The debate dividing Guinness drinkers: Do you split the G?

Depending on what side of the social media algorithm you’re on, maybe you’ve seen celebrities and even your friends “splitting the G.”

For newcomers to the social media trend, “splitting the G” entails drinking Guinness out of a branded pint glass in an attempt to imbibe enough of the famed stout on your first gulps to make the bottom of the foam align perfectly with the middle of the “G” on the glass.

The trend, which started gaining traction online in 2022 and has been boosted by stars like Ed Sheeran, Niall Horan and Dua Lipa, is now commonplace at Claddagh Pub in Baltimore. Bartender Kevin Bradley said close to 100 people are partaking in this trend over the course of a normal week at the family-owned pub in Canton Square.

Bradley, who’s not on social media, didn’t know about the trend until he saw it in action.

“It’s a fresh Guinness, and two people — or however many are playing — take their first sip,” the bartender said. “Whoever gets the top of the head of the beer in the middle of the G wins. Usually, the winner gets a shot bought for them.”

While the trend is slightly new to Bradley, CookHouse server Lauren Baracco said she’s been splitting the G for over five years, long before it became a viral phenomenon. Her first attempt took place, of course, at Claddagh. The Maryland native said her love of Guinness started with a cocktail — a shot of Irish whiskey and cream dropped into the beer — and then evolved into just drinking the Irish beer while watching her favorite soccer team, Manchester City, play on TV.

“I can’t remember exactly who started [splitting the G], but it became like a competition. A fun little friendly thing to do [with friends] during halftime,” Baracco said.

Baltimore is no stranger when it comes to drinking Guinness. After all, the company’s manufacturing plant in Maryland, which opened in 2018 and closed in 2023, was “the first Guinness brewing operation on U.S. soil in more than 60 years,” according to Guinness parent company Diageo. (The restaurant and taproom at Guinness Open Gate Brewery at 5001 Washington Blvd. in Halethorpe remains open.)

Carder House, a bartender at Mama Koko’s who moved to the city from Seattle last year, said, “Baltimore drinks way more Guinness than anywhere else I’ve ever seen.”

It certainly feels that way with even non-Irish pubs and dive bars like Mount Royal Tavern serving Guinness on tap. The beer is even on tap at CookHouse, where Baracco works.

“We definitely drink Guinness at least once or twice a week,” Baracco said of the Bolton Hill restaurant’s staff. “We all split the Gs together. Sometimes it’s for money, and sometimes it’s for bragging rights.”

At critically acclaimed establishments like The Wren, an Irish pub in Fells Point, pouring a Guinness looks like an art form from bar manager Adam Estes. Patrons there, though, won’t find branded pint glasses to split the G, but more so because of stylistic choices by co-owners Will Mester, Rosemary Liss and Millie Powell.

“We just don’t like how [the new Guinness logo pint glasses] look,” Powell said. “That’s why we prefer to use the older style [without the logo].”

Powell, an immigrant from Ireland who moved to the U.S. in 2023, jokes that she’s a curmudgeon when it comes to the trend. It’s “literally not an Irish tradition,” she said, though she and her Irish compatriots played Guinness drinking games in a somewhat similar fashion in her youth.

“It’s a drink that divides opinion,” Powell said. “That’s the same when it comes to drinking it: Do you split the G, or do you just enjoy your pint?”

And while social trends ebb and flow, Baracco said she isn’t stopping her participation in the trend anytime soon. With four taps of Guinness available at Claddagh across its multilevel building and outdoor patio, be prepared to see lots of people celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and partaking in this drinking game.

“If there’s a G on the glass,” Baracco said, “it literally feels wrong if I don’t split the G.”

This post has been updated.