If the hope of traveling abroad was on your 2020 bucket list, look no farther than the Guinness Open Gate Brewery located 10 miles outside of downtown Baltimore. Visitors to the first Guinness brewery to be opened in the U.S. in over 60 years will have a taste of Dublin in the U.S. through experiencing the brewery, which is offering tours of the facilities, exhibits that teach the beer-making process, as well as the history of Guinness. Individuals can participate in tastings of classic beers offered by Guinness, specifically the famous Guinness stout.
The Maryland brewery will look to produce and feature several new beers that will be distributed throughout the Maryland region, the first of which was released in late fall last year. This first new beer from the Open Gate Brewery is named the Moon Milk Stout. This is the brewery’s first attempt of producing a line of beers targeted more toward the American drinker. Specific to the Maryland brewery, visitors will find that majority of the taproom’s beers are brewed onsite, a few even made with Maryland produced malted barley and hops. Only Guinness-brewed products will be served and no TVs will be found located on the property. To build on the beer’s brand, “the goal is to get beer drinkers to unplug for a few hours and savor their surroundings.”
The Guinness Open Gate Brewery sits on 62-acres of land, a previous Calvert distillery, owned by Guinness’ parent company Diageo since 2001. The distillery was originally named the Maryland Distilling Company, opened in 1933 after the end of prohibition and most known for distilling the Lord Calvert Whisky brand. The companies spent $90 million to convert the old distillery on the property into the brewery and barrel house. Today the property also works as a Seagram live production site for spirits aging and bottling.
The aesthetic of the surroundings within the brewery itself, the modern appearance of the taproom and restaurant draws to the experience of the visitors, keeping the details clean-cut, simple, yet still classically the Guinness brand as to have the Ireland experience within the U.S. Beer sales “have been falling globally,” so the goal of this particular brewery was to draw in both traditional brand objectives, as well as tying in aspects in the design, appearance and overall service and beer that are more frequented by individuals today, following the trends of the market.
The exterior of the brewery is accented nicely by outdoor seating and tasting areas, simple foliage and lighting that subtly enhances the grandness of the building. A prominent feature of the exterior design is the KLIK LEDpodTM 40 illuminating the railings to the entrance of the brewery. As there are many stairs that lead up to the doorways and the hours of the brewery are primarily when it gets dark, the KLIK LEDpodTM safely leads the way for any individuals visiting the brewery.
Designer: MAG-Lighting Design LLC
Find more information about the brewery here:
https://www.guinnessbrewerybaltimore.com/our-story
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/04/635335001/guinness-opens-its-first-u-s-brewery-in-64-years
