Scottish and Irish stout comparison

[Thomas H Page]

Some Scottish breweries have begun to make a play in the domestic stout
market. Broughton's "Scottish Oatmeal Stout" has been around for a long time
but now, the big brewer, Scottish and Newcastle has stepped in with Gillespies
Stout, also made with Oats. Surprisingly perhaps, considering these are the
people that bring us McEwans Lager, it is actually bloody good and I drink it
instead of Guiness whenever faced with the choice. They have done well by goin
in a slightly different direction from the Irish styles and have IMHO come up
with a stout preferable to the guiness that you get over here, which as we all
know is not as good as the stuff over there.

With any luck guiness will eventually be forced to sell Irish standard Guiness
over here to compete.

Anybody else got opinions on either of these stouts and have either of them
left Scotland yet.

Tom Page University of Glasgow.

P.S. Caledonian Porter is well worth a tasting or two although it seems to give
bad hangovers.

[Michael K Thompson]

I have had the pleasure of drinking Gillespie's or Giles' Pies as I prefer to refer to it, and it is bloody great. My student union has an odd policy of not serving Guinness (Birmingham university) following on from an NUS row with Guinness some years ago, although it does serve it in the halls of residence bar - a little inconsistent, but never mind, and last year it sold Gillespies and as a result I remeber very little of sitting on the grass in the warm(ish) summer sun downing many amny pints of nice c
old ice cold Gillespies. IMHO it has less 'weight' than the Guinness, and as a result it is a little less hostile to the stomach than Guinness, and although I would choose Guinness over just about any drink going, Gillespies was appropriate for those long summer days of drinking and playing cricket - it didn't affect my ability to run particularly greatly.
Anyway, Gillespies is no longer available in Birmingham university, as the Guild (the student union) has stopped selling it - although I don't know why - i for one was buying enough to keep it a viable commercial activity, and the furthest south I have seen it is in Durham. I have seen (and drank) it in one or two pubs in Sunderland (my home), and get the idea that about one in ten Scottish and Newcastle pubs serve it.
i shall leave you with my favourite salute - MORE BEER!