Reasons to visit the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London
Diageo opens the doors to the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London’s Covent Garden this week. After a look around the premises, Jessica Mason discovers what makes it a “must-see” experience.
The new 54,000ft visitor experience and microbrewery cost Diageo £73 million to create and it opens its doors to the public from 11 December.
The Guinness Open Gate Brewery is located within Old Brewer’s Yard – a site that first brewed beer more than 300 years ago. The venue is situated on Mercer Walk, a four-minute walk from the Covent Garden Piazza and a two-minute walk from Seven Dials.
In essence, the space has been turned into a modern destination that celebrates beer, gastronomy, retail, and community, and has been much-anticipated by locals, beer fans and tourists alike with db looking into what it will entail earlier in the year.
The new site features: Limited edition beers and seasonal specials brewed by master brewer Hollie Stephenson. Added to this, Guinness and Guinness 0.0, which will continue to be brewed in Dublin, will also be served on the premises with what should be considered as one of the highest quality pours for the stout in London.
The beers
Describing the beers available from the on-site microbrewery, Stephenson said: “We’ll have a range of four core beers that we have brewed, because really, with the beer list here, we want it to appeal to everyone. We want anything that we make to tie back to the Guinness brand, which it does in kind of the spirit of which we’ve decided to make certain styles, but also with the beers DNA, so with our legacy yeast strains, and with Guinness quality standards that that we use to brew the beer, even though it’s small batch.”
Stephenson explained: “The core range of beers, we’re looking at a lager, an IPA, a pale and a porter, which I think is a nice range to reach a lot of people. But then, for example, we’re opening with 11 different beers, so out in the courtyard, other than those four, you’ll be able to try a whole other set of beers that will constantly rotate. We’ll always have something on that’s very low ABV. We’ll often have sour styles, which I love to use to recruit wine drinkers and we will have hazy IPA and other very crafty styles.”
According to Stephenson, offering Guinness that’s from Dublin, but also a range of different style beers alongside it that are brewed on the premises is “a good way to connect people to Guinness in a different way and then create those experiences over food or with friends at a table that will make people more likely to pick up a Guinness pint when they are out in the world to remember those times”.
Additionally, the venue offers a guided brewery tour, tasting sessions, and a 360-degree digital experience telling the story of Guinness in London.
Restaurants, bars and private-hire spaces
Two restaurants will be in situ led by British chef Pip Lacey, showcasing locally-sourced British produce and Guinness pairing suggestions. There will also be a ground-level courtyard bar and eatery in the heart of Old Brewer’s Yard, open to the public for casual dining as well as two retail stores featuring Guinness collaborations and limited-edition merchandise.
The location will also feature a dedicated private-hire event venue for cultural, community and trade events throughout the year.
Hospitality training
The venue will create up to 250 new jobs and serve as the southern UK hub for Diageo’s award-winning Learning for Life programme, offering free hospitality training for those looking to build careers in the industry. Learning for Life has, to date, helped more than 8,000 adults across the UK start careers in hospitality, with 100 further students set to graduate from the Guinness Open Gate Brewery London from April next year.
Speaking at a press briefing hosted at the site this week, Diageo GB managing director Barry O’Sullivan said: “It’s going to be an incredible week for Diageo, for the brand, and indeed, for London as we open up. The spirit of brewing is returning folks to Covent Garden after 300 years. Guinness has always been about bringing people together, and here, visitors can enjoy a state of the art micro brewery, two restaurants, as we mentioned that by the acclaimed chef Pip, a courtyard bar, a very engaging retail space – those Christmas sweaters are going to be flying off the hooks – and a community event venue for local groups, residents and businesses.”
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London tourism and Guinness’s long relationship with the capital
Describing why London was so special to Guinness, O’Sullivan explained: “London has played a critical role, actually, in Guinness’s journey. Just a few highlights, of course, more than 200 years ago, the first Guinness was shipped from Dublin to London. It was in London where the famous Black Velvet cocktail was first born, and it was a British Prime Minister in London who made one of the earliest recorded references to the now, I think, at least famous variant of Guinness and oysters, which is part of our magnificent journey as well. Fast forward, and today, Guinness is one in eight pints in Great Britain, one in seven in fact, in London, and there’s no doubt that the city’s vibrant hospitality sector has played a really critical role in the success of Guinness here in this market at the same time.”
