Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint

Great book

Its a great book telling a great story. The middle part could do with more backgroubd facts about the people concerned rather than a role call of who was director here and there. A minor critism indeed .

In some ways, this book is an eye-opener: if you didn't know how deeply beer reaches into society, this story of a corporation and its effect on the city and country around it would an interesting surprise. But The Quest for the Perfect Pint is more than that-it's a long loving praise and appraisal of one of the world's best-known brands. If you needed a reminder of the unique place of this quirky, delicious, light-bodied beer in the bars and dining rooms of the world, this is it. Lynn Hoffman, author The Short Course in Beer

A very interesting history of the beer.

I think it is a challenge to write a compelling book of history but by selecting a subject like beer, and an internationally respected brand (Guinness), Mr. Yenne virtually assured his publisher a popular best seller. Guinness is approaching its 250th anniversary; few companies in any market can boast of such longevity, successfully project itself in today's global marketplace and most remarkably, preserve so much of its heritage and positive image. Several customers have already provided their comments about this book and I share most of their opinions. The Guinness family, the continuous growth and transformation of the company, the social and political impact of both on Dublin, Ireland, Britain and the brewing industry are all discussed in a flowing, seamless and easy-to-digest narrative. I did find the extensive recounting year by year of barrels, hogsheads, gallons, pints, half-pints, etc. a bit pedantic. However, this was only a minor distraction. The reason that I did not rate this work between four and five stars (which I think the story warranted) is because of the egregious manner in which the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, proofed the content of this book before printing. I found more than two-dozen errors ranging from the wrong verb form ("to incorporated" instead of "to incorporate"; pg. 52), multiple prepositions (" .... applied to brewing science by only in a handful of laboratories ....."; pg. 60) to what seems to be a purely ignorant use of the English language ("Back in Ireland, John married Jane d'Esterre, the widow of a Protestant activist who had been killed in a gentleman's dual with nationalist David O'Connell" pg 31). And, I have to admit, I scanned significant portions of this book so likely missed other errors. Perhaps the proofreader was working with a PowerMac Dual when he checked this work? The final irony is to be found upon turning the opening page of the book and discovering that Wiley appears to proudly display a logo indicating that this book has been published during their bicentennial year. Yep, 1807 to 2007. The theme of this book is the consistent quality of Guinness' product year-on-year, around the world. Wouldn't one expect a publishing house to see grammar quality as Job 1?

As Yenne says in this wonderful book, "Whenever someone asks me to name my favorite beer, I tell them, "The one I have in my hand right now.' But when they ask me what is the GREATEST beer, I have to say 'Guinness'". It's a subtle distinction, but one whose import becomes clear through this amazing tale. For example, what other brand of beer (or brand of *anything* for that matter) can claim a 250 year pedigree, has been a staple of the Royal Army's "critical" supply chain around the globe for centuries, owned it's own railroad AND shipping line, treats malaria as well as the common cold (allegedly, but who's checking?), AND comes from the same family as the Guinness Book of World Records? I knew none of these things before picking up this book (except how much I loved Guinness). Now I know enough to make my trips to the local pub not only gastronomically satisfying, but culturally and intellectually satisfying as well.

This is an excellent story of the development of a business over a period of more than two centuries. It's a fascinating read whether you're interested in the brewing of beer or in adapting a business to changing times and situations. In addition to brewing one of the great beers of the world, Guinness also proved adept at developing markets and distribution systems, marketing their beverages in changing times, adapting products to the realities of markets, and using technology to improve both products and distribution. Brewing was an industry that could achieve economies of scale before the Industrial Revolution. The Guinness family understood that. But they also understood that achieving great scale was worthless if you didn't also develop markets where people could drink your product and distribution systems to get it there. Throughout the history of the firm, Guinness has been willing to adapt products to the need of the market. India Pale Ale, for example, was a hoppier product and one higher in alcohol content than other products so that it would withstand the ocean voyage to India. When lagers became popular, Guinness began producing lagers. The story of Guinness, like the story of every successful and long-lived business is a story of good decisions and bits of good luck. It was a good decision, for example, to make a strong effort to establish Guinness as a brand in the days when the more dominant brands were local bottlers. But luck also kicked in at various times in the company's history. In England in the 19th Century most pubs were "tied" houses, meaning that they were tied to a specific brewery. But since Guinness had no tied houses of its own in England, it could be a "guest" brew at the pubs of many different brewers as well as at the pubs that were not tied to any brewery. The result was wider distribution and brand awareness than could have been achieved through any wise strategic decision. This would be a better book for the business reader if Yenne were a better business writer. He takes the firm's statement that they didn't pay attention to marketing and distribution until the middle of the Twentieth Century at face value. But the book describes a very different reality. The book describes Guinness paying attention to distribution much earlier than other brewers or, indeed, other businesses. We see them paying attention to what we would call their brand as far back as the Eighteenth Century with an intensity that's more like a modern business. In addition to the story of Guinness the company, there are wonderful bits of history here. As you read along you can't help but learn about the relationship between Ireland and England and about the impact of world events on commerce. Want a picture of a different age? You'll find out that when World War I broke out, Guinness not only held the job of every many who went to war, they also paid that man a half salary while he was in service. Want an idea of how the temporary can become permanent? You'll learn that England put in pub closing laws during World War I designed to get workers home early. But those laws remained unchanged until the dawn of the next century. Want a sense of déjà vu? You'll read about how Guinness saw the developing market in the US as a place where rapacious businesses routinely produced shoddy goods and infringed on trademarks, much like what you hear Americans saying about the Chinese today. Want an idea of how far-away events can affect a global business? When the US enacted Prohibition in 1920, the entire, up-till-then-growing US market disappeared along with a big chunk of Guinness' revenue. There are things that could be better. Sometimes the author gets to running down lists of relatives and connections that remind me of all those "begets" in the Bible. When you hit one of these dry passages, skip it and move on. You won't miss anything important. And the author likes to drop technical terms into the story without defining them or telling us why they're important. When discussing the building of a brewery railway, for example he mentions the purchase of a "0-4-0" locomotive. I doubt that many readers know what that is or know that it's a good choice for a tight space. The bottom line, though, is that this is an enjoyable book, whether you read it because you're a beer lover and want to know about some of Guinness' technical innovations, or whether you're a business person learning lessons from a company that's been successful longer than most companies have been around, or whether you just like to see history through a different glass.

Bought as a present and the person who received it is enjoying reading it x

This was a birthday gift for a friend so though I’m not familiar with the content of the book he told me that he’s enjoying it immensely. Sounds perfect for the Guinness enthusiast. 👍😎

excellent

Bought this as a gift so cannot comment as did not read it before wrapping it. cannot say any more.