Stout heart for Guinness contest

Try not to spill it - Guinness is to send a drinker into space

The black stuff is set to send a fan into the final frontier as Ireland's iconic stout marks its 250th year.

Guinness has announced three once-in-a-lifetime experiences, as part of its celebration.

The brewery is sending someone into space, another to the depths of the ocean and a personal performance from The Black Eyed Peas.

The space experience gives one person the chance to become one of the first non-professional astronauts to venture into space with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline.

After training in New Mexico at the Virgin Galactic's home at Spaceport America, the winner will take a flight through the Earth's atmosphere at almost 2500mph - three times the speed of sound.

The winner of the sea experience will travel to the Lofoten Islands in Norway with two friends where they will venture to the depths of the sea and plunge into the black stuff in a deep sea bar.

The final winner and two friends will get an exclusive live performance by The Black Eyed Peas at a recording studio as part of their forthcoming world tour.

Meanwhile, Guinness is also to mark the date with an advertising campaign entitled To Arthur, which pays tribute to Arthur Guinness on the 250th anniversary of the signing of a 9,000 year lease on St James' Gate Brewery.

The ad, produced by Saatchi and Saatchi, centres on Arthur in 1759 and follows him as he travels around the world.