Happy St. Patrick's Day

I got started early.

It's officially on Thursday but the weekend before usually gets the beer flowing and pints tipping.  If you are interested in my connection with St. Patrick's Day please check out my earlier post.

You don't need to be praising a Saint to enjoy a good pint of Guinness.  But praying and drinking can go together at times. 

Sláinte

tea party with beer

Above picture is from another interesting set of pictures on the Chicago Tribune site. Guinness will celebrate 250 years in production this year. A couple of quick facts:  

• 10 Million GUINNESS® glasses are enjoyed every day. 
• GUINNESS® stout, beer, or draught is sold in over 150 countries around the world.

The best place for a pint is in Ireland but I'm lucking that many places in Chicagoland pull a good pint too.

Some news on Guinness from Ireland - sales of Guinness within Ireland increased by 2 per cent between July and the end of December 2008. One in three pints sold in Ireland over the Christmas period was Guinness. The managing director, John Kennedy, believes the recession will bring drinkers, their local pubs and Guinness closer together.

So a pint of Guinness is holding value better than housing or most stocks. Speaking of stocks, Guinness is one of many popular brands ( Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Baileys, J&B, José Cuervo, Tanqueray, to name a few ) owned by the huge British company Diageo. Their NYSE symbol is DEO. Maybe owning some of their shares would make their drinks taste even better.

Well if that Chicago Tea Party actually happens (see my last post below) I sure hope they bring some Guinness to the party.