I'm a big fan of Guinness, but long before I came to love the Guinness, I was hooked on the dragon. Jamaica's Dragon Stout, that is.

Sadly, I've heard that Desnoes and Geddes, which also makes the much more famous Red Stripe, stopped exporting Dragon Stout to the U.S. a number of years ago. Whether that's true or not, I can't find it anywhere in Milwaukee anymore.

So, when St. Patrick's Day rolls around and everyone talks about Guinness more than ever, it reminds me how much I miss the Dragon.

With hints of smoky coffee and chocolate and a dash of a sweet molasses, the Dragon packs a powerful 7.5 percent alcohol and so just a couple, carefully nursed, could help a skint kid enjoy a night of rockers without breaking the bank.

Dragon Stout reminds me of the Caribbean Inn on Walnut -- now gone -- of underground (literally) reggae gigs at the also-defunct C-Club and Sunday evenings listening to Nigel Scott's radio show on WLUM.

So, this St. Patrick's Day, I'll have a Guinness and I'll enjoy it as I always do. But, at least once, my mind will travel back to the 1980s, the sound of Burning Spear and The Meditations in a Downtown basement, the slow sway of the crowd, the smell of herb smoke in the air and the taste of Dragon Stout on my tongue.