Into the Driver’s Seat

Beyond booking a trip to Ireland, if you want to drink Guinness beer straight from the source, Halethorpe is the only place in the United States to go to drink the legacy brand’s beer. And now, thanks to a partnership with MDOT MTA, that trip just got a whole lot easier.

At the beginning of September, a new CityLink Yellow route started running from downtown Baltimore to the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Ale House—a trip expected to take 30 to 40 minutes which Guinness hopes will build upon the 400,000-visitor number it achieved in its first year. Service will extend from the Halethorpe destination all the way to a final stop between Guilford and Centre Streets in Mt. Vernon.

“Sixty percent of our visitors are from the state of Maryland,” says Guiness general manager Michael Donilon. “We’ve become a local brewery.”

As such, it seems prudent to make that local brewery as widely accessible to as many Baltimoreans as possible. In the year it’s been open, the facility has become a popular weekend destination, as well as a popular attraction for tourists visiting the city. With this in mind, the new bus route, which will start as a year-long pilot program, will service 58 weekly round trips—including nine on weekdays, seven on Saturdays, and six on Sundays.

Donilon was pleased with MDOT MTA’s willingness to collaborate on a project that worked best for the government and for the brewery. The initiative speaks to Guiness’s commitment to promoting safe and responsible drinking, and serves to complement its partnership with Lyft’s ride sharing service. “We are a test brewery, and MTA is willing to test and learn and adjust,” Donilon says. “That’s in line with the way we do business here.”

Donilon also cited another way the route will be a boon for the brewery—assisting its employees. Guiness added 200 jobs on its sprawling facility, and in staff interviews, management found that around 30 percent of those workers used some form of public transportation to get to the area.

As for the future, Guinness hopes that its visitor numbers will continue to increase, and with the introduction of this new bus line, there’s no reason that can’t be the case.

“Maryland does have a very good brewing history and a very knowledgeable base,” Donilon says. “The brewery hours are not changing, but now our guests have several avenues to come out and see us.”

Since its opening last August, there’s been much fanfare surrounding Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House (5001 Washington Blvd.). For starters, it’s the first Guinness brewery to open in the United States in over 60 years. Plus, with its location in Halethorpe, it’s just a 15-minute drive from downtown Baltimore. But mostly, it’s generating a lot of buzz because it’s a place to try really good beer. And it’s not just the beloved Guinness Draught—or Irish dry stout—that’s imported from Dublin. Hollie Stephenson, Peter Wiens, and the rest of the Guinness brew crew produce some impressive, outside-of-the-box styles.

At 22,000 square feet, the brewery space itself is massive, and you can even see the beaming white letters spelling “Guinness” from the highway. Once you walk through the double-gated entrance, you know you’re visiting something special. The facility acts more or less like a museum for the brand, providing informational timelines, photos, and mile markers denoting how far you are from Dublin (3,352 miles, to be precise). The outside space features Adirondack chairs, picnic tables, a garden the brewers use for growing ingredients, and even a vintage Studebaker beer truck. There’s also plenty of places to enjoy a cold one. You can get a pint at the outdoor bar, up on one of the balconies, or inside the taproom.

The space can feel a little Disney-esque, especially the closer you veer toward the gift shop. But once you start sampling beer at the indoor bar, the warm Irish pub vibes help you feel at home. Flight boards are a good deal—nearly seven-ounce samples for $4 each that give you a pretty good overview of the brewery portfolio. Consider comparing some Guinness U.S. mainstays like Blonde (crisp and citrus-accented) or Milk Stout (creamy and sweet) with experimental varieties. Get weird with a super-earthy Black Currant Stout or the Tart Apricot Ale, Guinness’ delicious take on the ever-popular kettle sour.

The food in the taproom is a little lackluster. (You’d have better luck dining at the upstairs 1817 Restaurant.) Our Irish version of “nachos” was basically potato chips smothered with cubes of corned beef and beer cheese. Still, they provided the necessary fuel for us to sip our generously poured flight as we sat on a balcony overlooking the lush lawn. It may not be the Emerald Isle, but it’s pretty darn close.

As you pull off the highway, bright, white letters spelling out Guinness appear just over the tree line. When you drive closer, a giant gold harp painted on the side of a building comes into view. Soon, signs of pint glasses of stout beckon you to make a right. This place might have all of the familiar trappings of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. But we realize we are home when we see the signature colors of the Maryland flag billowing above the entrance.

