The popularity of Guinness has surged in recent months, as a whole new generation seemingly discovers what the rest of the planet has known for decades: it tastes really good.

But alongside the spike in Guinness sales, , whether it's the well-established Irish stouts like Murphy's or Beamish or newer creations like .

One that's received particularly high praise, with one well-known reviewer calling it "", is London Black, which is brewed by Anspach and Hobday, who've only been up and running just over a decade since they started in Bermondsey, London in 2013.

Jason Hackett, who has more than 145,000 followers on Instagram, where he dedicates his time to reviewing beers, stouts and porters he drinks on his travels, is a huge Guinness fan, so to shower this sort of praise on this relative newcomer really was a surprise.

He said "nothing came close" to London Black during one of his visits to London and finished by concluding: "I've said it before and I'll say it again: London Black by Anspach and Hobday as served at The Arch House [the Bermondsey taproom for the Anspach and Hobday brewery] with the extra nitrogen is the best pint of stout or porter that you can get in Britain. In fact, anywhere I've drank outside Ireland."

And he's not the only one who loves it. beer reviewer Dan One-Minute Beer Review said: "It's chocolatey, it's coffee-y, it's vanilla-y. It's almost like wafers. It's got a wafer ice cream cone flavour to it, it's gorgeous. I could drink a lot of that, it's beautiful."

And another, Glasgow Beer Guy, said: "The first thing to say is it's so smooth it's unbelievable. It's got a wee bit of smokiness as well. It's really nice, really smooth to drink."

So I had to test London Black against Guinness myself. I'd only just discovered the newcomer, when I tried it a few months ago by chance when it appeared in a new bar in Cardiff. As it happens, I had only recently rediscovered my own love for Guinness. I'd barely touched a drop in about 20 years, much preferring to stick to modern golden ales from the likes of Grey Trees or some of the stars of the craft beer scene like Deya, Polly's or Beak.

When I first tried London Black, I was blown away. So was everyone I was drinking it with at the time. The reasons were pretty much the same as the ones given above. It was chocolatey, coffee-like and smoky. It had a certain sweetness to it I really enjoyed too and it came served with a large and thick, creamy head.

So I told other friends about it too, one of whom is a huge Guinness fan and simply wouldn't believe what I was saying when I told him London Black was just as good. One day, he snuck off on his own to try a pint of London Black and sent me a message saying it was "slop". There was only one thing for it: we arranged a night where we'd compare the two. We'd start with London Black and then we'd move on to another Cardiff pub, which was well-known in the area for the time and dedication it put into looking after its Guinness.

I enjoyed the London Black again but my mate was complaining about it immediately. I don't know if he was exaggerating, but he was pretty much struggling to drink it, forcing it down while saying it was too "sickly". I did start to see what he meant by the sickliness - it did start to feel noticeable after a couple of pints. I couldn't inflict any more on him, so we moved on to the next pub and ordered the Guinness.

And I have to say, I relented pretty much immediately to his assessment. The Guinness had all the stand-out flavour points of the London Black. But it lacked that sickly-sweet tinge that had tainted the London Black. There wasn't much more to say: I was surprised to see so clearly that the Guinness was the finer pint. Despite its production on an absolutely vast scale and the fact that it is now the focal point of a viral new 'Split the G' drinking game, the old master had seen off the exciting newcomer.

All that said, London Black is still a very fine pint and I'm looking forward to my next one.