Guinness Open Gate Brewery

This tour was great. The main tour was sold out so i got the self guided tour. It was nice. I was able to go at my own pace. It included a tasting and you got a free drink at the rooftop bar area. The views alone up there are worth taking the tour. The entire place is super modern and high tech. So interesting.

Fantastic stop! If you don't want to pay thirty euro to enjoy a Guinness "at the source", step around to the opposite side of the block from the tour entrance, climb the stairs, take a seat at the bar (or a table), and enjoy the perfect pint! All three bartenders were exceptionally friendly and offered advice on my planned itinerary, giving some additional suggestions, and steering me to more local places than what I had planned. The beer selection is quite nice. Everything you would expect at a Diageo owned pub, and then a few nice surprises. The tap list showed a "coming soon" selection, and I'm sorry I will miss the Pink Gin beer (but hopefully you can enjoy it!). Pricing was fair, and actually less than some of the other pubs I visited, which was a nice surprise. There is ample bar seating, and indoor and outdoor table seating.

The Beer is very good and the prices absolutely fair! The service is fantastic. The food is delicious as well, although on the more pricey side. However, the quality of the food is excellent. Altogether a great experience, complementing the Guinness Storehouse well.

My husband and I visited at 9:30 on a Sunday morning. I would recommend the early slots because as we were leaving there were a lot of people. It is a self guided tour. There are 7 levels. The 6th level is for staff only. Each level is attainable by escalators or elevator. You learn about the ingredients, how Guinness is made, have a tasting, learn about their advertising, can have bottle with your face and name printed on it, and the 7th level is a bar where you get a pint with your ticket and can enjoy a bird's eye view of Dublin. It's amazing! There are bathrooms on every level. As you tour there is visual and auditory entertainment! It was really amazing! I highly recommend to come during your visit to Dublin. There is also a cafe if you want to enjoy a meal during your stay.

Really great selection of beers made at the brewery and the paddles are a fun way to try a few different ones! The food was delicious as well (I got the corn ribs), perfect beer snacks or even a full meal. We booked a table but can reasonably find a spot on a weekday.

We skipped the showroom next door (which was crowded with 6 tour busses full of cruise ship tourists!) And much preferred the vibe and atmosphere here at the craft brewery. We had 4 beers and food (highly recommend the chicken tender bites) with knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff happy to share information or recommendations!

Tasty Guinness without the bravado of the Storehouse (or cover charge). The staff was very friendly. The pretzels were good. The beer cheese was... different. The mustard was spicy with lots of horseradish - beware!

It was fun trying some experimental beers! Loved the Sour IPA, never had anything like it! Bartender was friendly, heard us talking about the beers and gave us a little sample in addition to our flight.

this brewery lived up to my expectations as someone traveling from the States. Cool enough for any traveler to hangout and have a good time, and awesome to see locals coming here too which made it for a fun, credible, and enculturing bar experience. the mac n cheese balls here are delicious and definitely recommend getting a flight here when you purchase your ticket to get a tour of the Guinness factory. it's a solid deal. also, bartenders here are super chill, very chatty with all the visitors and they give great pours

An option for experimenting and tasting different brews..... Less crowded than the fun, interactive tour experience. Come here to sample and enjoy the food and service. You won't be disappointed.

The #1 tourist destination in Ireland. Such a great experience. It's about 7 floors of Guinness history with a few bars pouring pints mixed in. If you love Guinness (who doesn't?), you have to stop here if in Dublin. So much fun.

We had reservations for the special Christmas beer tasting on my daughter's birthday. They presented her with a fancy drink with "Legends are born in December" on top The Christmas beers were amazing; so much aroma and flavor; each one so different. The Pork, Apricot & Pistachio Croquettes with Chestnut Ketchup were so delicious! Staff and other guests were so friendly!!

