Baltimore’s Guinness Taproom is a beer drinker’s paradise
Food plays 2nd fiddle to the ales
Area beer drinkers may find paradise in the Taproom of the Guinness Open Gate Brewery. At the first U.S. outpost for the historic Irish brewery since 1954, sip any manner of experimental brews and classic varieties, too, from the comfort of a spacious booth and bright, floor length windows.
With an experimental brewery on premises overseen by head brewer Hollie Stephenson, named 2019 Beer Person of the Year by Imbibe magazine, the taproom features a diverse mix of recurring, limited edition and flagship beers on draft for all kinds of tastes. They even import Guinness Draught from the original brewery, more than 3,000 miles away.
Here, food plays a supporting role. Offerings like salty kettle chips pair well with brew and spark thirst for more. (There’s also a more upscale restaurant, 1817, upstairs).
First impressions: Like the original Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Guinness Open Gate is fast becoming one of this area’s top tourist destinations. Inside, you’re struck by a palpable excitement and impulse purchases being made in the gift shop. A tour gives a unique perspective on how Guinness is expanding its stateside impact with such inhouse brews as the widely distributed blonde ale and Over the Moon milk stout. The Taproom builds on that experience by offering a range of in-house beers, from IPAs to specialty stouts to barrel-aged ales and more.
Pro tip: There’s no table service, so order from the bar and pick up your food from a nearby station. Everything comes out at once; a buzzer alerts you when your meal is ready. When drinking, consider putting together a flight of different options, lest you sample too many full-sized pours to drive home. But if that does happen, you can call a car service to a designated site in the front parking lot.
Must tries: Our table of diners enjoyed the ($13) nachos, topped with beer cheese and smoked corned beef. They’re served on