Two years ago, on March 17 2020, the world shutdown– for us, at least. David started to work from home and my place of employment laid everyone off for a time because there was no big picture yet on how the virus was going to effect the hospitality industry long-term. The following year for St. Patrick’s day, we were still being cautious– David had a surgery scheduled and many places were still closed, so we stayed home. This year, we wanted to celebrate a little bigger than usual to make up for the years past and what better celebration is there than going to the source? Unfortunately, Dublin was a little outside of our vacation days budget; however, there just so happens to be a Guinness Brewery right in the US– the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Opened in 2018, Open Gate was the first Guinness brewery in the US in 60 years. The facility sits on 62 acres and partially housed in what was a Calvert distillery, which was acquired by the Guinness parent company Diageo when they purchased Seagram in 2001. There is a sister Open Gate Brewery in Dublin, which I’ve talked about before. The idea behind the “Open Gate” concept is to allow innovation of the Guinness brand– opening “St. James’s Gate” the site at which all Guinness stouts are brewed. The Baltimore Open Gate also pays homage to it’s roots as a distillery by exploring the barrel-aging in depth, which circles back to a Guinness tradition of aging beer in wood.

Irish Village

For St. Patrick’s day, the brewery set up an Irish Village on the lawn in a heated tent. Within the tent were 21 vendors for beer, food, merchandise, and activities, as well as a stage for live music. Outside the tent you could find some games set up and more seating. One of the highlights was a food and beverage pairing, where four beers were paired with four little bites that highlighted a different aspect of the beer. This guided experience took place in one of the booths in the tent and cost $25/pp. Another tent offered a very classic, albeit strange, food pairing: Guinness and oysters. The brininess of the oyster brings out the roasted barley character, while the silkiness of a nitrogen pour doesn’t overpower the delicate texture of the oyster. This pairing has been marketed since 1837 and was directed towards working class families in Dublin as both oysters and stout were easily accessible staples.

Indoors

Inside the five-story building there is a pilot brewery, a restaurant, store, and small museum of sorts available to the public. As we visited on St. Patrick’s day, everything was festive but because they were expecting such a large crowd, all of our beers were served in plastic. I am of the opinion that all beer is better served in proper glassware, with most European brands having glassware designed specifically for them (Guinness included), because the glass will help funnel the head properly and you will get a good aroma and a wonderful look at the beer– you eat with your eyes, after all. However, with a large crowd expected, plastic was the best route to keep everyone safe.

After a peek around the pilot brewery, we headed upstairs to have a snack… that developed into a full meal once we looked at the menu. As is my custom, I see a cheeseboard, I order a cheeseboard. I paired the board with a Galaxy IPA to cut through some of the fattiness of the meats while still standing up the to aged character of some of the cheeses. One of my favorite things to eat in Ireland is beef stew and when I saw Guinness Beef Stew on the menu, my plans for a light snack went out the window. It was a cold, blustery St. Patrick’s Day in Baltimore and the stew hit all the right spots. Rich and meaty with hearty root vegetables and velvety mashed potatoes– a home run. The stew was served with brown bread and Irish butter and I tacked on a Guinness Draught, I swear it felt like I was sitting in a pub in Dublin rather than a rowdy tasting room in the US.

After we had squeezed as much as we could out of the festivities at the Open Gate Brewery, we decided to turn our attention to another brewery 2 miles away. I’ve been a fan of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon for years and it was nice to visit the tasting room and try some of the other offerings. The tasting room was quite calm in comparison to where we came from and the staff was wonderfully welcoming. As Tampa natives, David and I enjoy any brewery who dives deep into pirate branding. Check out Heavy Seas for a swashbuckling good pint!

Logistics

The Guinness Open Gate Brewery is less than a 10 minute drive from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). There is plenty of parking if you are just stopping by for lunch but if you are making a day of it, they have a dedicated Lyft lane. We took an Uber from the airport for ~$10. The brewery is a 20 minute drive from downtown Baltimore. If coming from DC, the MARC Halethorpe stop is a 3 minute Lyft/Uber away from the brewery. This was an easy but planned day-trip for us. We caught a direct flight from our home airport (TPA) to BWI in the morning, spent the day enjoying the festivities, and then caught a direct flight from BWI to TPA in the evening. While not as grand as the Dublin experience, the Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore is definitely worth a visit– the hospitality, food, and liquid are all top-notch.