Take a pass on the Storehouse and just go here! This is the experimental side of Guinness beer. Less crowds, plenty of seats and you get a flight of beer! Cute catchy names, and super good beers (with the exception of Gose - tasted like salt water to me) we tried all 12 they had available. Beer-tenders were awesome. Very friendly and knowledgeable. they also have food you can order - with suggested pairings. Loved everything about this place. Next time, passing on Storehouse and its Disney-esque environment and just going to come here!

Experimental beers with friendly service! We stopped in to check out Open Gate for a quick flight after visiting Guinness. My flight included a gose, amber, honey & fig ale and imperial stout. The only beer that I was not a fan of was the honey & fig ale. I saw that they had a lot of IPAs fermenting so I hate that I am going to miss trying those. I wish we had more time to spend here because we had a great time.

The staff at the Open Gate brewery was amazing! We had a wedding celebration there and had many more people show up than we had reserved for. The staff was extremely accommodating and made a challenging situation work. The beer selection was great and the food was solid pub food. Definitely worth a visit.

What a great find! We stopped in after going to the Guinness Storehouse because my husband wanted to check it out. They have a bunch of experimental beers. His favorite was the Dark Side IPA but the beer brewed with the botanicals (L'Intensa) and the La Brillante were the most complex and interesting. They were also nice enough to make me a beer cocktail without the beer since I have a gluten intolerance. Definitely worth checking out if you are Dublin and want something unique.

Husband liked the beer but I'm not a fan but they do offer a cider that is good. The food was just ok. The setting is pretty unique and cool.

Is this not what we come for ?!?! Gorgeous brewery , but we didn't do the tour , we just wanted to shoot up to the roof and gave our Guinness !!! And the staff was very fun and professional .

What's not to love about a place that has experimental beers???? Welcome to the Experimental Guinness tap room with a beers you cannot get anywhere else in the world! The bartenders are super knowledgeable and friendly and would walk you through your tastings. If you were not into that type of thing and just wanted to drink... they could respect that too! Beers were super tasty and there is a decent size selection, considering. Give this a try!!!

This is Dublin's best kept secret. I couldn't tell you how I found out about it as an American but the Midwestern in me sniffed out the beer. We went on St. Patrick's day during the Six Nations Tournament. I've never felt more Irish than in that moment when they won the trophy. I don't watch rugby but I did that day. It was a fantastic atmosphere and I can't wait to get back for another pint of fresh Guinness.

This place is awesome! The bartenders are very nice and really want to know how you like all their drinks. I had a flight and a beer cocktail (I think it was a whiskey spur of sorts). The fog and honey beer was made with honey from one of the bartenders own beehive!

This is a fairly new bar opened catering specifically to Guinness experimental beers, most of which will never make it past here whilst others will become part of their new Brewers project range which so far consists of the West Indies porter, Dublin porter, golden ale and hop house lager. It's a fantastic idea and if you're interested in beer it's a great premise and if you're a particular fan of Guinness this extra attraction besides the storehouse is the cherry on the cake. It took us quite a while to find but upon arrival we were echoed given a black bottle cap and told we would be looked after when we entered. Inside the bar is actually a functioning brewery where they make beers they are selling and the whole look of it is great with a great view of all the machinery, dimmed lighting and a very modern aesthetic to everything. You cannot just walk into here, you have to book online in advance and tickets are 6 euro but this includes either a free pint of four samples which is what you want to go for to decide your favourite. Your night will really be as good as the beers that have on that particular day as they are constantly rotating and adding new ones and that is the only negative I would have due to the fact the beers weren't outstanding. The nitro IPA is interesting but tasted more like a Belgian blonde and the rye IPA was too bitter to enjoy past the sample we had. Their was also an Irish pale ale and an Antwerp export which seemed to be a Belgian stout. These two were the best and were very nice. They do pub snacks as well such as pretzels which I had and accompanied the beer well. This is quite a unique bar and makes for a special night heightened by the seemingly secret nature of it all . It's interesting to be a sort of Guinea pig and get a more in depth look into what is going on and the potential of the future. It encourages constant visits to see and taste the new beers and when I'm back in Dublin I'm sure I'll be entering with a bottle cap and the same anticipation and excitement I had the first time.

