Guinness Brewery Tour

A group went on the Guinness Brewery Tour. Here is Alex's reflection.

I went to Dublin, Ireland to tour the city and the island. On my last day there, I went to tour the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse in the city. It was fascinating, as brewing is a field that I could end up in as a chemical engineer.

Prior to arriving, I had to trudge through the rainy streets of Dublin. After taking temporary shelter under a shop’s roof, I asked the owner where the building was, and he told me that I had already passed it. I ended up asking for directions two more times while on my way there, each person giving a confusing set of directions that involved many steps and landmarks I did not know. These people clearly did not take this class, as they gave poor directions.

When I finally arrived, I was 20 minutes late and everyone else in my group had bought tickets. I got mine out of the machine and we headed in. The building was awesome and filled with “Chicago-style architecture,” according to the greeting speech-giver. The building was filled with riveted, steel beams to support itself and the exterior was made of glass.

After that, I entered the part where the four ingredients of Guinness were shown: water, barley, hops, and yeast. The room after that showed that the barley was harvested, then put in a roaster at 230°C (446°F) for two and a half hours. Following that was the mashing, where the barley is mashed; the boiling, where the hops are added and boiled for flavor; the fermentation, where the yeast is added and ethanol is produced; and lastly maturation, where the yeast just sits and breaks down the sugars.

The whole process was interesting, and at the end, we received a free pint of Guinness. It was a good way to spend the afternoon.