GUINNESS is now in a "glass of its own" but for many punters it's a case of "if it's not broken, don't fix it".
Drinkers of the black stuff have turned their noses up at the new-shaped glass launched by Diageo for its best-selling stout.
The new glass, which follows the trend for specially-designed, branded glasses among its competitors, was launched in August.
The company that came up with the new design, jkr, was also behind the packaging for other well-known brands including Hovis bread, Alpen, Ambrosia rice, Bassetts Allsorts and Bewleys Tea.
Using icons associated with the brand, the new glass is embossed with curves inspired by the harp logo associated with Guinness. However, in one popular public house, the new glasses have already been consigned to the bin.
Eugene O'Sullivan is the tourism officer with the Kerry branch of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) and owns and runs the popular Thatch Bar in Lisselton in north Kerry.
When asked how the new glass was going down with his regulars, Mr O'Sullivan responded: "They've been dumped in the bin already.
"I could safely say that around 99pc of my customers prefer the old glasses and when we introduced the new ones I kept on hearing 'do you have any old glasses?'
"And it wasn't only the older customers that were complaining. We also heard it from younger drinkers you'd expect to be more open to change."
Guinness drinkers at Molloy's pub in Dublin city centre also gave the thumbs down to the new glasses.
Senior barman Gareth Banks said the pub owners kept only about a dozen of the new glasses, after giving away the bulk of them to tourists as souvenirs. He personally doesn't like the glasses because the harp logo that is embossed on the inside of the glass makes bubbles when the pint is poured, he said.
Veteran Guinness drinker Martin Cunningham, (62), agreed that the foam head doesn't form properly in the new glasses."It just doesn't feel feckin right," he said.
But fellow imbiber Benny Savage said he doesn't really mind what glass it's served in. "Once there's Guinness in them, that's all that matters," he said.
One of the first people to drink out of a new Guinness glass was US President Barrack Obama when he called in for a pint to Ollie Hayes' pub in Moneygall last May. He didn't have any complaints.
A spokesperson for Diageo said it had not received any complaints about the new glasses and that the response to them had been positive.
