Arthur in Africa

The Nigerian version of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is a beer I had been looking for, casually, for some time. When I'm in Britain I check cornershops and minimarkets in search of it. The quest finally ended in an oriental supermarket in The Hague.

This edition differs from Irish Foreign Extra by being based on sorghum rather than barley. The crop is indigenous to Nigeria and brewers are encouraged by the government to make use of it. The story goes, and I'm open to correction on this, the pale sorghum beer is brewed and then added to a Guinness essence produced in Dublin, containing the roasted barley and sour cultures that give the beer its colour and Guinnessy flavour profile. With that in mind I wasn't expecting anything radically different to what I'm used to.

And while it's not radical, it is definitely different. The sticky, treacle character of the Irish version is replaced by a dried flowers effect: pot pourri, with a little woody cinnamon and clove. It's quite harsh in its dry roastiness, lacking the balancing richness. A metallic hop kick doubles down on this, though there's not much of a lactic tang.

Overall, this is quite a tough beer to enjoy. For me, the domestic version still beats both this and the Jamaican one.