(Courtesy Ben Blackall/Netflix)

Dublin, 1868. The Guinness family patriarch is dead, and his four children — each with dark secrets to hide — hold the brewery’s fate in their hands. And Netflix has poured fresh life into one of Ireland’s most enduring stories.

Think The Crown but with beer..

House of Guinness, the streaming platform’s latest big-budget historical drama, is now available worldwide, tracing the rise of the Dublin brewery from its 18th-century beginnings to its transformation into a global brand.

The series was created by Stephen Knight (the showrunner behind the terrific Peaky Blinders) and produced by Left Bank Pictures, the British company who produced The Crown. Filming took place primarily in Dublin, with key scenes shot at the Guinness Storehouse and on reconstructed sets replicating St. James’s Gate Brewery in the late 1700s.

The production employed more than 400 crew members in Ireland, making it one of the largest television shoots in Dublin since Penny Dreadful. Additional location shoots were completed in London and County Wicklow, with post-production handled at Shepperton Studios.

The eight-episode first season stars Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) as brewery founder Arthur Guinness and (Passing, Preacher) as his wife Olivia. Supporting cast includes Domhnall Gleeson as Benjamin Lee Guinness, the 19th-century heir who oversaw massive expansion, and Brendan Gleeson as a later patriarch navigating political upheaval in Ireland. The production employed more than 400 crew members in Ireland, making it one of the country’s largest television shoots in recent years.

Veteran filmmaker Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) directed the pilot, with Irish directors Dearbhla Walsh and Lenny Abrahamson handling subsequent episodes. The show’s writers’ room, led by Peter Morgan (The Crown), drew from archival material, company records, and Irish history texts to build a storyline that blends family drama with broader historical events.

Though Netflix has not disclosed the official budget, industry sources estimate production costs at €80–100 million and it shows.

At the Dublin premiere, Netflix VP of Original Content Maeve O’Connor called the series “an exploration not just of a brand, but of Ireland itself.” And Guinness owner Diageo executives stressed that the production team had full creative control, acknowledged the marketing value of bringing Guinness’s 265-year legacy to a global audience.

Early reviews have been largely positive.

The Irish Times praised the show’s “lavish period detail and sharp performances,” while The Guardian called it “a meticulous blend of history and entertainment, with enough grit to avoid slipping into brand myth-making.” U.S. outlets have drawn comparisons to The Crown, noting that House of Guinness similarly turns a national institution into serialized drama.

The series covers Arthur Guinness’s audacious 1759 lease on St. James’s Gate and charts the company’s growth through centuries of upheaval—temperance movements, Irish independence, and the marketing breakthroughs of the 20th century. Later episodes dramatize the creation of the iconic toucan ads and the rise of Guinness as a global export.

Netflix has not confirmed a second season, but producers have hinted that the story could stretch across multiple installments, with future episodes focusing on Guinness’s expansion into Africa and America in the 20th century.

For now, House of Guinness stands as Netflix’s latest attempt to blend history, commerce, and family drama into a prestige television series—and, judging by early reactions, they may have found the right brew.

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