72 hours in the home of Guinness

Ireland is renowned for several things; vicious Vikings, mythical devious leprechauns and the inimitable accent of its citizens.

The North Atlantic Island of about five million is also famed for its contribution to the alcohol industry; it’s the home of Guinness and popular whisky brands like Jameson, Bushmills, and Tullamore Dew among several other spirited drinks.

It is the country you visit to taste everything from steak, crisps to pies flavoured with beer and learn the science of pouring the perfect pint.

As I learned during a recent visit to its capital city Dublin, Irishmen are warm-hearted citizens of the world, a culture which can be traced back to ancient Ireland when hospitality was mandated by law.

But since I was there for business, I could only sneak in a couple of hours to sample this culture and history in the three days I spent in Dublin as I struggled to look unfazed by the sun setting at 10pm.

10 million glasses

One chilly but bright night, I took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse, a former fermentation facility in the heart of the city which some entrepreneurial geniuses turned into a public visitors’ centre after it was mothballed.

Arthur Guinness first brewed Guinness in 1759 in Dublin at the James’s Gate Brewery.

The dry stout has since become popular worldwide, with over 10 million glasses of the distinctly dark tipple consumed every day across 150 countries.

The Guinness Storehouse was constructed much later in 1902 to serve as a fermentation site — where the brewing magic happens.

This is the last stage of a sensitive process where yeast is added into the boiled mixture of barley, water, and hops (also referred to as the brew) and let to ferment.

The 125-foot plant served this function until 1986 when a new one was built to replace it given that it had aged and therefore incompatible with modern brewing processes.

In October 1997, it was decided that the Guinness could benefit from the rich history and the Storehouse was turned into an attraction centre.

This was around the time when Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo.

Over the course of four years, the mothballed fermentation site was renovated and turned into a seven-storey centre which today is among the most popular tourist sites in Ireland, attracting over a million visitors annually.

The Storehouse is designed in the shape of a curvy pint glass with hefty steel frames holding everything in place.

Guinness’ flagship retail store is situated on the ground floor or at the bottom of the glass, if you may.

The shop stocks an array of memorabilia including key holders, fridge magnets, tumblers, t-shirts, caps, pepper shakers, gravy jugs, pie dishes, chopping boards and many other items.

It also has foodstuff like crisps, chocolates, bread and candy all of which are manufactured using “The Black Stuff”. On another floor, the rich history of Guinness is told, beginning with the drink’s founder— Arthur.

The father of 21 mastered the temperamental nature of yeast early on in life and, at the age of 34 took a 9,000-year lease and set up a factory on the four-acre land that it present day James’s Gate Brewery.

Arthur’s story is told in special exhibition halls which also have videos on loop elaborating Guinness’ unique brewing process and the changes the factory has undergone over the years.

After winding up more steel stairs, visitors get to the Guinness Academy where a brewery staffer is on hand to teach visitors how to pour the perfect pint.

This is six-step ritual that is supposed to last 119.5 seconds, from the first pour to the last top up. If this session is not enough, one can book a longer one at the connoisseur bar where experts explain the history of Guinness in depth, topping it up with tastings.

Please note, Guinness fans, it is bad manners to chug your drink immediately after pouring it into the glass; let it settle until it turns a consistent black. Do not argue. I did not make the rules, Arthur did. He’s king.

Guinness steak

On the fifth floor of the Storehouse, there is a fully-fledged restaurant where almost all dishes on the menu have differing amounts of Guinness as an ingredient. Grilled steak, stews, pies and even dessert.

And to reward you for getting to the last floor of the Storehouse, there is the Gravity Bar—a rooftop bar from where more Guinness is served as you enjoy a 360 degree view of Dublin. 

Contrary to the image of Ireland I may have accidentally constructed so far, it is not all about booze in this wind-battered country even though one cab guy told me that “Irishmen do not get drunk, they get inebriated.”

Ireland is in fact an economic wunderkind. The country’s banks went bust six years ago during the financial crisis, necessitating an intravenous injection of $89 billion as the lenders lay on their death bed.

Ireland was lumped with Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain—countries struggling under the weight of unemployment, low economic growth and high debt to GDP ratios.

Economic growth

It has been two and half years since Ireland exited the bailout and its economy, unlike many of its peers, is surging forward with fiscal indicators in positive territory.

Unemployment dropped from 15.2 per cent in 2012 to about at 8.9 per cent as at the end of last year, with economists reckoning that this could dip to as low as six per cent.

The country’s GDP last year grew by 7.8 per cent, up from the previous year’s 5.2 per cent, and a mile ahead of the Eurozone which posted a growth of 1.6 per cent in 2015.

Low corporate tax rates, a well-educated workforce continue to attract multinationals such as Apple, Facebook and Google to invest there, further boosting the country’s prospects.

Indeed, the Irish have cause to toast at the local pub (pronounced paw-b) and plenty of drinks to choose from.

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