This anniversary bottle of Guinness was one of the beers that came from the cache I nicked from my parents’ place – that petty theft spawned the Old Beers I Swiped series.

At the time, I did get a little bit excited when I saw this bottle. Partially because it was a very unique check-in on unTappd (this was back when I still cared about such things). And partially because I figured a 250th anniversary beer should be something special, right? It should also be something that would the test of time, right?

Wrong. On both counts.

The milestone the beer celebrates is 250 years since Sir Arthur Guinness signed the lease on St James’ Gate in Dublin, where the brewery began back in 1759. Yep, it celebrates, not the first beer he brewed, but a real estate transaction. How terribly dull.

The 250th anniversary would have been in 2009, which is when this beer would have come out. There’s a best-before on the label of February 14, 2010, which we have well and truly passed. And it shows. There are some faint hints of caramel on the nose and the taste reminds me of sultanas and dust, with an unpleasant thinness at the back.

Really, I expected much better than this for a 250th anniversary beer. Even one that celebrates a lease-signing.

I’m confused, what was all this about?: We’re having the fam over for Christmas this year and we need my beer fridge to store all the food we’ll need. Between now and then, I’m going to focus on making my drinking selections from the fridge so when it comes time to empty the fridge, there’s not as much stuff to take out.