After nearly two years of community meetings, architectural plans, trans-Atlantic research, and some major construction, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House is set to open this Friday outside of Halethorpe. As the first Guinness brewery in the U.S. in more than 60 years, the space takes up a massive 62 acres of land on, fittingly, a former beverage manufacturing site.

“The Storehouse in Dublin is amazing and tells the story of Guinness better than anywhere in the world,” says Oliver Gray, marketing manager for the Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House. “But you never get to see the beer getting made. This experience will be much more functional since you’ll be able to tour the brewhouse. This feels just like a brewpub—on steroids.”

The campus has an outdoor seating and lawn area with a capacity for nearly 4,500 people, an 82-barrel brewhouse, a visitor’s center, taproom and bar, 10-barrel experimental brewhouse, and a third-floor restaurant that will debut in a few weeks.

The brewery includes historical touches wherever it can, including an 1830s-era kettle imported from Dublin that greets visitors as soon as they walk in. Historic barrels—both from Ireland and from when the site was the Maryland Distilling Company—line the walls. Guests can either participate in a tour with a guide or roam around the three-story building themselves.

“This whole place is about self-discovery,” Gray says, pointing out museum-like exhibits that chronicle Guinness’s history. “But, of course, the taproom experience is key and our goal is to change the narrative that Guinness is about more than just draft stout.”

To do that, they hired brewers Peter Wiens from Stone Brewing and Hollie Stephenson who came from Highland Brewing. The two have spent the past year creating outside-of-the-box beer styles that patrons have been able to try out in the test taproom.

The results can be seen in the brand new taproom that seats about 200, which will always have the “core” beers on tap including the imported stout and four beers made in Baltimore: Guinness Blonde, IPA, Milk Stout, and White Ale. On the other side of the draft list is where things can funky and will be rotated frequently. For the debut, some experimental beers include the Barrel-Aged Stock Ale, Belgian-Style Blonde, and an Apricot Pale Ale.

“We have a Class-D brewery license, so we can only serve the stuff we make,” Gray says. “But, keeping that in mind, we’ve got beers for people who are more into cider or like strong spirits. We want to change people’s minds about what a Guinness can be.”

Small snacks like pretzel bites and sandwiches will be available in the taproom and an adjacent barrel room will be available for private parties and VIP tours for up to 50 people. Just downstairs, tour groups will be able to step inside the 10-barrel brewhouse where a lot of the experimentation happens, a unique experience of a Guinness tour.

The third floor of the site will house new American restaurant 1817, named for the first year Guinness was brewed, which will serve a mix of Irish and Maryland classics as guests overlook the lawn that’s been landscaped in the shape of a pint glass.

Guinness will be offering tours and tastings starting this Friday at 3 p.m. The facility will be open seven days a week, Monday-Friday from 3-9 p.m. and on the weekends from noon-9 p.m. with an eventual goal of staying open until 10.

While staffers are eager just to get the doors open, future plans include more local brewery collaborations, work with nonprofits like the Maryland Food Bank and Oyster Recovery Partnership, and plenty of food and music festivals to come.

“We know that Guinness loyalists and fans will be excited about this place,” says Gray. “But we want to make sure that we’re keeping the people happy in our own backyard.”

Last week, it was announced that Heavy Seas Beer had abandoned ship at its alehouse in Harbor East, which will soon transition into a brick-and-mortar location for local catering company Blue Dog BBQ. But the brewery is full steam ahead with another project.

“While Heavy Seas Alehouse has enjoyed serving some of Baltimore’s best craft beer and food to the local community and visitors alike, this is a great opportunity to give Blue Dog BBQ a chance to realize their dream,” Heavy Seas founder Hugh Sisson said in a statement. “It will also allow the Heavy Seas team to continue focusing on executing the expansion and renovation of the new tasting room at the brewery.”

Though diners are sad to see the alehouse go, big things are on the horizon for Heavy Seas’ brewing facility in Halethorpe, which will gradually unveil an expanded taproom and new small-batch brewery over the next year.

“We’ve been around for 23 years, and with any business you’re always looking to stay current and change with the times,” says Heavy Seas brewmaster Chris Leonard. “Taproom visitation is an enormous part of the industry as a whole. So we’ve known for a couple of years that in order to increase our fans’ experiences, we have to give them a better one here at the brewery—along with the quality of beer that they get in their homes and at bars.”

Another influence in the decision to expand was Guinness’ recent move to the neighborhood. Leonard hopes that together, the two breweries will put Halethorpe on the map for craft beer lovers.

