|
Dark spirits and black drinks  Guinness
Storehouse
St James’s Gate, Dublin 8
Tel: 00 353 1 408 4800
9.30am-5pm Mon-Sun
?14, ?12.60 if booked online, concs ?9.50, ?7.50, children ?5
www.guinness-storehouse.com
No trip to Dublin would be complete without downing a pint of plain,
aka a pint of Guinness. Described as “the most complete vegetarian
meal in the world” the drink was invented by the appropriately named
late knight, Sir Arthur Guinness.
Also known as Sir Osis (Sir Osis of the Liver, that is), a visit to the
seat of his operations in the Guinness Storehouse at St James’s
Gate is an essential potatory pilgrimage.
Initially Guinness was unpopular with Dubliners. This was not on matters
of taste — the average Dub initially turned his nose up at the concoction
because of Arthur Guinness’s opposition to the United Irishmen.
However the attractions of the new drink soon overcame
political considerations. Up the rebels and down the hatch. The black
porter, or darker shade of ale, was on its way.
You can see where Sir Arthur’s brewing prowess was first put into
practice back in 1759 in the former fermentation plant which has been
helpfully remodelled into the shape of a giant pint glass.
You’ll discover the details of porter production, how roast barley
gives Guinness its deep ruby colour and how a perfect pint is pulled.
The Storehouse includes an advertising section where you can see all those
iconic Guinness posters of the past. However no mention of Brendan Behan’s
efforts as a copywriter.
Employed by the company to come up with a new advertising slogan, after
sampling the product at great length he penned the indisputable strap-line:
“Guinness makes you drunk.”
The tour ends in the Gravity Bar — a drinking establishment with
a 360 degree panoramic view across the city. You can gaze out on oul’
Dublin and think great thoughts, or ponder the indispensable manual In
Praise Of Drunkenness by Boniface Oinophilus de Monte Fiascone, published
in 1812 but you should still be able to get a copy from your local library.
This contains some invaluable advice, notably in the chapter entitled:
DRUNK,
RULES FOR GETTING: (1) Not too often; (2) In good company; (3) With good
porter.
Alternatively you could impress your quaffing partners with facts such
as: Sandflies drink blood at a rate equivalent to a human drinking 100
pints of Guinness in 10 minutes.
Slainté!
The mystery and history of Guinness
The Guinness dynasty was founded by Sir Arthur who brewed his first pint
of ‘the black Protestant porter’ in Celbridge, Co. Kildare
in a pub where the Muck Duck Pub now stands.
Arthur’s father Richard had brewed beer for workers on the Archbishop
of Cashel’s estate so brewing was in the blood.
Young Arthur married Olivia Whitmore in 1761 and the couple had 21 children.
Not a hint of brewer’s droop then.
But although Guinness is good for you, only 10 of Arthur’s offspring
survived into adulthood. Enough, however, to keep the family firm going.
Three became brewers, while
others in the family became missionaries, authors and politicians.
The ancient chronicles of Irish history The Annals of the Four Masters
are quite clear about one thing — the first people to settle in
Ireland after the Biblical Great Flood were an innkeeper and a brewer.
Whether these were some distant ancestors of Sir Arthur is unfortunately
lost in the mists of time. What we do know however is that Arthur moved
his brewing operations to St. James’s Gate in 1760.
By 1799 he was brewing only porter and by his death in 1803 the annual
brewery output was over 2,000 barrels.
Should you want to pay your respects to him he is buried in Oughter Ard
in Co. Kildare.
Benjamin Lee Guinness, the grandson of Arthur, eventually took sole control
of the business and was soon the richest man in Ireland. He became the
first Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1851, entering the British House of Commons
in 1865 representing Dublin.
In 1860 he undertook at his own expense the restoration of St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. A statue of Ben now stands in the grounds of the Cathedral,
while a stained glass window commemorates this stout fellow.
Guinness business
Today Guinness is today owned by Diageo, the largest multi-national beer,
wine and spirits company in the world, the result of a merger between
Guinness and Grand Metropolitan plc. Diaego — a word formed from
the Latin dia (Day) and the Greek geo (World), fact fans — is also
the holding company for Harp Lager, Bells whiskey, Kilkenny lager and
Bailey’s liqueur.
