This is the short list of stouts and dark things I actually reorder in Dublin, as opposed to just Instagram once and forget. Think of it as my personal watchlist: a mix of canonical episodes (Guinness in all its forms) and a few spin‑offs that quietly review higher than you’d guess if you ever went down a ratings-data rabbit hole. I’m not chasing whales here; these are the beers that survive a full season of wet Tuesday evenings and overlong Netflix queues.
The pilot episode of Irish stout: you come back to it to remember what the whole genre is trying to do. Creamy, low-key, and dangerously easy to turn into a four‑pint data point before you notice.
Porterhouse bar with too many taps and not enough seats
Does exactly what it says in the title card: plain in the best way. Soft roast, gentle chocolate, and the sort of balance that makes you suddenly realise it’s your third glass and you’ve taken no notes.
Craft‑leaning pub or can from a decent off‑licence
Feels like a comfort rewatch: familiar coffee-and-caramel beats, but with enough roast to stop it turning into dessert. Light enough to session, complex enough that I still overthink it.
Reads like a gimmick on paper—coconut porter!—but drinks like a well-edited cut. The coconut sits in the background, more supporting character than main star, which is exactly how I like it.
Essentially the ‘working from home’ episode in liquid form: coffee, chocolate, and enough booze to make you question your life choices if you start before the watershed. Rich but not cloying.
TheLysts
