GUINNESS is launching two new products to appeal to younger drinkers. A stout that is a couple of degrees cooler than the conventional Guinness is being tested in between 60 and 70 outlets, a Guinness spokesman said yesterday.
The "cold flow" Guinness is intended to attract younger consumers whose first drink is usually lager.
Guinness is also trying to counter the drift from stout to lager among its traditional customers during warm weather.
The "cold flow" Guinness will offer them a cooler drink while staying with Guinness. The spokesman said the new product will be cooler but definitely not lighter than the conventional stout.
Guinness, which has 88 per cent of the stout market, says it now sees its stout as competing with all "long beverages" such as lager, and not just other stouts.
Murphys, Guinness's main competitor in the stout market, said recently it is to spend £5 million as part of a campaign to double its share of the Irish market.
Guinness is also to launch a cider shortly - the first in its history - though the spokesman refused to confirm this.
Guinness sells a cider product, Cashels, in some of its pubs in Europe but it has never marketed a cider in Ireland.
The new cider will be brewed in the UK.