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Guinness Open Gate Brewery: Where Guinness Actually Experiments

Tucked inside the St. James's Gate complex on James's Street, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery is a working experimental taproom where Guinness brewers test recipes that never make it to supermarket shelves. No queues, no theatrics, just serious beer in a real brewery setting.

Quick Facts

Location
53 James's Street, Dublin 8 (St. James's Gate complex)
Getting There
Luas Red Line: James's stop, within walking distance
Time Needed
1.5 to 3 hours depending on flights ordered and food
Cost
No entry fee; Brewer's Flight and House/Experimental-style Flight each around €11
Best for
Beer enthusiasts, curious drinkers, anyone who finds the Guinness Storehouse too touristy
A perfectly poured pint of Guinness sits on a shiny bar with dozens of different beer bottles lining the curved wall behind it in a warm-lit taproom.

What the Guinness Open Gate Brewery Actually Is

Most visitors to Dublin know the Guinness Storehouse, the seven-story tourist attraction a short walk away on St. James's Gate. Far fewer know that inside the same sprawling brewery complex, on James's Street in Dublin 8, there is a second, very different Guinness experience: the Guinness Open Gate Brewery Dublin. This is a working experimental taproom, not a museum. It is the place where Guinness brewers develop, test, and serve beers that exist nowhere else in the world.

The site has serious history. The experimental brewery at St. James's Gate dates back over 100 years, and in 2015 Guinness opened this space to the public as the Guinness Open Gate Brewery. Today it operates as a public taproom where the brewing team serves pilot batches alongside a rotating menu of experimental and limited releases. The beers change frequently, sometimes seasonally, sometimes as one-off trials. What you drink on one visit may not exist on your next.

ℹ️ Good to know

You must be 18 or over to enter the Open Gate Brewery. This is a working brewery site, and the age requirement is strictly enforced at the door.

The Taproom Experience: What to Expect Inside

The interior keeps the industrial character of the original brewery space: exposed brickwork, steel brewing vessels visible through glass, the faint warm smell of malt in the air. It does not feel like a themed bar or a tourist set. The lighting is low but not dark, the tables are solid wood, and the noise level during peak hours is lively without becoming difficult. Staff behind the bar are generally knowledgeable about the current pour list and will explain what each experimental beer was trying to achieve.

The menu centres on flights. The Brewer's Flight and Experimental Flight are each priced at around €11 and give you a selection of smaller pours across different styles. This is the sensible way to visit, especially if you want to compare. Full pints of selected beers are also available. Food is served alongside, leaning toward substantial plates that work with beer rather than against it.

The beer range at any given time might include stouts at varying roast intensities, IPAs, sours, barrel-aged experiments, and seasonal wheat beers. The point is not consistency. Guinness uses this space precisely because it is free from the commercial pressures of the main product line. Some experiments are polished and confident. Others taste exactly like what they are: something still being figured out. Both are worth trying.

💡 Local tip

Order a flight before committing to full pints. The experimental beers vary significantly in style and strength, and a flight lets you identify what you actually want more of before spending on a full pour.

Opening Hours and When to Go

The taproom is open Monday 1pm to 9pm (last sitting 8pm), Thursday through Saturday 1pm to 9pm (last sitting 8pm), and Sunday 1pm to 7pm (last sitting 6pm). It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The broader brewery location has daytime hours from Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 5pm, Friday and Saturday 9:30am to 6pm, and Sunday 9:30am to 5pm, but the taproom itself only opens from 1pm.

Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons tend to draw the largest crowds. If you want a quieter experience with more time to talk to bar staff about what you are drinking, Monday or Sunday afternoon is the better call. By around 2pm on a Sunday the room fills with a relaxed, unhurried crowd, a different atmosphere from the weekend evening energy.

⚠️ What to skip

Hours and closures can change. Always check the official website at opengatedublin.guinness.com before visiting, as the taproom occasionally closes for private events or brewery days.

Getting There from Dublin City Centre

The address is 53 James's Street, Dublin 8, D08 CX26. From the city centre, the Luas Red Line is the easiest option. The James's stop sits within comfortable walking distance of the brewery entrance. The walk from the stop passes through the lower Liberties, a part of Dublin with deep brewing history stretching back centuries, which gives the approach some context even before you arrive.

For those exploring the broader area, the Smithfield and Liberties neighbourhood contains several other worthwhile stops that pair well with a visit here. The area sits on the western edge of the historic city, distinct in character from the more tourist-heavy streets around Trinity College or Temple Bar.

