International spirits conglomerate Diageo announced it will open a Guinness brewery in Relay, a town in Baltimore County, Maryland. Construction is set to begin this spring with ribbon-cutting scheduled for the fall 2017. Part of the initiative is making beer, of course, but another — potentially bigger — aspect is about tourism and brand building. Of the 70 jobs Diageo says the new Baltimore brewery will create, just under half of them will work the tourism/visitor side of the business. Diageo previously had a bottling operation on the Relay site.
The new brewery won’t produce the Irish stout that Guinness is famous for, but will work the microbrew market. Beer tourism is getting bigger in the US, as pilgrimages to breweries both famous and remote have become a niche alternative travel itinerary for thirsty, hops-loving roamers. The new Baltimore Guinness Brewery will follow the lead of Dublin’s successful Guinness Open Gate Brewery.
Thrilled to announce intention to bring our highly successful Guinness @OpenGateBrewery concept to US shores https://t.co/TWUSuAwirg pic.twitter.com/crEZkhv32P
— Diageo North America (@Diageo_NA) January 31, 2017
