The Guinness Shamrock

I've downed many a Guinness in my time.  Always served best draught in a pub, I've always wondered about the shamrock that appears on the head of some pints I have ordered.

During my recent trip into Hong Kong to have my eye gouged out, I convalesced in the local Irish pub with a pint of Kilkenny (figured the Guinness would be too strong for the eye at that time).  I bellied up to the bar, which I usually don't do because I have the family with me.  So, I had the treat of chatting with the bartender a little and watching what they do behind the bar. 

In GZ at the local pub, sometimes we are treated to a small shamrock in the head of the pint.  Cute...and a decent selling point to a moronic foreigner like me.  I always thought it was done with a mold...you know...a sort of cookie cutter thing that they just set on top of the pint prior to serving it.  Well, how wrong could one be!  As I sat at the bar, I watched as the tender drew the three leaved clover into the head with the final pour (by moving the glass in the shape of the clover as the beer poured).  Damn...and I thought I new everything there was to know about serving a pint of Guinness

After a little research, I find that the practice is somewhat well known...and not particularly loved by the people that love Guinness the most.  Because, quite frankly, the logo for Guinness is a harp and not a shamrock.  But, its a bit more difficult to draw a harp than a clover leaf.

Comments

[irsocal]

Yeah, that's what I thought too, thanks for clearing it up - cheers!