What It Means To 'Split The G' When Drinking A Guinness

These days, you can sip an iconic Guinness out of a can. But if you've ever indulged in a pint, then you know it always comes in the traditional Guinness glass with that perfect amount of foam resting nicely on top. Guinness is a stout which originated in Ireland back in 1759 (though there are two U.S. breweries in production today). The beer has pretty much become synonymous with Dublin — mostly because its founder, Arthur Guinness, signed a 9,000-year lease on land for his brewery, St. James's Gate Brewery, right in the nation's capital city more than 250 years ago. 

Depending on where you're drinking, you might hear someone ask if you plan to "split the G" just before you take that first sip. In other words, drink the beer nonstop until it lines up with the middle part of the "G" on the Guinness glass. For most people, this is several pretty big gulps.

We recently had a chance to talk to Guinness Brewery Ambassador Colm O'Connor as he gears up for the 25th anniversary of the Guinness Storehouse (be sure to check out the many events Guinness is putting together to celebrate). During our conversation, the topic turned to the G-splitting phenomenon. "This is not a Guinness Initiative," O'Connor told Chowhound. Rather, it's more of a trend that's grown in popularity in recent years. O'Connor cautioned everyone to drink Guinness responsibly. "That's a lot of beer to split the G, to be honest with you."

O'Connor said that splitting the G has become a big part of enjoying a Guinness among tourists in Dublin. "It's something that I imagine would've been dreamt up by somebody on TikTok," he said. "It's come to such an extent that I'm actually meeting people in the Gravity Bar in Guinness with split the G T-shirts." The Gravity Bar is the bar that sits atop St. James's Gate Brewery, a place people usually stop by for a pint after a tour of the Guinness Storehouse.

While O'Connor doesn't condone the multiple gulps it takes to split the G, he does say there's "a lot to be said for drinking past the white and into the dark." Just like there's a right way to pour a Guinness, there's also a right way to drink one. "When you're taking a big gulp, it has to be the white mustache from the head on your upper lip, and then all of the good stuff, the dark body of the beer goes down below."