Today Guinness employs around 12,500 people worldwide, brews its brand
in some 50 countries, and sells its pints in 150 nations.
The world’s porter superpowers remain Britain, the biggest consumer
of Guinness, followed by Ireland, the USA, Spain and Nigeria.
In 1900 a pint of Guinness in Ireland cost about 1p. Today in 2008 your
pint of plain in Dublin will set you back something in the
region of ?4.20 to ?4.50. But don’t forget, no matter what the year
is, only the first drink is ever expensive.
n Old Jameson Distillery
Bow Street, Dublin 7
Tel: 00 353 1 807-2355
10am-5.30pm Mon-Sun
www.jamesonwhiskey.com
?7/?5.75
Luas to Smithfield (Red Line), bus 67, 67A, 68, 69, 79, 134 from City
Centre
The invention of whiskey is a relatively recent affair, with the first
mention of uisge beatha, ‘the water of life’, in the Irish
Annals of AD 1405.
According to this essential read, a certain Risteard Mac Rannell, the
Chief of Muintear Eolais, turned his toes up after an over indulgence
of the stuff. Well, we all know how he felt.
The art of distillation was probably brought to Ireland by Phoenician
traders or missionary monks in the 6th century. (It was probably the monks,
because whiskey is not, properly speaking, alcohol but a form of instant
philosophy.)
At the Old Jameson Distillery (tours every 35 minutes) you’ll learn
how John Jameson first started manufacturing the electric soup way back
in 1780, plus all about malting, fermenting, distilling and maturing processes
and why Irish whiskey tastes different to Scotch (it’s distilled
three times, while Scotch is only twice). You’ll also hear about
the Angel’s Share — the whiskey that evaporates during storage.
Tours finish with a ritual tasting of whiskey and then it it’s time
to move in on dinner — the complex has a fine restaurant.
The shop sells some 100 brands of whiskey, many of which are not available
outside Ireland. So treat yourself to a few of the rarer labels, confident
in the knowledge that with a bottle of whiskey, a few friends and a piano
you have an instant party.
n The Chimney Viewing Tower
Smithfield Village, Dublin 7
Tel: 00 353 1 817 3800
10am-5pm Mon-Sat
11am-5.30pm Sun
www.chiefoneills.com
?5/Student: ?3.50 Child: ?3.50/Family: ?10
The Chimney Viewing Tower, aka ‘the flue with a View’ was
once an old Jameson distillery chimney. Now it’s one of Dublin’s
tallest landmarks with a 360 degree panoramic view at the top. You travel
up in a vertigo-inducing glass lift to the two-tiered, glass-enclosed
viewing platform.
n Bushmills Distillery
Bushmills, Co. Derry
Tel: 028 2073 1521
9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat
noon – 5.30pm Sun
To visit the oldest distillery in the world, head for Derry and the old
town of Bushmills.
Next year will mark the 400th anniversary of Sir Thomas Phillips was granted
a licence to distil whiskey by James I of England. However, mentions of
distilling traditions in the surrounding environs date back to 1276.
The distillery is situated just a mile from the Giant’s Causeway,
the magnificent basalt rock formation on the North Antrim coast. If you
plan to visit to both sites in one day it is recommended you do the cliffs
first, as a certain amount of whiskey sampling is de rigeur at Bushmills.
During the guided tour some (but not all) of the secrets of a fine malt
will be demonstrated: The special water from St. Columb’s Well,
the malted Irish barley, the triple distillation in copper stills followed
by ageing for long years in oak casks.
After your visit to the distillery, get your chauffeur to turn left immediately
on leaving the premises and drive along the B66 towards Derrykeighan.
About three miles up the road look out for the Traill monument, built
circa 1833. This set of stones will appear to swell and contract before
your very eyes. No, it’s not the drink. It is due to an obscure
law of physics — the one which deals with the human eye simplifying
differing orientations resulting in this strange optical illusion. |
