Guinness is undoubtedly one of the most quintessential exports of Ireland and is recognized around the world for its dark colour and rich flavour profile. The historical origins of the brand are distinctly Irish, with the original brewery at St. James Gate becoming the most common tourist attraction for visitors on the Emerald Isle to visit in the 21st century. A local beer garden or bar that offers Guinness on tap can set you up with a drinking experience that’s more than 250 years in the making.
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The Original Guinness Brewery
The history of Guinness and its legendary brews started in 1759 when Arthur Guinness signed a lease for the brewery’s property at St. James Gate in Dublin, Ireland. The lease term was for up to 9,000 years and required Arthur and the Guinness company to pay a grand total of £45 per year. While this lease is no longer in effect, it’s still archived for viewing in Dublin today.
The purchase of the brewery equipment and property was not an immediate win for Arthur, who was primarily making ale, rather than the famous stout for which the Guinness brand is now famous.
Ten years after setting up the Guinness brewery, Arthur Guinness began exporting to England, where he met with only slightly more success than he saw at home. On his first voyage to England to sell his beer, he only brought six and a half barrels. At the time when he started his exports, “Porter” beers were growing in popularity, particularly in London. One of the brews that Arthur tried when in London was called the “West Indian Porter,” which then formed the basis for the modern iterations of Guinness. His earlier focus on brewing ale was almost entirely dropped in favour of the new product line.
Expansion Plans
If Arthur Guinness was the founder of the Guinness brand and brewery, his son was the one that expanded its reach to set it up for global success. Production continued onwards throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s when steam-powered devices were introduced in the brewery to optimize production. As production became more efficient, the company gathered more bandwidth for selling the beverage outside of its home country.
By 1868, the brewery had expanded from four acres to sixty-four acres, at which point the original lease expired because the property had expanded well beyond the original purchase. The Guinness brewery at St. James Gate had essentially become a “city within a city”, with many exports reaching the furthest ends of the earth, from California to New Zealand. However, the beer’s popularity was centralized around the brewing source in Ireland and Great Britain.
In 1886, the company went public, at which time Edward Guinness sold 65% of the company on the company on the London Stock Exchange for 6 million pounds. Relative to current currency values, 6 million pounds at the time is approximately equivalent to more than 750 million pounds today. The company has been a publicly-traded company for more than 150 years. Beyond its first few years of operation, financial issues were never an issue due to the popularity of the brand and its beverage.
The Guinness Harp
On the front of any Guinness bottle or tap, you’ll recognize the famous Guinness harp, which traditionally is gold-coloured and sits on a black background. The harp emblem first became a part of the Guinness brand in 1862 and is one of the three elements of the official Guinness logo, alongside the name and the characteristic signature of Arthur Guinness, the company’s founder. According to the Guinness Storehouse records, the original branded harp is a recreation of the "O'Neill" or "Brian Boru" harp, named after a “patron of the arts” in Ireland’s medieval era.
The original harp for which the beer is named is currently on exhibit at the Trinity College of Dublin library, where tourists and other visitors can view a collection of other Irish artefacts, including the Book of the Kells. When the Guinness brand first started brewing its trademark lager in 1960, company executives decided to simply call the brew “Harp.” The harp logo is also an important symbol of the Republic of Ireland, with some of the country’s coins including the harp in their designs. In 2006, the Guinness company redesigned the harp to reflect the company’s modernity, though keeping the outline of the original harp as a homage to the brand’s historical origins.
Moving Shop
In 1932, the Irish Free State brought forward the “Control of Manufactures Act,” which proved to be expensive for many of the company’s primary industrial producers. In response to the act, the Guinness brand moved its headquarters to London, where production continued for the brand’s Porter brew, though production for the drink officially stopped in 1960. The brewing company would not move its headquarters back to St. James Gate in Ireland until 2005, by which time the company was valued at more than 40 billion euros.
Mergers and Acquisitions
In 1986, while the company's primary headquarters was still in England, Guinness entered a bidding war for the Distillers Company, which was a significantly larger brand. Upon successfully acquiring this second brand, the value of Guinness stock dropped in relation to the overall company. This pushed many of the original stockholders down in terms of overall share, including the family members of the company’s founder, Arthur Guinness. In 1997, the company merged with another corporation known as “Grand Metropolitan plc,” which further expanded the company's overall size.
Modern Brewing
In 2005, the Guinness headquarters relocated back to the original facility at St. James Gate in Dublin. Currently, Guinness is brewed in 49 countries, with brand-owned breweries in Ireland, Malaysia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana. In 2018, the brand opened its next U.S.-based Guinness brewery in Baltimore, with plans to build a second in Chicago. The popularity of the original Guinness product and the variety of other brews the company offers to make it one of the most successful alcohol brands in the world.
From classical Guinness beer to modern-day craft beer. Check out our interview with Fraser Maclellan, the founder of Froth and Rind, who specialises in crafting artisanal craft beer to perfectly complement a platter of cheese.
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