Guinness drinkers. The natural enemy to untrained bar staff and passionate defenders of pub free speech, mainly: "That's not right, I'm taking it back."

An interesting club by all accounts of which I hold full membership. I am, regrettably, a Guinness snob (GS).

The cost of living crisis has seen pubs across the UK forced to increase the price of their pints significantly, which has had a crippling effect on the industry itself and the pockets of patrons.

According to new research, the average cost of a pint of Guinness has risen by 8% in pubs across the UK over the past year.

The findings, conducted by UK Debt Expert, showed a current average price is £4.48, an increase from the £4.15 that people were paying this time last year.

The most expensive place for a pint of Guinness is London where drinkers can expect to pay an average of £5.73 for a pint – an 8% increase on last year, and 50% more expensive than the country’s cheapest pint of Guinness found in Bolton where drinkers can pay just £3.83.

So where does that leave us GS's? I'm sure you can guess, ready to boot off. We love nothing more than to whinge.

A newly found obsession with Guinness among the over-25s brought a fresh hatred for premium lagers such as Carling, Coors, Fosters etc. According to legend, a Guinness drinker cannot enjoy a night in the pub unless they have whispered: "I wouldn't drink that s***e" at least twice.

It's a bizarre type of snobbery and one I am guilty of.

But among the many, many gripes that Guinness drinkers have, service is above all. The method is sacrosanct. 

Temperature, how it's poured, how long you leave it to settle, even to the point of complaining where the liquid hits the glass. The pursuit of the 'perfect' Guinness is never-ending and bar staff must - quite rightly - hate us for it.

I consider myself lucky I'm not this bad, yet, but at the very least letting it settle is the hill I will die on. A straight-poured Guinness is quite frankly an abomination, sue me.

So amid all this flotsam and jetsam (price and pedanticism), how can we make it better? How can we all be friends?

Guinness Nitrosurge 

The Guinness Nitrosurge is a relatively new product that allows the drinker to adhere to their own bl***y rules and pour the drink themselves.

According to the brewery, it "delivers the satisfyingly smooth Guinness you enjoy, at home".

If it works, a win for all I'm sure you'll agree.

In-store, you can buy the individual device for around £25-30. Amazon also sells them. Luckily, I was gifted this from Mark at Praytell, thanks Mark!

In the past, drinking Guinness at home had its ups and downs. Yes, it's cheaper, but you don't quite get that refreshing hit of Irish champagne.

Disclaimer. All Guinness glasses you are about to see have 1000% been bought online. Honest.

There is a tried and tested method of pouring a Guinness from the can at home:

Halstead Gazette: Pouring a normal can Pouring a normal can (Image: Newsquest)

Open the can, place it vertically in the glass and leave for about 30 seconds. Then slowly pull the can up and leave again for a moment. 

And voila. A perfectly fine pint-ish of Guinness.

Up until recently - and bar building a pub in the garden - this was largely accepted as the only way to enjoy the black custard at home.

Speaking of the pub, here is a pint in my local (Fox & Grapes):

Halstead Gazette: Look at thatLook at that (Image: Newsquest)

Can the Guinness Nitrosurge hold a candle to that? Well as it turns out, yes, quite well.

"Guinness NITROSURGE has been explicitly designed for Guinness NITROSURGE cans and should not be used with other drinks."

These specially made cans are 558ml and sold in most stores for around £7.50. I bought mine from Tesco which as far as I can tell only sells four packs, you'll have to buy individually or look online for a bulk deal.

First, put all the cans in the fridge until they are chilled otherwise the temperature will impact the pour.

Then, you say: "Alexa, play The Foggy Dew" and get down on your knees and start praying towards Dublin.

After the hour has passed, your cans should be ready.

The device is incredibly simple to use and extremely therapeutic. You'll kid yourself into thinking you're an actual bartender when you couldn't be further from it.

Halstead Gazette: Go on, slate meGo on, slate me (Image: Newsquest)

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Instructions come with the Nitrosurge so you really can't mess it up (you probably could).

The only thing I'll hasten to add is always remember to press the button on the back, the magic button that does all the work.

After I poured, I stared back and marvelled at my work. A shoddy attempt by all means.

I now have a newfound respect for bar staff. My humble apologies, it's tougher than it looks.

A little bit 'crumpety' on the side, but it tasted better than I could have expected and certainly better than the 'tried and tested' method.

The only downside is the wastage. I couldn't quite believe how much is left in the can after you've poured a pint.

My overall impressions? A very impressed Guinness snob.