Guinness opens its 'gate' for St. Patrick’s Day

Craft beer drinkers from the region and beyond will lift a Guinness Stout (or two) in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Two hundred years after the first Guinness beer from Dublin arrived in America, Guinness has built a brewery in the Baltimore area to focus on innovation. It allows the historic brewer to be a part of what is the most exciting and diverse beer market in the world right now, the United States of America.

Guinness Open Gate Brewery expects to welcome more than 8,500 visitors March 14-15 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend. A special menu has been curated for the two-day event by the brewery’s own restaurant, 1817, named for the year the first shipment of Guinness from Ireland to America was completed. Typically the brewery has free entry, but for this holiday weekend, a range of tickets are being sold including regular admission ($20 — your first beer is free) and a designated driver ticket ($10 which includes a soft drink and a voucher towards food).

Guinness Open Gate has brewed more than 100 recipes since opening in August 2018. The taproom list is constantly evolving. There are always four core Baltimore-brewed beers on tap along with the classics that are imported from Dublin. Additional beers on tap are their experimental brews in which the Baltimore brewery is the only place in the world where you’ll be able to try these.

The experimental brews meld the Irish tradition with American innovation. A few highlights include Crosslands Clover Honey Ale, made with local honey from Apex Bee Co. Black Currant Stout is brewed with a nod to the occasional addition of black currant syrup to stouts in Ireland. Irish Breakfast Tea Amber is a lower ABV amber ale brewed with Irish Breakfast Tea. In addition, Guinness Open Gate will offer experimental IPAs, coffee stouts and a red currant sour, just to name a few.

New this year, the brewery’s great lawn will transform into an Irish market with upwards of 30 booths celebrating community and Irish traditions, as well as experimental food and beer pop-ups, of course. It’s only three hours (give or take) from the Pittsburgh area to Guinness Open Gate. It’s a fantastic overnight if you’re looking for a quick visit to somewhere that’s not too far away.

Craft beer consumers who visit Guinness Open Gate in Baltimore will have an opportunity to feel the more than 260-year history of Guinness. It’s obviously a destination for craft beer drinkers and arguably one of the best places in America to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Not up for the trip this weekend? Look for these Guinness Open Gate bottled beers. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Baltimore Blonde (5% ABV). Pours golden yellow and is well filtered. Aromas of citrus and tropical fruits. Lighter body beer with a crisp white cracker flavor and finish.

Over the Moon Milk Stout (5.3% ABV). Pours a dark brown. Luxuriously smooth and sweet. A milk stout with flavors of roasted malt, milk chocolate and coffee.