Some would say we saved the best till last. Some would say we have now ‘done’ Ireland. This is because on our last day here we went to the Guinness Storehouse.

This is a massive celebration of all things Guinness. A very good, high tech, interactive attraction which everyone seemed to love, even if you have no real interest in stout, beer or Guinness.

It is a story of the history, the ingredients, the process, cooperage, the transportation, the promoting and advertising of one product – Guinness. Which we now know has the colour ruby red, not black or brown.

Arthur Guinness started brewing on the present site of the factory in 1759 – he signed a 9,000 year lease. The brewery buildings used today date from only 1904 but have grown to be the largest brewery in Europe.

How Guinness is made (simplified version).

The four main ingredients are barley, hops, yeast and water.

Irish barley is prepared in three ways – malted, flaked and roasted. These are ground together to form a grist.

The grist is mixed with hot water and mashed and left to stand for an hour. Starches are turned into sugars, producing a dark, sweet wort.

Hops are added to the wort and the ingredients are boiled to very high temperatures.

The hopped wort is cooled and yeast is added. Some of the sugars are turned into alcohol. The mixture is left to ferment for 48 hours and the yeast is removed by centrifuge.

The liquid has now become a stout and is matured for 10 days before being sold to the world.

Two of the highlights were the tasting room and learning to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. It takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect pint. In the tasting room you got to smell the aroma of barley, hops and yeast and are then taught how to taste Guinness on the front, side and back of the tongue – from a 2 oz glass. Learning to pour was all good fun and I don’t think anyone has failed yet. You get to keep and drink the pint you have poured. So now I have a certificate to say that I have crafted the perfect pint of Guinness.

You enter the building at ground floor and move up through about six floors to the Gravity Bar at the top, which has a 360 degree view of Dublin. There are two or three cafes and bars scattered on different levels and the food is excellent. It’s in an old warehouse building but the inside has been gutted and the large circular atrium is in the shape of a giant pint of Guinness. We were there nearly four hours and were entertained for every minute.

Altogether a great place to go, even if you never touch the stuff.

We are sitting in the hotel lounge and shortly will go out to the airport. On the way home I will think about a post that summarises our adventure in Ireland and suggest where we might go next.