Guinness Storehouse

Guinness Storehouse
Established November 2000
Location St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland
Website http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Index.aspx

Guinness Storehouse is a Guinness-themed tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland.[1][2] Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors.[2]

The Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness.[3] The ground floor introduces the beer's four ingredients (water, barley, hops and yeast), and the brewery's founder, Arthur Guinness. Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin and where visitors may drink a pint of Guinness included in the price of admission, which was €18 in March 2015, described as "overpriced" by Condé Nast Traveler.[4][2][5][6] In 2006, a new wing opened incorporating a live installation of the present day brewing process.

History

The entrance to the Storehouse

The building in which the Storehouse is located was constructed in 1902 as a fermentation plant for the St. James's Gate Brewery (where yeast is added to the brew). The building was designed in the style of the Chicago School of Architecture and was the first multi-storey steel-framed building to be constructed in Ireland.[3][7] The building was used continuously as the fermentation plant of the Brewery until its closure in 1988, when a new fermentation plant was completed near the River Liffey.[7]

In 1997, it was decided to convert the building into the Guinness Storehouse, replacing the Guinness Hop Store as the Brewery's visitor centre. The redesign of the building was undertaken by the UK-based design firm Imagination in conjunction with the Dublin-based architects firm RKD, and the Storehouse opened to the public on 2 December 2000.[3] In 2006 a new wing was developed at a cost of €2.5 million, including a live installation demonstrating the modern brewing process.[2]

In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the Storehouse as part of a state visit to Ireland.[8][9]

Visitor attractions

The Guinness Storehouse explains the history of Guinness. The story is told through various interactive exhibition areas including ingredients, brewing, transport, cooperage, advertising and sponsorship.

At the base of the atrium lies a copy of the 9,000 year lease signed by Arthur Guinness on the brewery site. In the Perfect Pint bar, visitors may pour their own pint of Guinness. The Brewery Bar on the fifth floor offers Irish cuisine, using Guinness both in the cooking and as an accompaniment to food.[5]

Arthur Guinness Business Centre

The Arthur Guinness Business Centre on the third and fourth floors of the Storehouse is an area with training and conference facilities. It offers a number of events venues with catering for 20 to 1,000 people.

Guinness Archive

The Guinness Archive is based at the Storehouse and contains records dating from the 1759 lease of the Brewery and photographs, film, video, memorabilia, posters, maps, bottles and artifacts documenting the history of the Guinness company, brand and products in Ireland.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guinness Storehouse.

References

  1. Guinness Storehouse, DublinTourist.com.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 MobileReference (2010), Dublin Sights: a travel guide to the top 25 attractions in Dublin, Ireland, MobileReference, ISBN 9781607789635, retrieved 17 December 2011
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 David Dernie (2006), Exhibition design, Laurence King Publishing, ISBN 9781856694308, retrieved 17 December 2011
  4. Visiting Dublin? Don't bother with Guinness, Grafton Street or Temple Bar says Condé Nast Traveler Irish Independent, 2015-03-07.
  5. 5.0 5.1 http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Inside.aspx
  6. Raising a pint in the 'Disneyland of beer' USA Today, 2012-04-09.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Dublin can be heaven - and here's the cream". Irish Independent. 15 May 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  8. "Queen refuses pint of Guinness in Dublin, but Prince Phillip looks keen". Metro. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  9. "Visit grips imagination of world press". Irish Times. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.

External links

Coordinates: 53°20′30″N 6°17′13″W / 53.34167°N 6.28694°W