How the ‘Guinness effect’ is brewing success for other stouts and porters

Last year, London Black, a nitro porter beer from independent craft brewer Anspach & Hobday in South London, was named the UK’s No 1 beer in the Top 50 UK Beer Awards, unseating 2024’s winner, Deya Steady Rolling Man pale ale. The judges were explicit about the context of its win, stating: “The resurgence of stout and the popularity of Guinness have no doubt helped to drive its success.” The legendary Irish brand has one of the most seductive marketing histories in modern drinks. From 1920s doctor-approved illustrated ads with the slogan “Guinness is good for you” to the 1999 black-and-white “Surfer” – often cited as one of the greatest adverts of all time – Guinness has long pursued broad cultural resonance rather than narrow audiences. Most recently, its allure has been amplified by the Netflix series House of Guinness and TikTok trends drawing in younger drinkers. Now other nitro-served dark beers – or nitros, in beer-speak – are growing in popularity. Call it the “Guinness effect”. The UK’s biggest-selling beer, Guinness continues to grow, so quickly that it has even triggered periodic shortages, forcing some pubs to ration supplies. Lee Hammerton, director of Hammerton Brewery in London, points to two reasons beer drinkers are turning to stout. The first is Instagrammability. Darker beers and a thick creamy head, he says, “look great on a table in a pub, which can entice others to buy one”. The second is value. Stout’s weight and richness signal substance for the price. “For a generation that is mindful of spending,” Hammerton says, “a pint of stout can feel more premium than a standard lager.” The production of nitro stout and porter has surged among small independent breweries, bringing with it renewed confidence and ambition for darker beers long overshadowed by pale ale. Greg Wells, co-founder of the London Craft Beer Festival, says the success of London Black is proof of that shift. The Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey, London made 34 per cent more dark beer in 2025 than in 2024, says its founder, Evin O’Riordain. Although the operator focuses on old London recipes – such as a 7.5 per cent ABV export stout similar to the original Guinness recipe – most of the production increase has been attributable to its nitro stout. “Not an old recipe,” O’Riordain says. “Nitro stout is quite an obvious evolution of the way we look at dark beers.” Hammerton says that though his brewery has always focused on stouts, the category has experienced clear growth in the past four to five years. A London nitro stout called Tint (4.3 per cent ABV) has seen the largest bump, but stout growth has happened across the board, with “experimental, flavour-forward stouts” such as the flagship beer Crunch – a 5.3 per cent peanut butter milk stout loved by stout fanatics – performing well at off-licences and beer shops. As for Irish stout, Guinness is not the only one having a revival. O’Riordain recalls seeing Murphy’s, Guinness and Beamish poured side by side at the Dog & Bell in Deptford, London during the pub’s stout-and-oyster festival, a striking contrast to the Ireland he grew up in, where pubs were once firmly divided along stout lines. Murphy’s, now owned by Heineken, recorded a 666 per cent surge in the UK in the past year, and last March, Beamish reported that its sales had doubled. Matthew Curtis, editor-in-chief of the drinks publication Pellicle Magazine, sees stout’s renewed popularity as contingent rather than conclusive, with beer trends often moving in cycles. “I think stout’s current resurgence in the UK is encouraging,” he says, “but it’s very much that – a resurgence, rather than something entirely new.” Curtis points to the 1990s as a cautionary parallel, when Mitchells & Butlers invested heavily in its O’Neill’s Irish Pub chain – which peaked at around 250 sites in 1997, before contracting sharply to just 49 today – underscoring how quickly enthusiasm-driven expansions can reverse. “I don’t think it’s a short-term spike, and will continue for years, not months,” he says. But it is cyclical. “I think Guinness as a brand will continue to dominate, others like Murphy’s and Beamish less so.” Hammerton suggests there is already evidence to prove Guinness’ staying power. Although the rise of young, social-media-influenced stout drinkers has paved the way for publicans to consider stocking independent producers, he notes, “Guinness does have an extremely large stronghold of taps in the UK, so it is extremely difficult to secure tap space.” At the Compton Arms in Islington, London, landlord Nick Stephens suggests the economic realities of running a pub make it hard to replace its featured product. “You can’t gamble with something like that at the moment,” he says. “I’m a great believer in pub pioneering, but if I know I’m going to sell 13 kegs of Guinness, I’m going to put it on.” Guinness accounts for 70 per cent of the Compton Arms’ draught sales. Guinness’ commercial advantage remains underwritten by vast marketing budgets, unrivalled distribution and deep cultural staying power. That was on display in December, when the brand opened the £73 million (US$98 million) Open Gate Brewery on the historic site of Old Brewer’s Yard in London’s Covent Garden, inaugurated by King Charles. But the rise of Guinness has undeniably popularised nitro stout and pulled dark beer back into the mainstream. As O’Riordain puts it, “to a certain person, it’s made drinking a dark beer more normal”. How far these other stouts go, though, remains to be seen. As seasoned Guinness drinkers know from the 1994 advertisement “Chain”, pure genius is a tough act to follow.

How the ‘Guinness effect’ is brewing success for other stouts and porters

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Guinness continues to grow in popularity, boosted by TikTok and Netflix’s House of Guinness. Now other dark beers are riding on its success

Guinness continues to grow in popularity, boosted by TikTok and Netflix’s House of Guinness. Now other dark beers are riding on its success