Get ready for five important words: At the time of writing. I discovered in the local Morrison’s a batch of Nigerian Guinness and from previous experience this will sell fast, so get your drinking boots on and rush to buy some.

The beer is one of many versions of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (7.5 per cent) and it has a fascinating history. In the 19th century Guinness in Dublin brewed a special version of its stout called West Indies Porter, which was sent to Irish people working on the sugar plantations in the Caribbean.

This was the forerunner of what became Foreign Extra Stout, FES for short. In the 1950s Guinness attacked the African market with breweries in Ghana and Nigeria. The scale of the operation can be seen in Nigeria, where the brewery cost £2 million and has an annual capacity of 150,000 barrels.

Today FES is one of the biggest beer brands in Africa – Guinness claims it’s the biggest of all – and the company has plants in 12 countries.

As barley doesn’t grow in many parts of Africa, the breweries there produce a beer made with sorghum – a type of millet – and maize. In Dublin, the main Guinness plant brews the strong stout and then dehydrates it, sending cans of syrup to the breweries in Africa where the syrup is blended with the sorghum and maize beer.

The Dublin base beer is brewed with pale malt, flaked barley (similar to pearl barley to create a good head on the beer) and 10 per cent roasted barley. The hops are Galena, Nugget and Target. The beer is injected with a lactic yeast culture that gives it a slightly musty aroma that brewers call “horse blanket”.

The FES brewed in Dublin is complex, with bitter roasted grain, a woody and vinous note and spicy hop resins on the aroma. The palate is bitter from the roasted grain and hops but is balanced by dark fruits. The finish is long, dry and bitter, with hints of liquorice and dark fruits.

Samples of all the African beers are kept in Dublin for analysis and I once spent a happy hour sampling the beers. It’s dark and lonely work but someone has to do it…

If the batch of Nigerian beer has sold out in Morrison’s then help is at hand as it’s available from Amazon and Tesco home delivery.

Guinness has reproduced examples of its 19th century beers and West Indies Porter is on sale in Morrison’s and other retailers.

In my last column I wrote about the bottle-conditioned beers produced by the Thornbridge Brewery. Greene King has now added a “live” bottled beer that’s a strong version of its leading brand, Old Speckled Hen.

Old Master Hen is 7 per cent and is brewed with pale and crystal malts and hopped with an impressive number of English varieties: Challenger, First Gold, Fuggles, Goldings and Pilgrim.

The beer has a big fruity and hoppy aroma and palate with a delicious butterscotch note from the crystal malt. It’s on sale in Waitrose. I would advise buying two bottles and laying one down to age.

▪The Campaign for Real Ale’s St Albans Beer Festival returns this year at the Alban Arena from 27 to 30 September. There will be several hundred cask beers on sale from all parts of the country but with a special emphasis on local brewers’ products.

On Wednesday 27 September I shall hold a talk and tasting of six beers. Tickets for this event are now available: https://stalbansbf.org.uk/events.

There will be more information about the festival nearer the date. I look forward to raising a glass with you.