Most people claim to know their Guinness – arguably the best known beer in the world. It's a beer that's renowned around the world for its deep black colour, creamy head, roasted malt flavours and drying hop bitterness.

But here are ten things you probably didn’t know about Guinness:

In 1759, founder Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease for a disused brewery at St James Gate, Dublin.

Over 800 million cans of Guinness Draught have been sold in over 70 countries since the brand's launch in 1989.

It took 10 years for Guinness to produce its first export to England -10 barrels of Irish ale.

The world record for drinking a pint of Guinness is 3.9 seconds - held by Paul Behan of England. It was achieved at 8.30am on a breakfast radio show – and he had already drunk two pints to calm his nerves. Unsurprisingly, he is a descendent of the legendary Brendan Behan.

Arthur Guinness fathered 21 children – though only 10 survived.

Spent grains from brewing Guinness are used as animal feed, the hops become fertiliser and surplus yeast is used to make yeast extract or health products.

The UK is the biggest consumer of Guinness, followed by Ireland with Nigeria in third.

The Guinness brewery was founded with money left to Arthur Guinness by his godfather – the Archbishop of Cashel.

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland ordered one of Guinness’ most popular television ads off the air. The ad depicted a bare-footed man walking across a river of lava to rescue pints of Guinness. The Authority ruled in favor of a complainant who felt the drink was being wrongly promoted as a "source of power."