Tuesday, with nothing much better to do and not having had the chance to do so previously, I went to see how Guinness is made. As luck would have it, the only remaining roommate in the building had also yet to make this journey, so we decided to venture forth together and see what adventures the day would behold for us. After a brief look at the map, we decided to wing it, as per usual. Dublin not being a greatly large city in which it was too easy to get lost, what with all the nice people and all, we didn't think there was going to be that much trouble. Touristy stuff is usually pretty well documented via street signs, wall hangings, etc.
I believe it was around 1pm when we set out. We took out time, walking to the west side of the city, as it was a nice and sunny day with minimal cloud cover, a great day here. Unfortunately, we weren't close enough to see the river, but we did see some cool buildings along the way. We wandered down into what I lovingly refer to as "The Church District," this being the area with some of the most famous and of course, largest, churches in the city. St. Patrick's (which we did not pass), Christ Cathedral, a church so large that it appears to be two distinct buildings conjoined only but an archway over the street, St. Catherine's, and my personal humorous favorite, St. Augustine and St. John's Church. For those of you who are not aware, St. Augustine's in the school that I attended for K-8 and the church to which members of my family still lovingly attend.
After a couple of close calls and lack of signage, Lexi and I found the pathway to Guinness. Literally. It's a series of signs in that section of the city, with arrows, that fondly points you on your way to the Storehouse. As demonstrated in the picture.
Once you follow the signs, you quickly see the back gate adorned with the Guinness logo and signature text. Following it around, you stumble upon several buildings and walkways which mark the path. The actual entrance is a simple door marked with an outdoor sign. You walk in and down and are quickly greeted by an employee to assist you, and obviously I needed it. I was paying with my debit card, being short of actual cash at that particular moment in time, and was lead to an automated machine. Sweeeeet. So I selected the ticket that I wanted, Student +18, entered the number, 1, and the swiped my card. Nice and easy. It printed out a ticket and a receipt for me, every so nicely. After this, Lexi and I scrambled through an automatic door where we picked up maps, snagged a French and English copy, and proceeded to walk up another flight of stairs. Reaching the landing, we entered "The Atrium" where the Guinness Store is as well as a section to be greeted in, and an enormous collection of Guinness bottles through the years of production, quite fascination really. Housed in the floor, is the 9000 year long lease that Arthur Guinness himself signed with the City of Dublin, actually in English, I was surprised to see. And no that's not supposed to be 90 or even 900 years, it's 9000. Guinness wanted the land for that long, so even if the world were to end in 2012 at least Guinness will still be brewing in that same spot. Which, just to clarify is the not the area which we visit. The Storehouse, where the fermenting beer awaits in oak barrels, is the place open to visitors. While you don't go in and see the actual barrels, like I did in the Jack Daniel's Brewery, there is still a great 7 floor tour which you take, complete with a self-guided-ness with arrows on the floor.
The ground floor contains the Store, the Atrium, and the beginning "Ingredients" in Guinness. Proceeded to the first step is a giant pit of Barley. This is all Irish barley, over 100,000 tons of it picked every year just to make Guinness.
I wanted to take some but was afraid of two things, cameras, and germs, so I didn't. Following this around, you see harvesting tools, followed by the bottoms of 15 foot high stalks of Hops, the second ingredient. The continue in glass containers, up to the next level which you see after you get up there, obviously. Following the hops, is the third ingredient, Yeast. Guinness has used the same breed and genetics of yeast for the last 250 years, ensuring that the beer always tastes exactly the same. Fear of infestation and losing the crop? Not at Guinness. The Director keeps a special store of the plant in his office safe, a replica of which is seen in the picture. This enables Guinness to quickly reproduce the source as needed in order to keep the brewery going. 
The 4th ingredient is of course, Water. But it's not just any water, it's not Liffey water or tap water or sea water. It's water from the Wicklow Mountains. I'm not sure how it all gets there, but somehow, they get it to the brewery, which in case you aren't aware is about 2 blocks up, sitting on the River Liffey. The Wicklow Mountain water helps to give a unique blend of flavors to Guinness Beer, something which is fascinating. (<--me in front of the indoor waterfall.) The last ingredient, the 5th, is of course the current Brewmaster. Every brewmaster brings something unique to Guinness. They are also charged with upholding the values that the company stands for and for enabling the beer to be perfected and reenacted in the same ways time after time, in every country, in every brewery across the Guinness family. This section of the brewing has an entire floor to itself, because it is so important. The chair that sat in Arthur Guinness' office along with some other writing desk items and a portrait of him along with a copy of every brewmasters' signature is up on a wall on that floor. 
Follow the stairs up another level and you find all the equipment used or previously used in the brewing process. First the barley is roasted, and then milled. Then it is mixed with the hops and water and mashed then drained. There are several steps and containers in this process, all of which can be controlled from a central room. The mixture is then put into a "copper" as ween in the picture. Which as written can hold 600 barrels, which equals 172,800 pints, the equivalent of 2,764,800 ounces. Then it is boiled. After this is it transferred to a larger contained and mixed with yeast to begin fermentation. After the liquid cools, it is put into barrels, the yeast is scooped out when the barrel is opened and the individual pints and bottles are poured and ready to be shipped out and better yet, drank. At this point in the tour, you proceed up to the next level and receive a free half pint of Guinness, approximately 4 oz. of cool, creamy liquid. Quite enjoyable, well I thought so at least. On this same level is a small cafe with sandwiches, etc. But better still is the explanation and video representation of how the oak barrels which store the Guinness are created. This is followed by a model display of the entire Guinness land and the different modes of transport which support the conduction of the beer from one location to another; most notably of course, the train, the large steam ships, and the airplanes.
The next floor up contains the most colorful if not most interesting parts to me, the advertizing through the years. While fascinating to my business side, my tourist side was far less interested. Lexi and I did a quick lap and the most important discovery was the creation of the Guinness Toucan. Let me briefly explain. Throughout our time here, my friends and I have been coming across this strange toucan on a lot of the Dublin and Guinness items and have been baffled to figure out what it means. We should have realized that the answer would lie in one of the oldest companies around. Guinness had a campaign which contained a song about a Pelican. Years later, the theme was rewritten and the pelican was recast as a toucan which seems to be more lasting. The picture isn't a very good one, but it does tell the history, yet another puzzle solved. The next level is the history of Guinness, both in Ireland and abroad, including a large cylinder of major events, a map of breweries and countries containing Guinness, and how Guinness has influenced events across the world, including the first ever St. Patrick's Day in NYC. This was proceeded by an outline history of the current Storehouse building. And a crab on the floor holding a Guinness leading to a series of conference rooms that were currently in use by unknown parties...
Finally, we made it to the top. The Gravity Bar. After taking pictures from every available 360 degree angle, I ordered my free pint. Lexi was sitting by a window and I went off in search of a cooler spot. I found one and called her over. We sat and I drank and we chatted. Apparently, she doesn't care for Guinness much, but I don't hold it against her. Once I could not a drink a single drop more, I brought my glass back to the in house bar and we waited for the elevator. I took one last look around, because while the view from the top of Dublin isn't the most beautiful one, it's certainly worth a second glance.
We made our way down the clear elevator which freaked the hell out of me and made it to the Store. I purchased my Dad's requested item and something else to share. After finally making up my mind that is. It was then time for the walk home which doesn't take nearly as long as people say. We made it back in one piece and with a letter on the floor informing me to collect my last package from my sister. It was a good day.
