Saturday night saw Anthony Joshua standing proudly victorious in the ring at the O2 Arena. As the camera followed the boxer, former UFC champ Conor McGregor, on merry form, sidled up and poured a pint of his new beer into AJ’s bloodied, confused face.
That sip was proof that Forged has well and truly launched in the UK. Having previously only been on draught at McGregor’s Dublin pub, the Black Forge Inn, it’s now at Asdas across the country. And, if the Standard’s offices are anything to go by, at your local newspaper too; boxes and boxes of it just keep turning up.
Forged is a stout, one of many that have entered the market lately, owing to Guinness making a killing. Most don’t get near the Black Stuff’s taste, though it’s easy to say this seems the closest imitation to date.
The branding on the beer is all Celtic blacksmiths and hammers and swords. It’s manly manliness of the most manly variety; it’s the beer equivalent of saying “d’you want some?”
But bought in a crate, the logo reads FRGD — which looks a lot like McGregor is saying his beer doesn’t put out.
Opening the can results in an eruption of fizzing. The pour, if slow and gentle, results in a less than ideal head, so the beer requires a rougher approach. Tipping the can upright and pouring like a juvenile is, counterintuitively, the best way to get a decent pint, and unlike that other Irish stout, it doesn’t need long to settle. McGregor was always known for his quick finishes in the ring.
The drink itself is chocolatey, there are significant malty notes and a decent depth of flavour, one which doesn’t overpower. It has a rough-and-ready composition, but your usual pub-dweller could happily drink this on draught if the Guinness was off. In fact, Forged feels as if a qualified beer-maker has gone to considerable effort to produce a craft version of Guinness. Less a pale imitation and more a slightly murky one, it’s not entirely the Black Stuff, bubbling like lager and with its head a dark toffee colour, but the basics are there.
Rough around the edges? Perhaps. Forged is essentially someone sending a slightly blurry fax of a Guinness: pretty accurate at first glance, but on closer inspection, the defining differences show. But even the comparison of Forged with Guinness puts it on a plane closer to the real McCoy, and several ranks above other stouts that have launched of late, but which frankly aren’t as pleasant. And I’d wager only a seasoned pro would be able to tell the two apart in a blind taste test.
Rough, ready and deeply Irish? It could only be McGregor.
