Ireland’s number one tourist attraction involves a stout! That’s right, the Guinness Storehouse in the Irish capital of Dublin is the most visited place on the island, beating the Cliffs of Moher and the Titanic shipyard. It is that good that I have been twice. I always said that a pint of the black stuff does wonders for my soul. Even the night before I would do a marathon run, I would have a pint because of the iron and the next day I would get a really fast time. However, Guinness isn’t good for the iron, it's just what old people say and it has been proven scientifically that Guinness doesn’t have much iron for the body. However, I was still getting fast times in races so I am not complaining.
Everyone visiting Ireland knows about Guinness, even if people don’t drink it, they know about it. It is one of Ireland’s ironic symbols and brands. The storehouse itself has only been around for twenty years but Guinness has been around much longer than that, 1759 AD in fact. The guy who started all this up was Arthur Guinness who was thirty-four years old at the time, signed a 9000 year old lease on a disused brewery site way back on 31st December 1759 with an annual rental fee of £45. The four acre site is where Arthur did the business of producing the stout and built up the global brand as we know it today.
Located at St James Gate in Central Dublin, this is a brewery tour with a difference. You don’t actually get to see Guinness being made in the brewery which lies several feet away from the Guinness Storehouse. Instead this is a self-guided tour through an interactive museum on a few floors which is filled with lots of exhibits and movies which showcases what it takes to make a perfect pint of the black stuff. Also the free beer doesn’t get given to you until after the museum part. As a beer lover and done several brewery tours over Europe, I found the first part boring. Nearly and I say nearly, every single beer is brewed the same way. There are only so many brewers that can brew beers differently. So with the knowledge of beer making, I kinda whizzed through the first parts, but still the exhibits were still amazing and got the information across.
Now on tip I would say, is to book tickets online in advance and then book your self-guided tour time. It does get extremely busy around lunchtime and into the afternoon. I would say give yourselves about two hours to check out the museum and the bar time. Tickets and other general information on the Guinness Storehouse can be found here.
After entering the building, straight away there is a gift shop. Don’t even buy any products because you will get to go straight past this shop again at the very end. The first thing I clapped my eyes on in the middle of the ground floor is the original 9000 year old lease that Arthur Guinness signed for St James Gate brewery. Then it's a case of heading up to the first floor, checking out how Guinness is made with the four main ingredients, hops, yeast, barley and water.
The second floor is about the brewing process. A lot of exhibits explaining this detail, and why they add nitrogen to the brewing process but more interesting for me, is how hot Guinness keeps their mash. Crazy hot!
The third floor is my favourite as it's all about marketing the brand of Guinness. For me its about the toucan and the original harp which is used as the main logo today.
At the end of the tour there is beer tasting to be had. With a ticket purchased to get into the storehouse, you get a free pint. There are a variety of places where this can be used. The first time I visited the storehouse, Olga (my wife) and I used it in the Guinness Academy. Here bartenders will teach visitors how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. At busy times of the day, the queue to get into this room can be very long. Luckily it was quiet and we went straight in. The first thing we were told was that it takes 119 seconds to pour the perfect pint. The first bit was to pour the stout into the glass most of the way (best guidance is to go up to the harp logo on the glass). The bartender here will demonstrate to everyone in the room first before doing this. After the pour, let the beer settle and then it's time to pour the rest to the top. That is it. It doesn’t take long and after pouring, you get to put your name in a nearby computer and an official Guinness certificate is printed saying that you can pour a proper pint of the black stuff.
The second time I came to the storehouse, the Guinness Academy queue was long. As I already did this before I wasn’t bothered, so I headed up to the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor which is at the very top of the building (note: this is also the highest bar in Dublin at forty six meters off ground level). Here visitors can expect 360-degree views of the city. It kinda reminds me of the rooftops and chimneys of towns in Northern England and not much else. Here I got to use my beer ticket and got my pint of Guinness. (Someone else gave me their ticket as they didn’t drink so I had one of those Hop House 13 lagers the Guinness brand also produces on site). If you drink your drink and want another one, they don’t take payments in the bar. To get another one, you have to go back to the main entrance to buy a beer ticket (you already have a tour ticket) and then come all the way back up. Personally I didn’t do this, and had a few more Guinness in the bars in the city centre. There are also three restaurants located in the Storehouse but the beer ticket is not valid inside these.
After coming back to England, I do get a lot of people asking me ‘was visiting the storehouse worth it?’. I would say yes it is. It is very different from other brewery tours I have been on. As I mentioned earlier, the first few floors I was a bit bored (and on the my second visit, I kinda skipped the displays as I remember them from my first visit), but the interesting stuff for me was the top floors, the marketing department, pouring a pint of Guinness and checking out the views of Dublin. The only thing I do regret is not eating in one of their restaurants as I have been told the food is excellent in them. I would say to people, beer lovers or not, to check the brewery out. If you are a beer lover, you might want to allow even more time as there is a Roe and Co taproom located on site as well.
Essential information on Dublin
How to get to Dublin: Dublin is easy to get by plane as it has a large international airport which not only serves flights to Europe but is also a major connection hub for flights to the United States. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
By car, Ireland can be reached by ferry and there are ferry ports at Dublin (for connections to Mid England and Wales), Roselare in the south (for connections to France and Wales) and ferry ports in Northern Ireland for Scotland and Northern England.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: Ireland uses the Euro currency which is also widely used in most European countries. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Language: Irish-English is spoken by most people. Basically English with an Irish accent (hope I don’t offend anyone here). However Irish-Gaelic is also spoken as Ireland is one of the Celtic countries which speaks this, alongside Welsh, Scottish, Manx, Cornish and the dialect used in the Brittany region of France.
Watch out for: As far as I am aware, there are no major scams to look out for. As always in Europe, watch out for the usual pickpockets or any pretty crimes but I felt very safe in Ireland.
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for Ireland? Always check if you need a visa when coming to Ireland, especially for those who come from outside Europe.
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