Had a tour. A tour of a brewery. Followed by brews.

Tho i’ve been to The Tavern (the brewery bar) quite a few times, this was the first tour of Guinness Anchor Bhd’s brewery in Sungai Way.

Toured Carlsberg Malaysia’s brewery in 2009, where, even while sober, i showed Steven Gerard how it’s done.

Ambik kau! In yor face

No footballers to abuse at GAB tho.

The event was in conjunction with Guinness Malaysia winning the BEST Guinness outside Ireland for four years in a row! Congrats Malaysia.

It’s called the Guinness League of Excellence, and has been around since the ’90s.

Some of the stuff that beer's composed from

The award covers both Guinnesses, the Foreign Extra Stout and Draught. And the competition was between breweries in 50 countries.

We take our black stuff seriously eh?

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The judging was by an independent panel, and there are four parameters – Process control (GAB is usually tops here), analytical conformance, dress code (look of the bottle), and taste test (also always top).

Some of d stuff that Guinness is made from - roast barley and hops (pellets)

The tour by Alan Pinto provided an insight on the processes at the brewery. The bottling and canning lines are real impressive. Super hi-tech and fast.

The brewery has some amazing output: It can produce 70,000 cans of beer every hour! And 350-400 kegs/hour, for a volume of 45,000 liters of beer every seven hours.

The superb canning line. What every home needs

The brew is tested daily before being released, and there are nine parameters that are tested. By a bunch of lucky guys. (Unless they’re fed up by now.)

What gives Guinness its uniqueness is among others, a special Guinness Yeast, and the addition of a secret essence called the Guinness Flavor at the end.

Pix weren’t allowed at the production area. Just in case alcos figure an angle to break in.

The zero-gravity ride that guests can partake in

After the tour, i wuz thirsty, obviously, seeing all that brew moving around the brewery floor. But i had to wait. A lil while longer. Mixologist Ben Ng gave a demo on the two-part draft pour that Guinness recommends.

Just kidding. Its one of 'em stainless steel beer tanks

Pour three-quarters first, chill-out, then pour d rest later. Ben explained the rationale.That it has to settle well to taste better.

Ben pulling one

The pouring routine takes a minute-plus, tho personally i prefer the single pour coz it tastes creamier. And arrives colder.

To each his own.

Straight

We soon got rid of Ben and tested the beer. It sure hit d spot.

Cashless bars rock!

So if we have the top Guinness in d world, then the Malaysian bar that pours your favourite Guinness has the best Guinness in the world! You’ll probably enjoy your next glass more now. It’s quite a trip to know this aint it?

From the old to the new...

Brain damage: 8/10