Arthur Guinness (1725-1803) - the founder of the dynasty and the very first famous brewer from the Irish city of Dublin. Beer, first brewed by him and named in his honor - "Guinness" - the drink is almost legendary. Today it is one of the most popular and consumed types of dark beer.
A lot has been written about the founder of the Guinness dynasty, but, in general, not a lot of specific biographical data. Researchers do not even know the exact date of his birth. Of course, we do not have a photo of Arthur Guinness - but there is a lifetime portrait of the brewer.
The following describes the two most important for the Guinness dynasty Arthur - the founder of the brand and his son, the successor to his father’s business.
Arthur I
The future Sir Arthur Guinness was born in the small Irish village of Selbridge. His father, Richard, served in the service of the local archbishop Price as a manager.
According to family legend, young Arthur tried himself in brewing in his school years. Together with his father, they cooked traditional ale in the basement of the archbishop’s house, where the necessary equipment was available. Apparently, the priest was warm with the brewers (there is evidence that he baptized the son of Arthur, named by the same name) and bequeathed to the manager Richard and his son a hundred pounds each - a pretty decent amount at that time, approximately equivalent to four-year earnings.
It is not known how things would have happened if it had not been for this financial assistance. But it happened in 1752. Arthur I already had 27 years of life behind him - still a young man, enterprising and active. For the amount left, he could buy a small plot of land with a farm and manage himself a little. At that time, Ireland was predominantly an agrarian country, and many would have acted in its place.
But Arthur chose a different path. Together with his younger brother Richard, he rented a small brewery in the Irish town of Lakeslip. We can assume that the real biography of Arthur Guinness began here.
For several years the two brothers made the same ale. As you know, then many people brewed this drink at home. It was a kind of light low-alcohol beer, the so-called “top fermentation”, which was prepared in just a few days. Recipes have been known since ancient times. Young Arthur and his brother had to work hard to make their ale the best and begin to conquer the market.
In dublin
The business moved and began to generate income. That's when Arthur moved to the capital, leaving the Lakeslip factory to his younger brother. On the outskirts of Dublin there was a needless, dilapidated and abandoned brewery. The future founder of the dynasty named it St. James`s Gate ("At the gates of St. James"). The rent cost him for a very small fee and for a fantastic period of nine thousand years.
Arthur Guinness was a true brewer by profession. He began experimenting with old beer recipes. And so came his later famous porter - a dark and highly foaming beer with persistent foam.
It is interesting that this drink won the first popularity among London and Dublin movers. They say that they called beer a porter - in their honor. For the word porter in translation from English just means "porter".
However, the very thing appeared that made the Guinness beer famous and became the symbol of Ireland later - only by the end of the century, in 1799. That is, four years before the death of Sir Arthur Guinness. Until then, the brewery functioned as an ale plant.
Thanks to the activities of the Guinnesses, the whiskey and gin that reigned in the Irish market were supplanted, and a dark porter with a foam of a characteristic cream shade became a publicly available high-quality drink. Moreover, imported beer began to be supplanted from the Irish market, and Guinness began to conquer the English consumer more and more rapidly.
In 1861, Arthur Guinness married Olivia Whitmore. Their family became one of the largest families: the wife of Arthur gave birth to 21 children. True, due to high mortality, only ten survived to adulthood.
The founder of the famous beer brand ended his days as a rich man, leaving his heirs 25 thousand pounds. His three sons (Arthur, Benjamin, and William) became brewers and continued the work of their father.
Arthur II
The successor of the famous brewer, who did a lot to popularize the brand and significantly increased the well-being of the Guinness family, was the son of the elder Arthur, whom, avoiding confusion, historians call Arthur II.
In this part of the article - a short biography of Arthur Guinness with a photo (and again a portrait, of course).
When the father passed away, his son, the third child in the family, also Arthur, was already 35 years old. He worked a lot with his father and was not new to managing breweries. At the beginning of its activities, the company produced more than 800 thousand gallons of beer per year. This backlog was left to the sons by their father. Arthur II managed to surpass him. Managing the business of the concern for almost half a century, he achieved an annual increase in sales of 10%. Neither the war with Napoleon, nor the subsequent economic crisis, could prevent the heyday of the company. And annual beer sales have already been brought up to 4 million gallons per year.
With all this, Arthur II was not focused only on his affairs. In general, he was a multifaceted and active person. It is known that he served as the manager of the Bank of Ireland, the presidency in the Chamber of Commerce of Dublin, and was also a member of the farming community.
Arthur II lived in the world for 87 years. He and his descendants significantly increased the welfare of the family. By 1938, the Guinness St. Brewery James's Gate Brewery was considered the largest in all of Ireland.
A few words about beer
We can not say a few words about the famous drink. As you know, from time immemorial it has the aroma of burnt barley. In general, its composition remained unchanged. The raw materials set includes barley, water, hops and yeast. True, before the main feature of the manufacture was that the beer, which was already settled, was mixed with freshly made. This process created some smack of milk and strong foam.
Modern technology has allowed to abandon mixing and now the foam is strengthened with nitrogen. It is believed that the nitrogen cap looks more solid and lasts longer. At least there are legends about the Guinness beer foam, and experts still reckon the drink itself as a reference.
It is impossible not to mention that since 1989, the manufacturing company introduced an interesting innovation: in the manufacture of a beer can, a special plastic capsule with nitrogen (widget) is placed there. A patent was even obtained for this invention, however, this already has nothing to do with Sir Arthur Guinness himself.
Interesting Facts
As you know, the distinctive sign of the porter is the smell of well-roasted barley, while the production of this drink takes only a couple of days. A true Guinness porter is low in calories - a pint contains fewer kilocalories than orange juice, namely 198.
In an advertising company promoting stouts (stout is a synonym for dark beer), manufacturers used the slogan Guinness Is Good For You. Bright and memorable, it was not only a marketing move: for almost the entire 20th century, doctors prescribed this drink as a general strengthening and tonic drug for debilitated patients who underwent surgery, donors, and even pregnant women!
Another interesting fact is that only in 2003, scientists found that it is the stout that differs from the rest of the drinks by its high iron content. In addition, the antioxidants found in all Guinness, affect the reduction of platelet formation in the blood.
And from the field of legends ...
Rumor has it that Guinness breweries still live rats, transmitting from generation to generation the love of branded stout. By tasting it regularly, they add a mysterious ingredient to it that gives the drink an exquisite taste and special charm.