I enjoyed this place much more than the Guinness Storehouse. It was great to try Guinness's lesser known and experimental brews (many where quite tasty) and you can't beat the place for the price. I believe a 4 beer sampler was 6 euro. I just wish they would expand their hours so more people can enjoy this place.

This was great to visit for folks who want more of a brewery experience rather than the Guinness Experience. Would recommend doing both. Beertenders were great and beer was super yummy. Nice chill spot after the crowds at the main Guinness museum.

Great beer! However they said they were open until 10:30 and they rudely booted us out at 10:10pm. Really??? So rude!! I had to leave my last beer! What was up?

What's not to like? It's the Guinness tap room with a couple experimental beers you can't get anywhere else. Some of the bartenders are super knowledgeable, some not so much. Beers were super tasty and there's a large selection. There is food served and while we didn't try any it looked and smelled delicious. The bar also provides an interesting view of parts of the actual brewery.

This was a big disappointment. We bought tickets ahead of time which clearly stated "5 pm" as the opening time. We stood out in the cold on the street until they actually opened at 5:30. (The staff made no apologies and didn't seem to care.) The experimental beers haven't come to market for a reason. They're simply not good. The Rhubarb Beer was so sour it was fascinating, so we recommend it for the novelty factor... but we got every type of sample and they were all pretty much undrinkable. Some are so bad you can't even swallow them. Guinness is great! These are not. I don't recommend visiting and suspect they don't have many repeat customers. (The food truck actually looked good, but we were so ready to get out of there that we didn't try any.)

Excellent spot for a beer lover. The staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable on the beers. They welcome questions from people so don't be afraid to ask. I heard also the they will be open on Saturdays from January which is great. Definitely worth a look.

How does this place only have 5 other reviews? Is it the best kept secret in Dublin? Here's how it works: they have about 9 beers up on the board to choose from. A few of them might be standard Guinness brews that you've had before, but the rest are experimental small-batch brews available ONLY HERE. Not only are they available only here, but they may never be brewed again. You can pick any 4 to sample in half-pint sizes for about 8 Euro. There's also a small food menu. (The food wasn't really anything special, but it's decent bar food that goes well with beer.) The ambiance is really cool and the staff were super friendly and helpful in describing the beers. I guess it's best to make a reservation but we were lucky enough to walk up around 6 PM on a Friday and the guy at the gate let us in. Absolutely, 100% check out this place.

This was a let down. It is overrated unless you just can not make it to the Guinness storehouse or the Smithwick's brewery in Kilkenny. There is no tour or even a small gift shop. It is basically a tasting room/ "club" and nothing else. There was no where enough seating, the music was too loud to hold a decent conversation and the servers would rather be doing something else. We got a pint and a couple of taster flights (same you can get on the Guinness store house connoisseur tour) and sat outside in the courtyard. This has potential, but it isn't there yet. Find a pub or a snug and enjoy!

It was a fantastic evening of tasting some good beers, and since it is a ticketed activity, it wasn't super packed, which was a relief after going through the Guinness Storehouse crowds. The beer samples didn't blow me away, but that didn't really matter. I still really enjoyed it.

The Open Gate Brewery is different to the Guinness Storehouse. It's basically a bar in a brewery which happens to be the home of Guinness however the Open Gate Brewery is not where Guinness as we know it is brewed - it's where the Guinness brewery projects take place - where different recipes are invented, reinvented and tried and tested. The opening of the bar here allows visitors to try these different recipes. Some recipes go on to be made into world wide available beers, some never leave James' Gate. I really enjoyed my visit here. I loved trying all the different tastes of the beers available. The food to accompany them was tasty. The price is excellent at €6 entry and a free paddle of beers to taste. Booking is essential. This is really one for beer lovers. It'd make the great start to a night out with your loved one or a group of friends. I'm looking forward to returning.