Dubliners are serious about their Guinness! One visit to the Guinness Storehouse and that will be plainly obvious. While this was a major tourist trap, it was interesting and the tour gave a free sample half-way through the tour and a free pint at the end. Being tourists, we figured 'why not'! The Guinness Storehouse is the old Fermentation Plant from 1904-1988. It sits on the St. James Brewery grounds which Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease for back in 1759. I told you Dubliners are serious about their stout! This Fermentation Plant has been transformed into a 7 storey 'visitor experience dedicated to the history and making of the world famous beer'. After you plunk down your Euros, you work your way from the ground floor up to the Gravity Bar where your pint awaits. Along the way you learn what Guinness is made from and how the process works. Having already made beer, this wasn't new to Brian, but it was still a fun place to visit.Guinness is made from four ingredients, barley, hops, yeast and water. The barley is malted, roasted, milled, mixed with hot water and mashed. The liquid is filtered off and boiled with hops in a large copper like the one below.
Then the yeast is added and the fermentation begins. This took place in the large fermentation vats like this one...
After the beer is clarified and matured it is bottled and ready to drink. Below is a collection of Guinness bottles dating back 200 years.
The process today is all computerized and none of the old coppers and vats are used, but the brewery still employs master brewers to insure the same quality and product. Having tasted a Guinness here in America, Brian can say that it does indeed taste different in Dublin. It has a creaminess that the Guinness here just doesn't have. Our cab driver to the airport agreed, even the Guinness in England doesn't taste as good as a fresh pint in Dublin he said. So if you ever go to Dublin, be a tourist, pay your euros, and enjoy your free pint at the top of the tour then let us know if it tasted different to you.
Then the yeast is added and the fermentation begins. This took place in the large fermentation vats like this one...
After the beer is clarified and matured it is bottled and ready to drink. Below is a collection of Guinness bottles dating back 200 years.
The process today is all computerized and none of the old coppers and vats are used, but the brewery still employs master brewers to insure the same quality and product. Having tasted a Guinness here in America, Brian can say that it does indeed taste different in Dublin. It has a creaminess that the Guinness here just doesn't have. Our cab driver to the airport agreed, even the Guinness in England doesn't taste as good as a fresh pint in Dublin he said. So if you ever go to Dublin, be a tourist, pay your euros, and enjoy your free pint at the top of the tour then let us know if it tasted different to you.
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