THE OPEN GATE Brewery in Guinness’s St James’s Gate in Dublin is a little bit different than what you might expect.
We had a peek around, and learned some things…
1. It’s a small, experimental brewery in the depths of the HUGE Guinness complex
2. Which means that this is the place they make small batches of new beers to test out – some of which are only sold in the tiny bar attached
3. When you walk in from the street you’re surrounded by nods to old school Dublin everywhere you turn
4. Inside, the tasting bar is open to the public and it’s right beside the brewery – so all the machinery is humming away beside you while you sip
Quite the experience.
5. When DailyEdge.ie was taken behind the scenes, a full health and safety procedure was undertaken so we didn’t ruin the precious beer with our clumsy hands (the goggles were a good look, though)
6. The brewers who work there can come up with some off the wall flavour ideas and get to try them out every day
The whole point of the Open Gate brewery is to experiment with new flavours and see what works and what doesn’t.
It’s from here that the recent Hop House 13 addition was created – and such was its popularity, it was rolled out across Ireland and the UK.
7. And when we were taken into the ice cold malt room you realise how interesting things can get
The room is just chocked full of different flavours of barley – the key to how the beer comes out.
8. The view from the higher floors of the brewery is pretty spectacular
There’s the classic Guinness factory where the black stuff gets brewed everyday. Given the scale of operations, the Open Gate is like a mini version of the main brewery.
9. As part of the Open Gate visit, you automatically get a beer tasting platter of four brews – but you can stay to buy full pints if any of them take your fancy
The entry fee for the brewery is €6, and the tasting tray is included in that figure.
One of the brews that they have made up specially for this month is the Vienna Common Lager – which DailyEdge.ie can confirm goes down pretty well.
10. So finally, you can sit back and relax with the cool neon lights of the brewery flickering away beside you
It’s like you’re right at the heart of the brewing process – but you don’t have to do any work. Not a bad way to enjoy a few drinks.
