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(Guinness Open Gate in Baltimore)
In August 2018, Guinness opened Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House, its first brewery to operate in the United States since leaving New York in 1954.
Based just south of Baltimore Guinness’ on 62-acre brewing campus once home to the Calvert Distillery a legendary post-Prohibition operator that that for decades produced the mid-Atlantic’s popular Lord Calvert Whisky, the brewry’s opening was widely celebrated.
The $90m operation is home three separate brewhouses– a small two barrel pilot brewery, a 10 barrel brewhouse dedicated to experimental beer, and a custom-designed 100 hectoliter brew hub as well as large and small-scale packaging lines.
But it won’t be for long…
On May 31st Diageo, the London-based drinks major that now owns Guinness, filed a Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice that its Guinness manufacturing facility in Maryland is set to shut down by 9 June 2023.
In a statement to American Craft Beer, Diageo explained its decision, a decision that according to the filing could impact 108 brewery employees.
“After careful consideration and analysis of our supply footprint, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close our manufacturing facility in Relay, Maryland,” the statement read. “In order to ensure long term sustainable growth for Diageo, we are optimizing our existing operations across North America to meet evolving consumer preferences.”
Hospitality operations at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Relay will not be affected by the June closure. The “destination brewery” has welcomed more than 1.3 million customers since its opening in 2018, according to Diageo.
Diageo said that it would be supporting those employees affected…
“For those affected we are providing support in the form of severance packages, outplacement assistance, and employee assistance resources, as well as information on open roles across our organization.”
The company added that it will “continue to brew experimental beers to serve the brewery’s taproom in the 10-barrel innovation brewery on the ground floor of the visitor center”.
According to Just Drinks “the company’s sales in the region grew by just 3% in the six months to December, missing analyst expectations by four percentage points. Meanwhile, Diageo’s Guinness brand grew by 17%, driven by performance in both Europe and North America.”
The news comes as Diageo prepares for the summer opening of its Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Chicago.
Located in the long-vacated Pennsylvania Railroad Depot, north of Randolph Restaurant Row and west of Halsted, the Guinness Chicago Taproom will occupy a 15,000 space with a 10-barrel system that will produce beers only available at the taproom.
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(All image credits: Guinness)