There is limited parking available on Crane Street near the taproom, and James's Street is a working arterial road. Public transport or walking from the city centre is strongly advisable. A taxi from Dame Street takes under ten minutes in normal traffic.

How It Compares to the Guinness Storehouse

The Guinness Storehouse is one of Ireland's most visited paid attractions and serves a clear purpose: it is a branded heritage experience with a rooftop bar and a Gravity Bar view over Dublin. It is well-executed for what it is. The Open Gate Brewery is a different proposition entirely. There is no entrance fee, no guided narrative arc, and no panoramic view. What you get instead is access to beers that do not exist anywhere else, served in a space that is still, at its core, a brewery.

The Storehouse suits first-time visitors who want the full Guinness brand story and a pint with a view. The Open Gate Brewery suits people who already understand what Guinness is and want to see where its brewing team is actually pushing in new directions. Both can sit in the same itinerary without feeling redundant, though trying to do both on the same afternoon may leave you with more beer than walking speed.

Practical Notes for Your Visit

There is no dress code, but the space is an active brewery site, so comfortable footwear is sensible. Photography inside the taproom is generally fine for personal use. The interior is warm in cooler months, which is appreciated in Dublin's unreliable weather, but this also means it can feel close on busy evenings. Arriving just after the 1pm opening gives you the quietest window of any operating day.

If you are building a longer day in this part of the city, the Kilmainham Gaol and the Irish Museum of Modern Art are both within a fifteen-minute walk to the west. Kilmainham Gaol requires advance booking and deserves at least two hours, so plan accordingly if you intend to combine the two.

Those interested in Dublin's broader whiskey and distilling scene might also consider pairing the Open Gate Brewery with a visit to the Teeling Whiskey Distillery in the nearby Liberties, which offers a similar contrast between craft production and commercial scale.

💡 Local tip

If you are visiting on a weekday, ask bar staff what the newest experimental release is. Pilot batches often appear midweek and may only last a few days before the kegs run out.

Insider Tips

  • The Experimental Flight changes more frequently than the Brewer's Flight. If you want the beers least likely to exist anywhere else in the world, ask specifically about the experimental pours before ordering.
  • Arriving close to the 1pm opening on a weekday means you will often have the bar staff's full attention. It is the easiest time to have a real conversation about what the brewing team is currently working on.
  • The Open Gate Brewery occasionally hosts tap takeovers and special release events. Check the official website a week before your visit as these events are not always widely promoted in advance.
  • Combine your visit with a walk through the surrounding Liberties neighbourhood before arriving. James's Street and the streets around it still carry the grain-and-hops smell of active brewing on certain days, which gives the visit a different texture.
  • The last sitting times are earlier than the closing times: 8pm on weekday and Saturday evenings, 6pm on Sunday. Plan your arrival to allow at least 90 minutes before the last sitting if you want a full flight and food.

Who Is Guinness Open Gate Brewery For?

  • Beer enthusiasts who want experimental and limited-release Guinness variants unavailable anywhere else
  • Returning Dublin visitors who have already done the Guinness Storehouse and want the less-polished, more authentic version
  • Craft beer drinkers curious how a large historic brewery handles small-batch innovation
  • Travellers building a half-day itinerary through the Liberties and Kilmainham area
  • Groups who prefer a low-key bar setting over a ticketed attraction experience

Nearby Attractions

Other things to see while in Smithfield & The Liberties:

  • Christ Church Cathedral

    Christ Church Cathedral has anchored Dublin's skyline for nearly a thousand years, predating the city's most famous landmarks by centuries. This guide covers what you actually see inside, when to go, how to get there, and whether the admission fee is worth it.

  • Dublinia Viking and Medieval Museum

    Dublinia brings over a thousand years of Dublin's earliest history to life through immersive reconstructions of Viking longships, medieval streetscapes, and hands-on archaeology exhibits. Housed in the 19th-century Gothic Revival Synod Hall beside Christ Church Cathedral, it rewards curious visitors of almost any age.

  • Guinness Storehouse

    The Guinness Storehouse takes you through seven floors of brewing history at St James's Gate, the birthplace of one of the world's most recognisable drinks. The experience ends at the rooftop Gravity Bar with a complimentary pint and views across the Dublin skyline. It draws more visitors than any other paid attraction in Ireland, and whether that's a recommendation or a caution depends entirely on what you're after.

  • Jameson Distillery Bow St

    Set in the historic Bow Street distillery building that dates to 1780, Jameson Distillery Bow St in Smithfield is the original home of Irish whiskey's most recognised name. Guided tours combine genuine industrial history with hands-on tasting, finishing at a rooftop bar above the cobbled square.