The Guiness Storehouse is Ireland’s number one visitor attraction. A gleaming, multimedia exhibition on everything from retro advertising to the craft of brewing. Filled with more than 50 interactive displays, the museum also has a cinema, restaurants and a retail store.
The Storehouse was built in the style of the Chicago School of Architecture 1904, and was originally used as a fermentation house.
The museum has three distinct sections: the brewing exhibition, the retail store and the visitor centre. Each area is an interactive adventure through a unique phase of Irish history. The brewing section has the exhibits and the tasting tables you would find in a craft beer brewery.
The “retail store” section is about having a unique and interactive retail store that has been styled on a craft retailer such as Rainforest Collective or Waterstone’s. The visitor centre section serves the secondary purpose of assisting people to locate the tours available. Tours are conducted throughout the day and night via self-driven vehicles.
There is an interesting twist in the history of this building, it was used for the storage of the wine and beer produced on the site by the Irish Brewery Group, including Guinness. It was first opened for public view in 1993
To ensure public safety it was temporarily closed in 1998 to ensure the buildings transformation into a world class cultural centre, which was completed in time for the first International Festival of the Arts in 2000. The Brewing section was open for public tours in 2003 and it is also the home of the festival in 2006.
The Dublin Summer Beer Fest, a craft beer festival that attracted almost 6000 visitors in 2007. The visitor centre section also serves the secondary purpose of a library.
The most popular section, the Brewing has the Brewing Station, where visitors can do a hands-on experience with the making of a beer, there are also the Brewing Tasting Tables and a small theatre for talks.
The Visitor Centre which serves the secondary purpose of a library features a display of the history of the brewery with a display of a replica of the brew house, the historic brewery equipment and a display of brewing processes in the traditional method. There is a 30 seat lecture theatre featuring the American-Irish author John Tiernan, of the Invisible Man series.
The Retail Store section has various activities such as a craft beer learning area, which has the Beer Making Workshops, where people learn how to make a porter, lager or ales.
There is a Beer Tasting Experience where people can taste a variety of beers. There is a the famous Gravity Bar , where people can enjoy a pint as well as a selection of wines, spirits and bottled beer. There is also a Meet the Brewer area where fans can meet the brewers.
It is the Travel-Shop section that features a host of services that can be provided by the Travel Agents, but has been closed due to the COVID pandemic. In this section there are several areas such as the Travel Guide-Shop which has a travel bag section.
In order to create the right atmosphere for the visit, all are welcome to take a tour of the site and experience the atmosphere first hand.
For all the visitors who enjoy the craft beers and wines, there is a Wine-Making-workshop where visitors can have an active experience and taste different wines. There is also a Beer-Making-workshop where people can brew a traditional Irish beer.