Inside the Guinness brewery

The craft and labor behind Ireland's beloved brew

Alex Q. Arbuckle

August 22, 1953

Henry Barter smokes a pipe after finishing his pint of Guinness at John Mullet's bar on Amiens Street in Dublin. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

In 1759, Irish brewer Arthur Guinness signed a lease on a disused four-acre brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin. The annual rent was £45, and the lease was good for a period of 9,000 years. Brewing only ales, the business grew, and exported its first shipment to England 10 years after signing the lease. In 1799, noting the rising popularity of dark beers favored by Dublin’s porters, Guinness decided to switch over from brewing ales to dark “porter” beers, which would evolve over the years into the famous Guinness stout.At the turn of the 20th century, the company began hiring scientists to tweak and explore recipes and brewing processes. Chemist Alexander Forbes-Watson established a research laboratory at St. James Gate, which was soon followed by an experimental brewhouse and malting. On Aug. 22, 1953, a photographer for the Picture Post went inside St. James’s Gate, by that time one of the biggest breweries in the world, producing 80% of the country’s beer. There, he documented the process by which water, malt, barley, hops and yeast were milled, mashed, boiled, fermented, filled and poured into casks of Ireland’s iconic drink.

Worker Eugene Hackett leans on a barrow used to take malt samples from one part of the brewery to another. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers at the Guinness brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker carries a sack of malt into the brewery malt store. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers bend a new cask in the cask-making shop at the Guinness brewery. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Joe McCarthy blazes a cask in the cask making shop. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker makes pads which are used to protect beer casks when they are moved around. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker clears the chute that returns the hops from the "hop back" to the copper. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers drain beer from a mash tun. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker cleans out a mash tun. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker catches a breath while cleaning out a mash tun. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers watch as yeast is skimmed off the top of the beer before it is passed to vats for maturing. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker watches as yeast is skimmed off the top of the beer on its way to the vats for maturing. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers hose down casks. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Workers roll out scalded casks. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Paddy Farrell rolls a full cask of ale into the racking shed for dispatch. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

"Raddler"James Maher marks the rims of casks to indicate their contents. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A "smeller" sniffs scalded casks to check their cleanliness. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker fills casks in the racking shed. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker fills casks in the racking shed before dispatch. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

A worker rests his foot on a full cask of ale in the racking shed, ready for dispatch. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images

Henry Barter enjoys a pint of Guinness at John Mullet's bar on Amiens Street in Dublin. Credit: Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images