Today was a free day so many of us decided to take a tour at the Guinness factory.  The factory consisted of multiple levels and each portrayed a different theme.  We learned that Guinness is brewed using a combination of malted, unmalted and roasted barley.  We also learned that the water used in brewing Guinness at St. James’ Gate comes from the Wicklow Mountains which I found incredibly interesting since those mountains are also going to be our day excursion this Wednesday.  The self-guided factor tour even took us through a step by step of the brewing process which revealed that the temperature used to create the unique flavor, aroma and color of Guinness is 232° C.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the floor which displayed different types of advertising techniques.  It helped us get an inside look at the business side of such a successful company.  They even had the first ever print ad published in a national newspaper to advertise Guinness displayed from 1929 which helped us to analyze the overall progression of marketing strategies.  It was definitely intriguing to see the evolution of Guinness advertisements over the past 90 years in order to see how the company has altered its image to accommodate for its changing audience.

We’ve officially reached the halfway point of our trip and it has without a doubt been an unforgettable experience so far.  I’m especially looking forward to our visit to Amazon tomorrow and then our day excursion to the Wicklow Mountains on Wednesday.