The Guinness is flowing, so what's the secret to the perfect pint?

CITY CELEBRATES ST PATRICK'S DAY

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

AROUND 13 million pints of Guinness are consumed worldwide on St Patrick's Day making it one of the biggest drinking days of the year - and a few of those will be sunk in Nottingham.

The annual celebration of the patron saint of Ireland takes place today, so have your leprechaun outfits, green, white and orange flags, and Guinness hats at the ready - it's time to party the Irish way.

Old Market Square, as always, will be at the heart of the festivities with Irish music and dancing throughout the day, starting at 11.30am and ending with a performance from The Killarneys.

Of course, it wouldn't be St Patrick’s Day without a drop of the black stuff.

And this will be the first St Patrick's Day that the Canalhouse in Nottingham has sold Guinness as previously it stocked an alternative from an independent brewer.

General manager Wayne Harvey said: “We had it installed not that long ago, late last year, and it’s been a roaring success.

“We used to staunchly say we supported an independent brewer with a similar product but I think the market has changed so dramatically for Guinness. The demand is so high we caved in a sense”