacon are two different animals! :)

Compare Irish Bacon to the so called bacon in the United States. Ours is full of fat and the Irish Bacon is lean and has such a great taste!

Now lets talk about an Irish Breakfast. Pork Sausage, Irish Bacon, Black Pudding, White Pudding, eggs, tea or coffee and soda bread. You may also have fried potatoes, tomatoes and mushrooms.

There is a television travel program that I saw that I really enjoyed. The guy giving the tour was on a train traveling through Ireland and enjoying an Irish Breakfast. He described all the goodies that an Irish Breakfast consisted of and was eating them while being filmed.

He got to a point were near the end of the program and said while reaching to his right (out of camera sight), picked up a pint of Guinness and had a good sip. He then said, “And that is an Irish Breakfast”! :)