Guinness Storehouse
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The storehouse is enormous. It is made up of seven floors that surround a huge, glass atrium shaped as a massive pint of Guinness. The ground floor features all of the ingredients necessary to brew Ireland’s most famous export product and introduces its inventor, Arthur Guinness
. The upper floors consist of
exhibitions, information on the beer’s history, a display on responsible drinking and, of course, a bar.History
Arthur Guinness was born in County Kildare in 1725 as a godchild to Reverend
Arthur Price, Bishop of Cashel. In 1752, after the death of the influential bishop, Arthur Guinness, age
17, receives £ £100 ($152) as an inheritance. Three years later he sets up a brewing business in Leixlip,
only 11 miles from Dublin.In 1759, Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease on a disused brewery at St James’s Gate, costing him £ £100 ($152) and a yearly rent of an additional £ £45 ($68). This lease also includes water right, essential to an ambitious brewery. Guinness’s Brewery covers four acres and is made up of a mill, two malthouses, stables for a dozen horses, a kieve, and storage space for up to 200 tons of hay. In his brand new brewery, he now begins brewing porters and ales. He exports his first Guinness beer ten years later, when a boat with six-and-a-half barrels leaves for England.
Arthur Guinness passes away in 1803, but that doesn't stop the brewery from growing. The 19th century is marked with enormous expansion, international campaigns, and exports as far away as Sierra Leone, Trinidad, Barbados
, and New York. By 1870, 10% of Guinness sales are made overseas; the
brand had become an international beer.The modern storehouse building was built in 1902 as a fermentation plant for the by-now-enormous brewery. The building’s style was conform the Chicago School of Architecture; the building itself was the very first multi-storey building with a steel frame in Ireland. The fermentation plant was closed in 1988, when a new one was opened near the River Liffey
.In 1997, the decision was made to convert the building into the Guinness Storehouse and a visitor center. The brand new storehouse opened to the public in 2000 and a new wing was added in 2006, including a live installation that shows the entire brewing process.
Visiting the Guinness Storehouse
The Guinness Storehouse’s seven stories feature everything from the brewery’s history and the brewing process to advertising practices and souvenirs.
Tickets cost €18 ($21) for adults (online tickets are 10% cheaper), €15 ($17) for students older than 18, €12 ($14) for students younger than 18, €15 ($17) for seniors, and €7 ($7.48) for children.
The Guinness Storehouse is open seven days a week from 9.30AM to 5PM. In July and August it’s open until 7PM. The storehouse is closed on Good Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and St Stephen’s Day or Boxing Day.
Nearby Landmarks
Another Dublin attraction that has to do with alcohol is the Jameson Distillery. This is also a major highlight. Other landmarks in the city are Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Castle, the magnificent Chester Beatty Library, St Stephen’s Green, the National Museum of Ireland, Temple Bar, and Kilmainham Gaol.Do you see any omissions, errors or want to add information to this page? Sign up.
Author: bramreusen. Last updated: Dec 27, 2014
