Hanxter

Irish Times/by Jim Dee
Sunday, August 10, 2003

DUBLIN, Ireland - Nigerian-born Andrew Komalafe is a happy man. He's just learned that Dublin's Guinness brewery is now producing the famed black brew the way he likes it - Nigerian style.

"It's like the one I used to drink back home,'' a smiling Komalafe said between sips of a bottle of Guinness Foreign Extra. "I love it. It's the real thing. Guinness is good for the blood, and it makes you very, very healthy,'' Komalafe insisted. "We all drink it in my family.''

Dublin's St. James Gate brewery may be Guinness' most famous, but the stout also is made in 47 other countries - from Africa to the Caribbean to Asia. Guinness from Nigeria's Ikeja brewery is 7.5 percent alcohol by volume, compared with 4.5 percent in Ireland. Nigeria is Guinness' third-largest market, trailing only Ireland and Britain.

Guinness spokesman Ruairi Twomey, 30, said the stronger brews have their origins in Guinness' 18th century shipping practices, when the stout began to be sent around the world. "Basically, in order to travel, the product was casked in oak barrels. So the alcohol had to be strengthened so it would survive the journey,'' Twomey said.

Ireland's recent Celtic Tiger economic boom brought an unprecedented influx of immigrants, including at least 9,000 Nigerians.

Twomey said that new "consumer landscape'' prompted Guinness to consult with local Nigerian community leaders, so its Dublin brewery could please "the Nigerian palate.'' But he said Nigerian-style stout remains a "niche brand'' in Ireland that isn't likely to replace the local brew favored the Irish.

Olla Iginla is another Nigerian pleased about Nigerian-style Guinness being brewed in Dublin. He said that when he moved here in 1997 and sipped his first local Guinness, "I was so disappointed. It was very watery.'' Iginla said many Nigerians who visit home regularly bring back bottles of Nigerian-strength Guinness to Dublin, and even sneak it into pubs on nights out.

"They'd hide bottles under the table, and fill up their glasses,'' he said.

But, he added, the new Dublin-brewed Nigerian-style Guinness "is just as good as the one they put under the table. So there's no need to do that anymore. There's no difference to the one in Nigeria.''

Echoing Komalafe's claims of Guinness' health benefits, Iginla said that when his mother was about to give birth to him, she drank three Guinnesses. "Because I was so stubborn that she had to use that to get more energy to push me out. Guinness gives you strength, gives you power,'' he said.

And, he added with a broad smile, Nigerian Guinness is a great aphrodisiac.

"When you have a few bottles, you just go straight to meet any girl, and - my God - she'll have to push you away,'' Iginla said. "It's liquid Viagra.''

LINKAGE

Buzz

So have you tried this stuff??

__________________
The Only BEER is a Cold BEER.

And a Single Malt will get ya every time.

lemurlad

It's a myth like all the rest. Just the other night, I ate a dozen oysters ... only 7 of them worked!