Diageo, owners of Guinness has opened its new brewery in Dublin. The world’s largest stout brewery cost €169 million. On Friday 19th September Diageo CEO was joined by The Republic of Ireland’s Taoiseach Edna Kenny to officially open the company’s “Brewhouse No 4”, a state-of-the-art brewery located at St James Gate in Dublin. At 10,000 m2 in size it is the world’s largest stout brewery and fourth to be built on the site, first founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759 which covers some 55 acres and produces more than one billion pints per year. (I served part of my apprenticeship there in 1957) The new brewery brings together all it’s Irish brewing operations on one site.
Speaking at the opening, Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo, said “Our decision back in 2011 to invest in St Jame’s Gate represented a €168 million vote of confidence by Diageo in Guinness and our beer business . It also represented a major vote of confidence in the Irish economy itself. Diageo operations in Ireland support the employment of 20,000 people in the Irish economy, not least in the purchase of goods and services to the value of €350 million a year.” He added “By consolidating all of our operations to one site Diageo is ensuring the long term sustainability and global competitiveness of our brewing operations. Brewhouse No 4 will support the growth in our exports market and Diageo’s ambitions to further growth.”