Proven by science! Seems rather subjective, but it passed peer-review.
I think by “further verification” they mean they’re going to drink more. 
I’d like to see them control for freshness of the beer and cleanliness of the lines, then see how it comes out. Fresh Guinness served through clean lines is as good anywhere as it is in Ireland, speaking from my own personal experience.
Isn’t the Guinness sold in the US a different recipe, or is that an urban legend? I know the alcohol content is different, but I guess they could just dilute.
IIRC, there are 17 or 19 identifiable recipe variations, many related to brewing outside of Ireland - namely in tropic climates.
It seems like I read that the US/Ireland recipes are nearly the same, but the brews are conditioned differently.
Anyone else got anything?
I’m not sure about varying recipes…my guess is that they are different.
I recently picked up some of their foreign export stout although I haven’t tried it yet. I think the beer is exported by ship so there is some aging involved with transit but I’m not sure if it’s significant. Some German breweries commonly export higher gravity beer than that which they brew for domestic use.
As far as I know, the alcohol content is the same here. The beer is brewed in Canada, and the “essence” is shipped from Ireland to add to the beer before packaging.
I drank a lot of Guinness in Ireland (it tasted the same), and when I go to the pub with the guys from my neighborhood (one from Dublin, 2 from near Belfast) they say the Guinness tastes the same. But we go to a good Irish pub that cleans their lines regularly and pours a LOT of Guinness, so it is always very fresh.
And for what it’s worth, my neighbor’s dad visits from Dublin every year and stays for a month or more (he’ll be here again in 5 weeks). He says the Guinness at Wilde Rover in Kirkland is as good as the Guinness at Buglers (pronounced BUG-lers, not BYOO-glers) in Dublin. That could just mean that Buglers pours a crappy pint though
This brings up another question…
Does the Bud Light taste better in Ireland?
I’m thinking…Not. - but maybe we can send it all to them anyway. 
I actually tried a Bud while I was there just to see what it was like, and it did taste better. It had a very creamy head and cleaner flavor. But that was only one, and I haven’t had one here in way too long to know if it really tasted different or not. Plus I’d had more than one Guinness at that point . . .
I actually had some very poor Guinness in Ireland in a hotel pub near the Shannon Airport a couple of years ago. The first couple of sips were ok, but about half way through it tasted sour and awful. Both my wife and I disliked our pints and when I bought 2 more from a different tap, it still tasted very bad. (We drank a bunch of Beamish instead, just as well as we can’t get that anywhere I know of in my state).
I emailed Guinness when I got back to the US and they responded immediately with a call. They wanted to know exactly what was wrong with the Guinness, how it was served, etc. and seemed appreciative that I had contacted them. (Diageo also sent me a choice of t-shirt, hat, keychain, etc)
Better than what? Stale turd water? ;D
I haven’t heard of as many as 17-19 recipes, but I did hear about 11 different ones… I was stationed over in Europe and thought the guiness over there was great, nothing like it is here… it tastes very watered down to me here… and that extra stout stuff they started shipping here… its got way to much ‘tang’ to it… I think once its gets over 110F here, I’ll pull one out and see if it will be refreshing enough…