English Jon, Re the politics of stout (London porter?), i.e., the irony of the "strongly Loyalist Guinness family" marketing the iconic Irish black brew (you ducked, but no one fired! it's th' Peace Process, I'm tellin' ye): *what about Murphy's*? I prefer it annyway (now maybe *I* better duck); and I used to justify my oddball taste by associating the stuff with Rebel Cork. ("When ye go to Cork you get druisheen, and Murphy's Stout and pig's cruibheens; here's up them all, says the boys of Fair Hill", and all that sort of rot, eh wot? And indeed, on visits to Ireland I observed that the abundance of Murphy's signs seemed proportional to one's proximity to Cork City. BUT --- right here on me widgeted "Genuine Pub Draft" Murphy's can (bedamn, it's empty, how'd that happen?)it sez as bold as ye please: "Product of U.K. Brewed under supervision of Murphy Brewery Ireland Ltd. by Whitbread Beer Company, United Kingdom." Hmmph. Supervision?? Rubbish. Wot's the story, Jon? Does Mother England make *all* the Irish stout? What about Beamish? That one claims to be "Brewed Only in County Cork". Yeah but I don't like it! (Well--as you said--in an emergency...)(loosely defined...) Rule Britannia, -Joe in Connecticut