Guinness Brewery, Ireland

You can't miss the Guinness Storehouse, it's as Irish as the shamrock. In the heart of the brewery is the Guinness Experience which opened in December 2000. It's a restored 1904 building where tours take you through the history of Guinness Beer making. It begins in the year 1759 when Arthur Guinness started brewing his famous "porter" which produces 10 million glasses each day and is famous around the world.

AND they give out a complimentary pint with each tour.

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Its not the Brewery itself, its the storehouse which is meant to be a giant pint, with the head being the Gravity Bar at the top. If you know your going there when you go to Dublin, book your tickets online! Its a bit cheaper and you dont have to queue to get inside (we went 16th March -before st pats day- and got to walk right past the loooooooong queue straight in!). Its a self guided tour of the whole process of making it, the history of guinness, and about all sorts. Theres just so much there we ended up "hit and missing" bits looking at whatever caught our eyes. The gravity bar at the top had good views of the whole of Dublin. But we took our pint down a couple of floors so we could sit and drink, as theres no seating in the Gravity Bar. I enjoyed the time we spent there. I also have a taste for Guinness now!

I never went in. It was rainy and cold and I walked to it, just to find a really long line and a $20 entrance fee. I've been to many breweries before and they were all free. Nothing to see if you don't want to pay the large entrance fee.

I've always considered that it is great shame that you can't see the internal workings of the Guinness brewery on a visit to the site. At one point in the exhibition a row of kegs on the production line passes through, but that is about it.

Your 14 euro (10% discount on-line) does however buy you entry to the Guiness storehouse with an absolutely first rate exhibition of brewing and the Guiness story spread out over several floors.

The exhibition, I believe, is the most visited tourist attraction in Ireland - the power of that black stuff is overwheming.

There are several highlights, including an old safe with the secret yeast recipe in. They still have a real one elsewhere on site, just in case a national disaster happens and the brew becomes contaminated. The exhibition about cooperage (making barrels) is especially well done. I rather liked the tradition that an apprentice after several years learning his trade would be 'initiated'. This consisted of putting him in a barrell of his own construction, filling it with anything revolting and disgusting that the qualified coopers could lay their hands on and then rolling it about in the yard for an hour or so. Delightful.

The real highlight is the glass of Guinness in the 'Gravity Bar' at the top of the building. It's worth going to the Guinness storehouse just for the view out over all of Dubin.

The Guinness Storehouse is now one of the most premier attractions in Dublin. The museum outlines the beginnings of the Guinness Empire and the growth in popularity of its beer. For fans of the Irish beer, this place is like Mecca. However, it is also appealing to those of you (like me) who do not enjoy drinking it. The multimedia set-up of the museum is very impressive. You can experience everything through all of your senses. Some of the displays show you the ingredients of the beer, let you smell them, and let you hear them as well. You can walk under a waterfall while learning about hops and yeast, and you can stand inside of an enormous beer barrel. There are also displays on the advertising history for Guinness where you can watch some of their hilarious television ads from the last 60 years.

We walked through the museum in about an hour and a half. At the end of the experience you are able to go into the Gravity Bar which is on the top of the building. Here you can get a panoramic view of Dublin and a complimentary pint or half pint of Guinness or a soft drink. Your ticket for the beer also doubles for a souvenir as it is a small drop of Guinness encased in plastic: pretty cool!

The gift store has many reasonably priced Guinness-themed items. We bought a long-sleeved t-shirt for 15 Euro and a polo shirt with an embroidered logo for 25 Euro.

If your a connosieur of beer , you got to stop by Guinness Brewery the cost of the tour is 13(?) euros but it's worth it if your a big fan of the stouts. You learned about the history of your favorite drink and you get a free pint in the tower while looking at the city of Dublin. And if your stomach is grumbling try the restaurant in the brewery and I recommend you try the bread which I was told is made with Guinness.. a pint and a piece of bread is all you need to get you going on your adventure.

THe Guinness storehouse tour is a (surprisingly) well put together and informative tour of how Guinness came to be. waterfalls (not kidding), steel catwalks (not kidding), tvs playing international guinness ads (some cheesy), and vats of barley and hops all contribute to a great 2-3 hours spent wandering around. And then, at the very end, head on upstairs to the Gravity Bar for your complimentary (with admission) pint of GUinness and spectacular view. and yes, it DOES taste so much better at the source!

Visiting the GUINNESS-BREWERIE is a must when you go to DUBLIN
You can't get the beer fresher then here in a good old styled pub atmosphere.