St. James's Gate Brewery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Guinness brewery. For the beer see Guinness.
| Guinness | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Guinness Ltd. |
|
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Owner | Diageo |
| Year opened | 1759 |
| Annual production | 82.9 million hectoliters, 50.7 million UK barrels |
| Active Beers | |
| Guinness draught stout | Stout |
| Original/Extra Stout | Stout |
| Foreign Extra Stout | Stout |
| Foreign Extra Stout Nigeria | Stout |
| Special Export Stout | Stout |
| Bitter | Bitter |
| Extra Smooth | Stout |
| Malta Guinness | Non-alcoholic beer |
| Mid-Strength | Stout |
St. James's Gate Brewery is the world famous brewery in Dublin, known as the home of Guinness.
Leased in 1759 by Arthur Guinness for 9,000 years at £45 per year, St. James's Gate has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and was the largest in the world in 1914. (Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it is still the largest brewer of stout in the world.) During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.
There is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse.
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[edit] History of ownership
The grandson of the original Arthur Guinness, Sir Benjamin Guinness, was Lord Mayor of Dublin and was created a baronet in 1867, only to die the next year. His eldest son Arthur, Baron Ardilaun (1840–1915), sold control of the brewery to Sir Benjamin's third son Edward (1847–1927), who became 1st Earl of Iveagh. Iveagh launched the company on the London Stock Exchange in 1886.
He, his son and great-grandson, the 2nd and 3rd Earls, chaired the Guinness company until the 3rd earl's death in 1992. Due to changes in company law in the Irish Free State, the company was forced to move its headquarters to London in 1932. In 1983 a non-family chief executive Ernest Saunders was appointed and arranged the reverse take-over of the leading Scotch whisky producer Distillers in 1986. Saunders was then asked to resign following revelations that the Guinness stock price had probably been illegally manipulated (see Guinness share-trading fraud). As Distillers was worth more than Guinness plc, the Guinness family shareholding in the merged company went below 10%, and today no member of the family sits on the board. The company then merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo PLC, capitalised in 2006 at about 40 billion Euros.
[edit] Breweries
Arthur Guinness Son & Co. Ltd. owns several breweries.
[edit] MacArdle Moore Brewery
MacArdle Moore Brewery was a brewery in Dundalk, Ireland, formed in 1850 from the merger of two older breweries, McAllisters and Wynnes. Over the years it was to become almost synonymous with brewing in Dundalk. It joined the Guinness empire in the late 1960s.
It gave its name to MacArdle's Traditional Ale, an Irish red ale.
In 2001 the brewery was closed. Its buildings now form a business park.
[edit] Smithwicks
Smithwicks is a brewery in Kilkenny in Ireland. It was founded by John Smithwick in 1710. It has the ruins of a Franciscan abbey in its grounds. It is the major ale producer in Ireland. It is now owned by Guinness.
- Smithwick's Draught has a ruby red tone with a stable, but slightly thin head. Its texture is smooth and refined, with a bitter and complex finish. Although of lesser fame than Guinness, Smithwicks is often regarded as the 'local favourite' amongst Irish pubgoers. In 2004, Diageo PLC began distribution in the USA. Smithwick's had previously been marketed in Canada with great success.
- Smithwick's Barley Wine is now brewed by Macardle Moore Brewery another Guinness-owned brewery.
- Kilkenny Ale is a similar beer to Smithwick's Draught, originally created for the export market as a name for Smithwick's but now a beer in its own right.
[edit] Other brands
The Guinness brewery also makes other brands of alcoholic drinks, including Harp, Smithwick's, Cashels cider and Kilkenny. The company has a regional franchise (for Ireland) to produce Budweiser beer, as well as Carlsberg lager.
Withdrawn Guinness brands include Guinness's Brite Lager, Guinness's Brite Ale, Guinness Light, Guinness XXX Extra Strong Stout, Guinness Cream Stout, Guinness Gold, Guinness Pilsner and Guinness Special Light. Other withdrawn beers produced by Guinness include Enigma Draught Lager and Breo White Beer as well as the St. James's Gate Beers: Pilsner Gold, Wicked Red Ale, Wildcat Wheat Beer and Dark Angel Lager.
[edit] Kaliber
Kaliber, a brand of non-alcoholic pale lager which is sold in the United Kingdom, was launched in 1983.
It is made from hops, malted barley, sucrose and yeast along with stabilisers and CO2. The alcohol is removed by vacuum evaporation at the end of the brewing process to make it a fuller tasting beer according to the brewer.
Even though it is classed as an alcohol free beverage it still contains trace amount of alcohol, around 0.05% to be exact. This amount of alcohol is naturally occurring and cannot be removed, and this same amount is also found in fruit juices.
[edit] Book of Records
The Guinness company also produced the Guinness Book of Records, which originated in 1955 when a debate in a pub after a hunt could not be settled with existing reference books. After merger with the firms of Arthur Bell and United Distillers, the firm became Guinness PLC, and was no longer headed by a family member. It combined with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo PLC in 1997, at which point the Book of Records was sold to Gullane Entertainment, who in turn were purchased in 2002 by the book's current publishers, HIT Entertainment.
[edit] The Lions Gate Bridge
The Guinness Family paid for the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver to be built, which connects Vancouver to North Vancouver and West Vancouver over Burrard Inlet. The Guinness family sold the bridge to the province of British Columbia for over 6 million dollars in 1955.
The Guinnesses wanted a bridge to join downtown Vancouver to a remote area of West Vancouver where they were building a high scale housing development "The British Properties". The Guinesses wanted a 4 lane suspension bridge and the government wanted a 2 lane. A three lane bridge was built. Tolls were at one end of the bridge and they were removed once the bridge was paid for. The British Properties were laid out with large lots, underground electrical, and building guidelines. Property was put aside as common area, room for a polo field, schools, a country club and a small sales office was placed at the first roundabout at the divided boulevard.[1]
[edit] Sponsorship
Guinness sponsor the G.A.A (Gaelic Athletic Association) All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (also known as the Guinness Hurling Championship due to the sponsorship deal since 1995).
Guinness also sponsor a large amount of Rugby Union related competitions and teams including title sponsor of the English Premiership (hence called the Guinness Premiership), shirt sponsor of the London Irish rugby team and Boston Irish Wolfhounds rugby team.
[edit] Guinness Storehouse
Guinness Storehouse, "the home of Guinness", is Dublin's most popular tourist attraction. A converted brewing factory, it is effectively a shrine to Guinness, incorporating elements from the old brewing factory to explain the history of its production. Some of the old brewing equipment is on show, as well as stout ingredients, brewing techniques, advertising methods and storage devices.
The exhibition takes place over 7 floors. The final floor is the Gravity Bar, which has an almost 360° panorama over the city, where visitors can claim a free pint of "the black stuff".
The storehouse is where they used to add the yeast to the beer for fermentation.
[edit] See also
- Guinness
- Arthur Guinness
- William Sealey Gosset (Guinness employee-turned-statistician)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Arthur Guinness Son & Co. | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dublin, Ireland |
| Owner | Diageo |
| Year opened | 1759 |
| Annual production | 100 million litres |
