I haven't heard a lot about the DRAUGHT (Guinness) in terms of its taste. But my brother insists to say that DRAUGHT is the queen of the Guinness.
But I found nothing special, indeed, I find it rather too watered down.
It is worth the hype or just a fad?
The beer called Guinness draft in Ireland would be called Guinness On Tap in locations such as New York.
The reason for the emphasis on draft versus in bottle is quality and taste.
In my experience over recent decades, people pay extra for the most popular bottled beers in the US and in my opinion this is because of the guaranteed quality of bottled. Depending on the bar, the draft (tap) beer can vary from OK to well, stale, or watery, or even unhealthy in some disreputable cases.
The bottle is much more tamper-proof. So for this reason people will pay a couple of dollars more per drink for the same volume, of the same brand.
Having said that, your large volume commercial US (and European) beers are mostly lagers, pilsners and the like. For these kinds of beer, the difference between bottled and high quality draft in a good bar, is small.
But Guinness stout is a very specific kind of brew. As a variant of porter, it provides a very different experience from the bottle versus on draft. It is very rare to see anyone in Ireland drink bottled Guinness (or any other brand of stout) in their local pub. Compared to draft, the bottled tastes bitter, is gassy and does not keep the creamy head to anything like the same extent as well served draft. In contrast, a good pint of draft stout is creamy, the maltiness well balanced with hops. Try a taste comparison and you will see for yourself.
But have it in a reputable pub in Ireland. There the supply chain is quality assured and the bartender is well drilled in the pour, which is also unique to draft stout.
Guinness Draft is an Irish Dry Stout, a session beer, with alcohol by volume at 4.2%. It is intended that you can sit and drink several pints without becoming overly intoxicated. Compare that with Bud Light, which is 4.3%. Guinness has much more flavor than Bud Light, or any other similar American Light Lager beers.
If you compare it with Guinness Extra Stout (5.6% abv) or Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (7.5% abv) or any Russian Imperial Stout like Victory Storm King (9.1%) or Stone RIS (10.6% abv), then, yes, it will taste "watered down" by comparison. But you would be comparing apples with watermelons.
