The epic trip to Ireland wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to the Guinness factory (brewery), right?! Upon arrival to the land of the Green I was asked by the Customs officer ‘what have you got planned while you’re in Ireland?’ And it was actually a really good prompt not just for the Republic of Ireland to know what I was getting up to, but it was a good way to start me thinking about what I should do while there (as I am a very spontaneous traveller). But that should be a stock standard question upon arrival into Ireland… ‘And on what date do you plan on visiting the Guinness Brewery?’

The Guinness Brewery (or storehouse to be more precise) is a short walk away from the centre of Dublin. Just follow the main river and canals for a bit… and then cross the canal, and walk a little up few roads, and you’ll find yourself outside of the storehouse. It’s a very industrial looking building from the outside (no surprises there), and it has a whole lot of Guinness branding from the outside. It’s interesting to note how much big brands have adopted the ‘Disneyland approach’ to marketing, and flogging their wares to the world. Increasingly, brands are going down the path of provides rides, and external stimuli to get their message to the consumer. Whether it’s beer, peanuts or just bananas, the move to highlight a brands effectiveness is alive and well, and it’s alive right here at the Guinness Storehouse.

Enter the building via one of the doors and you’ll come to a front desk where you can purchase tickets to enter the ‘Guinness experience’ and get a little bit more than a frothy beer at the conclusion. Tickets in hand, and ready to find out about the manufacturing process, I walk through to the ground floor where there is a whole lot of posters, and collateral material that’s projected onto the walls in different ways. I am in absolutely no hurry to rush this tour, and instead want to take it nice and slow so I can absorb more than just the dark aley good stuff. I want to find out about the manufacturing process. I want to find out how tools they, what machinery they have, what the process is from when they harvest the barley, right through to the boiling of the hops, and the bottling, kegging and canning process at the end… my mind is as buzzing as a dark chocolatey frothy glass of Guinness, and I want to know what gets put in, to give me, and other consumers such a celebrated and great beer.

Walking through the main gate of the brewery I’m taking as much as I can, and I find myself at what looks like the official starting point of the tour. There’s a big wall-size poster that has a whole lot of graphics pointing (rather aimedly) at the Guiness logo, and the official brandmark. This marks ‘the spot’ at where it all begins, lets start this brew tour!

Ascend through to the first display on the tour, and it’s the most important ingredient of all… WATER! As the crisp blue waters of the Irish countryside drip and work their way through the holding tanks, and tankers bring it to the factory, the start of the brewing process highlights the quality of the water being used, and seeks to also highlight its importance as part of the brewing process.

Walking through from the water storage tank, and into a cast iron storage tank where an interesting statistic is highlighted and written on the outside ’30 million bubbles in every pint’, and this when its all said and done, and when the beer is fully brewed, but it’s still worthwhile highlighting this at the beginning of the brewing process.

Make your way into the next room and you’ll find the ‘roasting’ process, and you’ll find yourself virtually a roast, and a toast so that Guinness can boast the most… popular beer in Ireland. The roasting of the said ingredients is an important part of the process – from the mashing of the barley, to the roasting of the barley and the hops… and the fermentation process (produces the alcohol!) There are a few steps to getting to what is considered ‘beer Nirvana’, or to put it into more Irish parlance the ‘holy trinity’ of beer brewing.