Adventures in Dublin: Pouring a Perfect Pint at the Guinness Experience
I debated long and hard while planning my trip to Dublin. With only time for one – would I do the Guinness Experience or the Old Jamison Distillery tour? They were roughly the same price and neither involved a tour of the actual factories. I’m neither a big beer or whiskey fan, so that couldn’t decide it. In the end, I went with the Guinness Experience, hoping the weather would give me a great view of Dublin from the seventh floor.
I purchased my ticket in advance to save time and 10%, which was a good move cause even though the line was moving at the ticket counter, it was still pretty long. There was no line, however, for the kiosks to retrieve your tickets. Once through, you go up an escalator to start the “Guinness Experienceâ€
You emerge onto the main floor which features a giant gift shop (of course!) and orientation, which I’ll admit I skipped.
You then wander a few floors through the highly interactive exhibits of how Guinness is produced.
Everything from the ingredients and fermentation process to talking “pictures†that share insight into the role Guinness played in Dublin and workers’ lives.
Finally ending up with distribution and a café.
The next floor was one of my favorite, featuring iconic Guinness advertising through the decades and even offering a chance to be a part of it.
Admission includes a free pint of Guinness and your choice of drinking it on the 4th or 7th floor. I opted to claim my beer on the 4th and drink it on the 7th. Because that way I would get a chance to learn how to pour the perfect pint!
It was not as easy as it looked, but I did a fair job and proudly claimed my certificate and pint.
I took it up to the 7th floor which was terribly crowded at around 12:45PM. Every possible seat and table was claimed by groups of people and even the areas roped off for siteseeing were pretty packed.
After walking around several times trying to see the views over people’s heads and getting my glass clinked by random strangers, I found a little space to sip my beer and make use of the free internet (yes I was instagramming). In about 10 minutes things started to clear out but I was ready for the next site.
If I go again or have more time, I think I’ll try to get into the Connoisseur Tasting Experience, though first I’ll do the Jameson Distillery. Would I recommend it? If you’re really into Guinness or enjoy the advertising and sipping a pint with a great view, it might be worth the €20 admittance fee, otherwise, see everything you’re anxious to see first!
I did this too when I was in Dublin for St Patricks day. The only downside is that now every time you are in a bar it will drive you mad when you see the bartender pouring guiness incorrectly!
Awesome! I choose Guinness over Jameson too! I loved it! We did the hop on hop off bus which worked out great.