Guinness and B-Vitamins

I just read on www.cookingwithamy.com that a Guinness draught is possessive of approximately 10% of your B Vitamins.
I am currently under the impression that drinking alcohol saps your body of B-vitamins, so, even if the Guinness bit is true, would it not be counterproductive, in terms of B-vitamin intake?
I guess I'm asking, is anyone cognizant of whether either statement above is true?

I don't know what percentage alcohol it is, but I believe Guinness is a relatively weak beer.

A

ParkerS wrote:I just read on www.cookingwithamy.com that a Guinness draught is possessive of approximately 10% of your B Vitamins.
I am currently under the impression that drinking alcohol saps your body of B-vitamins, so, even if the Guinness bit is true, would it not be counterproductive, in terms of B-vitamin intake?
I guess I'm asking, is anyone cognizant of whether either statement above is true?

Why would it be counterproductive? If anything, it sounds like Guinness replaces some of the B vitamins it depletes.

Hammond

You are correct; it is approximately 4% by volume, I believe.

DHammond,
Yeah, you are right. I guess my thinking was revolving around the premise that it I found it odd for one to call attention to its possession of B vitamins if in the delivery the body actually vacates the body of said vitamins. Sort of like if some guys came to pave my driveway in a truck that, as they were backing up to leave after finishing the job, took the top layer of the new pavement right off.
But i suppose it's just two different ways of looking at it.

Well, I don't know the specifics, but a good friend of mine swears he doesn't get a hangover if he drinks only Guinness. Could be the B-vitamins, could be the lower amount of alcohol.

You know, I've always been puzzled by contradictory reports of Guinness's alcohol content, and by my own varying states of sobriety after consuming comparable amounts of said beverage. As it turns out, different brews of Guinness have different alcohol contents, if we're to believe the Beer Advocate--and who wouldn't?

The regular old-fashioned stalwart is indeed at 4.2%, but some of the other bottled versions creep near 8%. The Extra Stout, which I believe is fairly common, comes in at a 6%.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/index/ ... /guinness/

Cheers,

Aaron

Interesting. In addition, this may interest some of you. In speaking with Mike Roper, owner of the Hopleaf, one day, he informed me that there are currently 19 different recipes used by Guinness in their draught, and each is brewed according to the tastes of the region in which it is consumed. For instance (this is just a fictional example, for I know not of the real, palate-related differences), North American Guinness may be slightly sweeter, geared toward the American palate (again, I'm just guessing), than, say, that sold to Brazil.
Further to this, all the Guinness draught we drink in this country is brewed in Jamaica. (all bottled and canned products still come from Ireland, I believe.)

ParkerS wrote:Interesting. In addition, this may interest some of you. In speaking with Mike Roper, owner of the Hopleaf, one day, he informed me that there are currently 19 different recipes used by Guinness in their draught, and each is brewed according to the tastes of the region in which it is consumed. For instance (this is just a fictional example, for I know not of the real, palate-related differences), North American Guinness may be slightly sweeter, geared toward the American palate (again, I'm just guessing), than, say, that sold to Brazil.
Further to this, all the Guinness draught we drink in this country is brewed in Jamaica. (all bottled and canned products still come from Ireland, I believe.)

Apparently it's even more complex than that. You can read a tiny bit about it here. I was looking for more info, but I don't have the time to devote to full-on research at the moment.

The odd part is that I was recently at one of the Guinness marketing blitzes aimed at my age group. (It was held in ESPNZone, featured young & attractive hosts, music, vintage Guinness ads, and all the beer you could want, of course.) And no mention was made of it being bottled anywhere aside from St. James. Of course, discussing the outsourcing of brewing/bottling isn't good marketing if you're trying to market your brand as being genuine and authentically Irish, I'd suppose.

Guiness extra stout is popular in Jamaica, and apparently historically throughout the Carribean. It was popular in Cuba 40 years ago, according to my in-laws. Tastes a lot like malta, actually, the cheap meal substitute beverage introduced by German brewers in the early part of the 20th Century.

The extra stout in the small bottles is, as the name suggests, strong stuff. Bitter and alcoholic compared to the draft from kegs, bottles or cans. More like an imperial stout than the milkshake like taste of draft. This, I have always assumed, goes back to a time when spoliation was a problem in exporting dark beers like Guiness. I like both. I am an avid Guiness drinker, and can anecdotally confirm that it is less likely to leave you hurting the next day.

I also have heard that the draft is naturally low (comparatively) in calories and carbs in addition to having low alcohol content. I assumed that they don't stress any of the above because Guiness has a machismo marketing approach and these attributes are counterintuitive, given the drink's appearance, texture and taste.

JeffB wrote:I also have heard that the draft is naturally low (comparatively) in calories and carbs in addition to having low alcohol content. I assumed that they don't stress any of the above because Guiness has a machismo marketing approach and these attributes are counterintuitive, given the drink's appearance, texture and taste.

At the aforementioned promo they went to great lengths to stress that Guinness Draft has the same density of calories as skim milk. (Even making it a question on the brief "quiz" that you had to fill out, to enter the drawing.)

So, I'd guess at least that bit has changed. It was well worth it for them to mention it, if they were trying to convey that. Most people were under the impression that Guinness was incredibly high in calories.