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Guinness scales down in Dublin

by Roger Protz, 06/08

Guinness has been brewing stout in Dublin for 250 years and will continue to do so - but it plans to scale down the historic original plant at St James's Gate as it builds a new site on the outskirts of the Irish capital.

It is part of a £520 million modernisation plan by Guinness's owner, Diageo.
  

There has been speculation for some time that Guinness would close St James's Gate, thought to be worth £2 billion, but Diageo's chief executive Paul Walsh said it was the brewery's "spiritual home". "We will rejuvenate St James's Gate and also build a new world class, state-of-the-art brewery," he added.

One reason for remaining at St James's Gate is the success of the Guinness Storehouse, a museum that is Ireland's top tourist attraction and makes millions of euros in profits for Diageo. The old brewery will continue to brew stout for the Irish and British markets while the new plant will concentrate on making stout for international markets, Africa in particular.


   The company will raise £400 million by selling part of St James's Gate. It will also close its breweries in Dundalk and Kilkenny, which could spell the end for ale brewing in Ireland. The two smaller plants produce Macardle's and Smithwick's ales and Diageo has not said whether the beers will be transferred to Dublin. Smithwick's dates from 1710 and is on the site of a Franciscan monastery that once also brewed beer. Smithwick's is one of the last remaining examples of an Irish "red" ale, brewed with roasted barley alongside pale malt. As Guinness Red has not been a success in either Ireland or Britain, the writing could be on the wall for Smithwick's.

The new brewery, which is due to come on stream in 2013, is likely to concentrate exclusively on stout as Diageo has recently entered the booming Russian beer market where there is a long tradition of dark beers, including Baltic Porter and Imperial Russian Stout.
  

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