“Certainly, Guinness opening up 1.4 miles away from here was exciting for us,” he says. “Our neighborhood is growing as a beer destination, so we want to make sure that everyone can have the best experience possible when they come spend some time here.”

The new taproom will be seven times larger than its current configuration and feature an additional space for private parties—something that Leonard says they’ve always seen a demand for but could never accommodate. Though the building itself isn’t expanding, Heavy Seas has relocated its shipping and office spaces off-site to accommodate the larger tasting area.

The new taproom’s modernized design will highlight local artwork, communal tables made from reclaimed wood, and plenty of recreation space for visitors to play games like foosball and corn hole. Plans also call for nearly doubling the size of the facility’s outdoor patio.

But perhaps the most exciting aspect of the expansion is that it will welcome a new, 15-barrel innovation brewhouse that will allow the team to create limited releases exclusively for the taproom.

“We’re going to be able to experiment and do some more freeform, hybrid-type things,” Leonard says. “It’s going to give the taproom anticipation and exploration—all of those things that you want in an experience that makes it similar but different every time you come. And we’re hoping it will keep people interested to see what’s on deck.”

Separate from Heavy Seas’ main production facility, the smaller operation will create limited IPAs, hazys, and sour beers. It will increase the number of taps from 10 to 20, providing a more diverse tasting experience.

The facility remains open throughout the renovation process, which is expected to wrap up in June 2019. Leonard, a veteran brewer with 25 years of experience in the industry, says he’s most excited to be able throw some creative releases into the mix.

“Most people know Heavy Seas for its reliability and consistency,” Leonard says, mentioning standbys like the Loose Cannon IPA. “But this will allow us to show fans of craft beer that we also do a lot of unusual things they maybe haven’t seen in the past. They’ll be able to see how far we can really stretch the boundaries.”

While the new Guinness brewery near Halethorpe gears up for its big opening in spring 2018, its brewers have been busy. Peter Wiens and Hollie Stephenson have been pumping out golden ales, IPAs, and rye pale ales that guests can enjoy in the brewery’s test taproom—and their latest creation involves a spot just down the street.

Guinness collaborated with Heavy Seas Beer on two releases that are debuting today. Though both are technically Belgian golden ales, the Guinness is a dark strong ale with notes of banana while Heavy Seas brewed a massively dry-hopped golden. The two brewed each on their own sites, which are just a mile apart.

“Even before I came on board with Guinness, I had been to Heavy Seas and chatted with [brewmaster] Chris Leonard,” says Wiens. “With them being so close, it was a natural fit—quick and easy. We wanted to do something unique and have a home and away collaboration.”

Alluding to the breweries’ close proximity, as well as a James Joyce quote from Ulysses, the two beers are called “The Longest Way Round” and “The Shortest Way Home.” The former will be tapped today at 3:30 p.m. at the Guinness brewery and the other at 5 p.m. at Heavy Seas. 

Wiens says this collaboration will be the first of many, both locally and nationally, for the Guinness brewery. The Belgian style, which is different for Guinness, is also indicative of the creative styles and outside-of-the-box flavors to come.

“It seems like I have a new favorite every week,” Wiens says of the creations coming out of their two-barrel brewhouse right now. “Hollie just did a hazy IPA with a great pineapple aroma and there’s been a rye pale ale with some nice maltiness to it. They’re all a little bit different.”

He says the Guinness team has been ingratiating itself into the Maryland beer scene, working with local malthouses and attending craft beer festivals to get to know the community. Though he’s admittedly not a huge fan of shellfish (we’ll see how long that lasts), Wiens has been impressed with the Baltimore food scene and just how much people appreciate local.

“I went to a beer festival in Sykesville and was pleasantly surprised how many people came out in a little town like that,” he says. “The local folks here have been great.”

Call it the luck of the Irish: Of all the towns in all the cities in all the land, Guinness decided to open its first U.S. brewery in more than 60 years in Relay, Maryland. Even locals need some help finding it on a map—the 400-home town is right between Hanover and Halethorpe, a stone’s throw over the Patapsco River to BWI Airport.

“This location is perfect,” says Andrew Beebe, head of Guinness’ new Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House, which opened a test taproom last month, with the full campus coming in 2018. “We’re right off 95, and coming at a time when craft beer is on the rise in Baltimore.”

