It's been pretty well established that the Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House, which opened last week in Baltimore County, hopes to draw in 300,000 visitors during its first year in business.
The new brewery found itself 3 percent of the way toward accomplishing that goal in the span of its first weekend, officials said Wednesday. Some 10,000 people visited Guinness between Friday, Aug. 3, the day it opened its doors to the public, and Sunday, Aug. 6.
Out of those 10,000 visitors, 700 streamed through the door in the first half hour of the new facility's opening on Friday, brewery ambassador Ryan Wagner said. Guinness' parking lot, with more than 300 spots, was so packed that the brewery took to social media to ask visitors to consider carpooling or using the ride-sharing service Lyft, which has a dedicated drop-off lane on site.
"It even caught us by surprise a little bit," Wagner said of the turnout. "It really makes you realize that what we're building is important; what we're building means something to people."
So far, only the taproom and gift shop are open inside the $90 million brewery, the iconic Irish brand's first on American soil in 64 years. The 62-acre complex, an adaptive reuse of the historic Calvert Distillery at 5001 Washington Blvd. in Relay, will start offering ticketed tours of its 10-barrel brewery, where small-batch and experimental beers are made, at the end of the month.
The property also includes a 100-hectoliter brewery and canning facility, where large-scale production of Guinness Blonde, an American lager, happens. And 1817, an upscale pub on the brewery's third floor, will open in a few weeks' time.
Though Guinness is best known for its popular stout, the brewery offers 16 beers on tap — and Wagner said guests showed a willingness to sample different beers like a cherry stout and Northwest IPA. The limited-edition apricot pale ale and hoppy pale ale were also favorites.
Of the options on tap, three are imported from Dublin, Ireland (the site of Guinness' flagship brewery), four are part of a core series of regulars (Guinness Blonde, an IPA, a white ale and a milk stout) and nine are special brews that will rotate "fast and furiously" as head brewers Hollie Stephenson and Peter Wiens come up with new flavors, Wagner said.
He said many visitors to the new brewery stayed for an hour or two, trying multiple beers and checking out the space, which includes informational panels, vintage advertisements and artifacts from throughout Guinness' 259-year history.
After its hectic weekend, Guinness faced a hiccup Monday when a lightning storm caused power outages throughout the region, forcing the brewery to shut down for the day. But Wagner said staff took the closure and other challenges like parking and big crowds in stride, and have been fine-tuning the customer service experience.
This weekend, "if we have the same number of people or more, it will be a different experience because staff has had a week to settle in," he said. "We're hoping for another big, 10,000-person weekend and if we're lucky, we'll get it."
Guinness is open from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.