Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in Leixlip, County Kildare, and then from 1759 at the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.

[2] Ten years after establishment, on 19 May 1769 Guinness exported his beer (he had ceased ale brewing by then) for the first time, when six and a half barrels were shipped to England.

In 1983, a non-family chief executive Ernest Saunders was appointed and arranged the reverse takeover of the leading Scotch whisky producer Distillers in 1986.

The production of all Guinness sold in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland was switched to St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.

[14] This US location will focus on "special news" and Guinness Blonde American Lager, but not the classic stout, which will still only be brewed in Dublin.

For many years a portion of the drink was aged to give a sharp lactic flavour, although Guinness has refused to confirm whether this still occurs.

For a short time in the late 1990s, Guinness produced the "St James's Gate" range of craft-style beers, available in a small number of Dublin pubs.

On 17 June 2007, The Sunday Independent first reported that Diageo was considering selling most of the St. James's Gate Brewery to take advantage of high property prices in Ireland.

[32] The story was widely picked up by both national and international media organisations, but the proposal to build a new Dublin brewery at Leixlip on land belonging to Desmond Guinness was cancelled by the end of 2008.

By then Irish property prices had dropped, and so the possibility of selling much of the current brewery to meet the lower cost of building a new one had passed.

[33] The following day, the Irish Daily Mail ran a follow-up story with a double-page spread complete with images and a history of the plant since 1759.

This review is largely due to the efforts of the company's ongoing drive to reduce the environmental impact of brewing at the St James's Gate plant.

[37] In 2015, Diageo launched the Brewers Project, in an attempt to diversify the company's product range and expand into the craft beer industry which had become popular.

Hop House 13, a lager named after a store at the St James's Gate brewery extant in the early 20th century, was heavily promoted on YouTube and social media.

It is still possible for Irish pilgrims to get these traditional documents stamped both at Guinness Storehouse and St James' Church, and many do, while on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

Guinness Storehouse visitors do not get to see the beer being brewed in front of them, but from various vantage points in the building, you may see parts of the brewhouse, vats, grain silos and the keg yard.