Four Brewers: Craft Beer and Homebrew · John Holzer, Greg Nagel, Joe Senigaglia, Jason Harris

371: Guinness!

·53 min·3 clips

Guinness NA is described as close enough that the hosts would still drink it after a few pints.

The Four Brewers table starts with the usual name nonsense and the kind of crosstalk that makes everyone talk over everyone else. Jon Holzer, Jason Harris, Greg Nagel, and Joseph O. Senagalia get into Irish-name jokes before the beers even hit the table. The real subject is Guinness. The lineup includes Guinness Draught Stout, Guinness NA, Guinness Extra Stout, and the Fonio Stout collaboration with Brooklyn Brewing. That Brooklyn beer is what pushed the whole show into motion. The gang notes that the timing is basically a St. Patrick’s Day warm-up. They even bicker over the date, which feels completely on brand. The conversation quickly settles into the question that matters: what is the difference between Draught and Extra Stout? The panel treats them like separate beers, not a branding footnote. The Guinness NA gets a fair hearing. It is called a good beer, even if it is also less fun than the real thing. That tradeoff matters, and the room says so without trying to dress it up. They also talk about how non-alcoholic beer can still get you carded at the store. Guinness prints serving facts on the cans, which the panel notices because apparently adults do read labels when they want to. The NA can sits around 60 calories, and the regular Guinness carries the usual beer math too. There is a bit of confusion about the can because it does not scream beer or stout the way people expect. That confusion turns into another excuse to keep talking. At one point the room leans toward preferring Extra Stout over regular Guinness. They immediately sound ready to contradict themselves once the glasses are open, which is also part of the fun. The whole thing moves fast, gets sidetracked, and keeps coming back to drinkability instead of ceremony.

As heard by us

A loose Guinness tasting that turns labels, laws, and side by side pours into the real story.

Guinness is the hook, but the episode works best when it keeps its focus on the beer itself. Draught, NA, Extra Stout, and the Fonio Stout collaboration get compared in plain, drink-first language, and that keeps the discussion grounded.

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Why you'd press play

If you want Guinness compared straight up, this is the hang you put on.

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