Days That End in Y

Fairly early one afternoon in Dublin, I got rather sick of going to museum after museum and walked straight to the Jameson Distillery. There, I got a little sloshed and learned all about Jameson and whiskey distillation.

Arriving at The Old Jameson Distillery

Heading to the front door

JJ’s Bar at the front

Waiting for the next tour to begin

Our somewhat sarcastically excited Irish tour guide

A mock-up of the grain storehouse

Heading to the next part of the tour

Our tour guide describes something about grain

An old harvester

Water wheel

A model of the mill

Millstone—if I recall correctly, this is the one to rub for luck

Learning about step #4: mashing

The big no. 1 mash tun

Learning about washback

Washback No. 1

Describing the distillation process

Stills

Learning about coopering and what happens to barrels of whiskey

The taste test at the end. Unfortunately, I didn’t raise my hand fast enough.

Jameson also has a promotional video of the whole tour along with some pictures and other info. If you have a chance to visit, then you should definitely go! It’s a little pricey, but they make up for it by giving you whiskey.

One of my first stops in Dublin was the Guinness Storehouse where I did the self-guided tour and had a pint of Guinness at the top. Many think the tour is uninspired and boring, but I did enjoy it.

Walking to Guinness!

Yet more walking…

Crane Street Gate at St. James’s Gate

What? More walking?

Some of John Gilroy’s famous ads on display outside.

Finally at the entrance.

Guinness sign at Market Street entrance.

Starting the ridiculously expensive tour.

Ingredient #1: Barley

At St. James’s Gate Brewery, Guinness use 100,000 tonnes of Irish grown barley per year.

Ingredient #2: Hops

Ingredient #3: Yeast

Ingredient #4: Water

Cheesy Ingredient #5: Arthur Guinness

Some sort of control panel

Here, you can pour your own pint or wait until the end of the tour.

Tasting lab

Looking back at the beginning of the tour

Huge display about coopering

Walking among Guinness ads from the last century

Lots and lots of Guinness advertising, mostly by John Gilroy.

Even more Guinnes ads.

Enjoying pints and the view at Guinness’s Gravity Bar at the top.

Guinness’s faithful pouring pints at the top.

Guinness also has their own (much better) virtual tour, though if possible, do it in person! Not only will you get the best-tasting, freshest pint of Guinness ever but you’ll also be in Ireland!