It makes sense that Guinness would want to land here, but what do neighbors think about the behemoth 62-acre campus landing in their backyard? “We generally try to keep [Relay] a secret,” says Bill Hermann, who has lived there with his wife, Faith, for 40 years. “The [Guinness] site is a big piece of property and we were afraid it would end up overdeveloped. But we really like that they’re keeping it a manufacturing site and hardly changing the existing buildings.”

In fact, the site has been used for manufacturing booze since 1933, when it started out as Calvert Distillery and then Seagram’s before Diageo (Guinness’ parent company) bought it in 2000. The new site is adding 70-plus jobs to the region and projected to host some 250,000 annual tourists.

“The people here were thrilled about jobs,” says Faith. “But the biggest issues were traffic, tourism, and whether we’ll need new stoplights. We’re asking for a traffic study, and they have been very approachable. They haven’t left themselves up in ivory towers.” 

Diageo representatives have frequently met with the Relay and Arbutus improvement associations, as well as communicated with the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area. 

“We see Guinness as an economic catalyst,” says Mary Catherine Cochran, the Heritage Area’s executive director. “We hope to engage visitors in the rich, local history of the valley. The Patapsco isn’t quite the River Liffey, but it’s fun to share Guinness with that great Irish river town of Dublin.”

The misting rain and overcast skies felt a little more Dublin than Baltimore on Wednesday morning, which was fitting as local media gathered to get a first look of the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House. Located at the Diageo headquarters in between Halethorpe and Relay, the site will be the first Guinness brewery on U.S. soil in 60 years.

While the entire operation won’t be complete until spring 2018, head of Open Gate Brewery Andrew Beebe announced that a test taproom will be open to the public in late October to give guests an idea of what the brewery is making on its two-barrel pilot system.

“This is an incredible project two years in the making and it’s now really starting to take off,” he said. “The test taproom will be a great way to say hello and give the community a first taste of our beer.”

Guinness has already hired two brewers, Peter Wiens of Stone Brewing in San Diego and Hollie Stephenson from Highland Brewery in Asheville. The duo is anxious to start brewing on the pilot system in the next couple of days to make their twist on the Guinness Blonde Ale, as well as an American-style IPA, and a sweet porter.

“The first beer I bought when I turned 21 was a Guinness,” said Wiens. “And when I first met my wife, I told her one of the things I always wanted to do was work for Guinness. So this has been a dream 20 years in the making for me.”

The brewers said that they are looking forward to joining the growing beer community in Baltimore and already confirmed plans to make a collaboration beer with Heavy Seas, which is less than two miles down the road.

“I actually lived in the D.C. area seven years ago and that was before the Baltimore beer scene blew up,” Stephenson said. “Coming back and seeing this vibrant brewery community has been really exciting. I have been hitting up all the local spots and everyone has been super welcoming.”

The test taproom, which will offer flights and pints to visiting patrons, is just the very first step in the large-scale Open Gate Brewery. Plans for the project also include a 22,000-square-foot customer experience center, where guests can see the brewing process, experience tours and tastings, shop in a retail space, and even dine in a full-scale restaurant featuring upscale pub food.

“Guests will be able to see what we’re making in our 10-hectoliter system, as well as what we’re barrel aging,” Beebe said. “And on the third floor will be our restaurant. When you think about Guinness history, you think seafood, crabs, and oysters—so Maryland is the perfect place.”

Additional brewery elements will include a building with a 100-hectoliter system, which will initially pump out Blonde Ale, and a high-speed packaging line. There will also be a massive grass field (in the shape of a Guinness pint glass, no less) where outdoor events and concerts will take place.

The entire $50-million construction project, which is set to open in late spring 2018, will provide 70 manufacturing and hospitality jobs in the community. The team has already been meeting with local neighborhood associations in Relay and Arbutus, who have been excited about job creation and economic impact, though have shared a few grumbles about traffic.

“People have been incredibly positive so far,” said site director Erin Lauer. “They had a lot of questions about jobs since this has been a site of industry since 1933. They are excited that it’s going to remain a place for manufacturing.”

Though Guinness is a massive international brand with a presence in nearly 50 countries, the brewery is anxious to have a hyper-local approach—already planning events at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and a possible pairing dinner at Dylan’s Oyster Cellar.

“I am a Baltimore native and couldn’t be more excited to have this project in my backyard,” says Guinness brewery ambassador Ryan Wagner (who also happens to be the Orioles announcer at Camden Yards). “It’s my job to get out in the community and introduce us to the neighbors. I’m really excited to add an American chapter to a book that’s 250 years old.”