A ‘reflection of confidence’
O’Sullivan briefly touched on the topic of the challenges the hospitality industry has faced of late and reiterated why this was an important boost for London. He said: “There’s no doubt that this is a challenging time for the hospitality sector. So I think it’s great that we stand here and really express our confidence in London hospitality with our £73 million investment in the Open Gate Brewery, which is not just an investment in Guinness, but really is that reflection of confidence in the city, in hospitality trade and the city indeed, as a tourism destination.”
He added: “London welcomes more than 20 million visitors each year, and it is the pubs, the bars, the restaurants, that leave that lasting impression on every one of our visitors and so we have huge confidence in the long-term future of London’s hospitality scene. We truly believe the Open Great Gate brewery will not only give people more of a reason to visit the city, but also create a halo effect for the wider community, and I’m hugely proud of the fact that the Open Gate Brewery will also continue Guinness’ long tradition supporting people and the communities where it operates.”
Supporting London
Guinness Open Gate Brewery, London is intended to be a space built for the people of London. From local supplier partnerships and a focus on sustainability to community programming and open event access, the site has been designed to contribute positively to its surroundings. The event spaces will be made available to local businesses and residents without a hire fee, ensuring the brewery plays an active role in supporting London’s creative and cultural life.
Diageo has said that it expects to welcome more than half a million visitors to the new Covent Garden site in its first year, deepening engagement with loyal Guinness fans, new consumers, and members of the community.
Reasons to visit and return
Once someone has visited the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London, is there any reason to return? Guinness GB marketing director Deb Caldow seems to think so.
Caldow said: “I think what is so brilliant about what we’ve put on here is that actually we fully anticipate that people who are new to Guinness and new to London coming and visiting here as a must-see destination. But there are so many more reasons to come back. The courtyard area – you don’t have to book to come in for a pie and a pint.”
The additional intention is for the site to serve the businesses and people in its locality as much as to attract tourists. As Caldow stated: “We look forward to welcoming people from around the area regularly. The restaurants are definitely worth coming back to more than once. We’ve got the core tour, and we’ve got a premium tour launching in the spring. We’ve got retail. There are lots of reasons to come back, and we’re looking forward to welcoming domestic UK consumers, Londoners and international visitors alike.”
The London site is the fourth Guinness Open Gate Brewery site globally and builds on Diageo’s expanding portfolio of brand homes around the world. This includes the original Guinness Storehouse at St James’ Gate in Dublin, which celebrates its 25-year anniversary this week and has welcomed more than 25 million visitors since opening. Guinness’s three existing Open Gate Brewery locations are Dublin, Baltimore and Chicago.
Cultural vibrancy
Diageo’s global director for beer, liqueur and vodka Gráinne Wafer admitted: “It’s a milestone in our 267 year old history and this opening really marks a bold new chapter for Guinness’s global growth story, and what a growth story that is. We have been growing double digits globally over the last four years, in many of our markets across the world.”
Addressing Guinness’s successes, Wafer said: “You’re seeing phenomenal performance on Guinness, and what’s behind that performance is the fact that Guinness is really a beer and a brand for everyone. It is loved by a new generation of drinkers. We are seeing a massive increase in terms of women coming into the brand and also younger people coming into the brand. And we’re showing up very powerfully in culture through our partnerships in sport, whether that’s rugby or our more recent partnership with the Premier League, and also through partnerships in fashion.”
Wafer insisted: “With the opening here, we have the opportunity to really become part of the cultural vibrancy of this incredible part of London and our brand homes are really the beating heart and the fullest expression of Diageo expertise in brand experience. Because experience, of course, is right at the heart of our business. Because with every drink we serve and with every friend we welcome, every connection we make is an experience with our brands. We know that our brand homes strengthen relationships with our consumers and also attract new ones.”
To book and for more information visit the Guinness Open Gate Brewery, London website here.
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