Glasgow's best pint of Guinness: We had the best pint of Guinness from the 'middle tap' in a Glasgow pub unchanged since the 60s

We went down to The Laurieston just after the old 60s style pub was sold to a new owner - and found the best pint of Guinness in Glasgow
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Sitting on Bridge Street in the Gorbals is an unassuming wee pub called The Laurieston - a time capsule of Glaswegian hospitality. The bar has been owned by the Clancy family for 40 years and just changed owners this week. Fear not though, the new operator has promised "the business will continue to operate as it has done". Their motto is "just a pub". We popped in to try a pint of plain and to see what was happening with one of Glasgow's most beloved old-school pubs. Putting our heads through the door at 3pm on a Wednesday, a few old boys lined the Bridge Street side of the bar speaking to each other about the news of the day.

Walking through the doors, past the 'cash only' sign, you're instantly transported back in time - the interior of The Laurieston has barely changed since in sixty years, making it one of the rarest pub interiors in the whole of the UK, rarer than a retained old Victorian pub like the Old Toll Bar according to the Campaign for Real Ale anyway.

Kieran Culkin and Arian Moayed in The Laurieston during filming for HBO’s Succession. Kieran Culkin and Arian Moayed in The Laurieston during filming for HBO’s Succession.
Kieran Culkin and Arian Moayed in The Laurieston during filming for HBO’s Succession.
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The Laurieston on Bridge Street where you can find one of the finest pints of Guinness in Glasgow (Picture: National World)

The Laurieston has been embraced by music fans through the years, stopping by on the way to gigs at the O2 Academy, as well as pilgrims on the Glasgow Sub Crawl. On the weekends you'll find the new generation of Southside hipsters mingling with the older crowd that has been regulars for years.

There was only one particular reason we wanted to go to the Laurieston this week though.

It can be difficult to get a good pint of Guinness in Glasgow at the best of times, with very few pubs in the city consistently pouring a creamy serve like you'd find in Dublin - but The Laurieston know exactly what they're doing when it comes to serving the black stuff.

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The extra cold tap just isn't a thing that appeals to me, so I always tend to go for regular Guinness, but even then it can still be too cold, with few Glasgow pubs having both options.

What many people don't know is The Laurieston has three taps on offer, with many opting to go for the famous 'middle tap' - which of course we had to order ourselves. A pint of Guinness will put you out £4.20, not too bad considering 10 minutes up the road you'll be paying more than £5 for a pint that's half the quality.

The presentation of the pint couldn't be any better, we were served our Guinness in two old vessels that no doubt had their their own storied history.

The pint was just the right temperature, and although the head may look a bit too big for some standards but we're sure this is as good a pint as you'll find anywhere in Glasgow.

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To get a better idea about the secrets of the 'middle tap', we had a chat with the bartender who said: "It's quite straightforward. We've got three taps - there is the standard Guinness tap, the Guinness extra cold and we've got the middle tap.

"The middle tap is quite rare and I think we might be the only pub in Glasgow who do it. So with the standard Guinness tap, the beer goes through the cooler one time and is then served with the extra cold tap going through the cooler twice. With the middle tap it doesn't go through at all so it's just served at cellar temperature.

"Our lines are cleaned once or twice a week with the glasses being hand washed. I actually think that is better as you get glasses instantly, especially when you are really busy.

"The middle tap is very popular with us having Irish lads in on Sunday for St Patrick's Day ordering from the middle tap. I have said to a couple of punters that the middle tap is a big long line that goes all the way to Dublin!"

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So if you are looking for one of the finest pints of Guinness in Glasgow, look no further than The Laurieston - where you might even bump into a celebrities like Franz Ferdinand, Bobby Gillespie, Saoirse Ronan and Ewan MacGregor - who have all visited for pints and pies over the years.

If you haven't got yourself down there yet, what are you waiting for? The Laurieston Bar is at 58 Bridge Street, G5 9HU.

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