Although best known for brewing ‘the black stuff’, an experimental Guinness brewery has existed at St. James’s Gate in Dublin for over 100 years. The latest in a line of the brand’s experimental breweries, Guinness Open Gate Brewery was set up with an aim for brewers to explore new ideas and develop small batch beers to be served in the onsite tap room. Beers selected for further development are then brewed in greater quantities in Brew House 4 at St. James’s Gate, or in one of Guinness’ overseas breweries.
From the experimental range, Guinness’ Open Gate Brewery has recently launched two new beers in the UK: Open Gate Citra IPA and Open Gate Pilsner. On the launch of these new beers, Guinness Open Gate Brewery Lead Brewer, Peter Simpson said: “As brewers, our goal is to introduce people to the more flavoursome possibilities of beer. At the end of the day, trying new beers should be a really fun experience for people so we wanted to create a new range of great tasting beer styles for people to enjoy”.
Jeremy Kantar, Europe Beer Category Director, Diageo said: “Guinness has been sharing beer with people around the world for over 250 years. Our Open Gate Brewery pays that heritage forward by making it easy and enjoyable for people to discover new beers. We’ve spent a lot of effort to ensure that everything we do — from the colours on our labels to our language around flavour — enables people to find a beer that’s right for them and one that they’d enjoy trying.”
Available on draught, bottled or canned, Open Gate Citra IPA is golden and topped with a foamy white head. On the nose, citrus notes (primarily orange juice and grapefruit rind) dominate – unsurprisingly given the beer’s hop build up of American Citra, Centennial and Cascade hops. Elsewhere, some slight pine notes and light roasted notes are also trace. On the palate, citrus notes are prominent once more, harbouring a succinct bitterness typical of IPA, balanced with some malt notes, very mild floral savours and juiciness that complements the refreshing bitterness which lingers on the dry, clean finish. Citra IPA isn’t the most exciting IPA on the market, but it’s reliably balanced, quaffable and refreshing: ideal to be enjoyed in the late spring sun.
Further information on Guinness Open Gate Brewery can be found here. Guinness Open Gate Citra IPA is available nationwide from Morrisons.
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