We went to the storehouse on St Patrick’s Day eve in 2002 and thankfully we got there early. Our ferry had just come in from Hollyhead in Wales docking about 7am. We walked from the bus station to O’Connell street for breaky and through the Temple Bar area and out to St James gate by 9.30 when it opened. By the time we finished the line up for entry was around the corner – very ugly. One tip is to buy your tickets online and go straight to the front of the queue. This is definitely recommended for peak times like summer, weekends and especially St Patrick’s Day weekend when tourists flock in.

Once inside (adults are €13.50) there are a series of levels to explore behind the history of Guinness and the man who started it all in 1759 – Arthur Guinness. Here was a bloke who started the company from a £100 inheritance and grew it into one of the most popular brands throughout the world today. The levels inside the Storehouse take the visitor through the brewing process where you can smell and feel the ingredients. Also as you progress further you will learn about the making of barrels, the distribution process (which probably explains why the taste of Guinness decreases the further away from Ireland you get) and my favourite level – level 9 - the advertising section of the Guinness brand. This area documents all the previous advertising campaigns from the beginning of the Toucan to the TV ads with dancing Irishman who can’t wait for his Guinness to settle.

After you have walked through the storehouse, there is a lovely surprise waiting for you at the top. It’s called the Gravity Bar and has the best panoramic view over Dublin. Your entry ticket entitles you to a free Guinness (by way of a take home paperweight token with a drop of Guinness inside). If you want to be clever, you can also "acquire" Guinness pints from fellow tourists who take one sip – to say they have tried it – and leave the rest. We. . . ahhh. . . heard of. . . ahh. . . other people doing this. At the bottom, there is also a cool gift shop with lots of branded merchandise to purchase.

Getting there is easy. You can walk there in about 15 minutes from the main street (O’Connell). Turn right when you pass over the Liffey and either walk along the river or through the Temple Bar area. Head past Christchurch and into High/Thomas street. This will lead into James Street and you can’t miss it. From the central bus station, you can also get Bus #123, which gets you there in about 10 minutes.

www.guinness-storehouse.com

Arthur Guiness was an original man, who took a failing brewery and made it work. With quite an original lease on the building, good for 9000 years, he went from making just ale, to making both ale and stout, to turning his buisiness into focusing on just the stout business - his black gold.

The tour takes you up the 7 floors of the storehouse, throught the secret formula for the success of Guiness (without really giving you the secret.) The history behind Arthur Guiness and his brewery, the ingredients, etc.

Your ticket is a paperweight with a drop of guiness inside, and at the 7th floor sky bar, you can turn in the wrapper of that paperweight at the bar for a free pint of Guiness, and drink it while looking at the spectacular view that you have of Dublin through the glass windows.

Once you're done, take the lift back down to the first floor to make sure and visit the gift shop - where you can find anything with a Guiness logo on it.

Entrance fee was 12 euros, and worth every penny.

Guiness Storehouse

The brewery itself is a little away from central Dublin, but is easy to reach by bus or a long stroll. Entrance is reasonably priced - particularly since you get a free pint in the bar at the end of the tour.

The exhibition takes you through the brewing process which is relatively interesting. You can really get the feel of it all because the place stinks of hops.

There's also a video of the history of Guinness, which again is quite interesting. Lots of images of how important Guinness is to the Irish though.

What I really liked were all the adverts for Guinness around the brewery. They're very distinctive and often imaginitive. The toucan is pretty cool too.

The storehouse is open Monday to Sunday until 5pm in the winter and until 7pm in the summer. Admission rates are £9 for adults, £20 for a family (2 adults and 4 children) and this includes a free pint of the black stuff in the sky bar (with impressive views over Dublin).

You can get to the Storehouse on the Dublin City Tour buses, or a regular number 123 bus from O'Connell Street.

For more information call the information line on 01 453 8364 or check out the website at www.guiness.com