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Diageo’s Waterford Brewery produces Guinness Flavour Extract, the special ingredient known as the “essence of Guinness”. This is what gives Guinness its unique flavour and aroma, wherever it is brewed or consumed around the world.
Only two locations produce the extract, Waterford and St James’s Gate in Dublin. The Waterford brewery, in Mary Street, has been at the heart of brewing in Waterford City since 1792.
Since then, this dynamic site has seen many changes and has adapted to meet the demands of new tastes, processes and markets as they have happened.
Tradition
Waterford has a tradition of excellent ales and beers that stretches back for centuries. The first brewery was sited in Mary Street in 1792 when William Strangman began to brew here.
In 1955, Guinness bought the Mary Street brewery, a move related to its earlier purchase of the Cherry brewery in New Ross. Over the years, Waterford has produced many fine beers and ales. Smithwick’s, Hoffman lager, Cherrys ale and Phoenix ale have all been brewed on site.
Trust
Guinness is brewed in 50 countries and sold in 150 around the world. Just two plants are entrusted with the unique recipe used to create the perfect Guinness stout.
As one of these, Waterford has a special trust. Every drop that leaves the facility takes with it the promise of consistent Guinness aroma and taste. Using Guinness Flavour Extract in local brewing processes guarantees that consumers experience the unique Guinness quality every time.
Extract produced in Waterford is used to produce the equivalent of 6.4 million pints of Guinness every year.
Integrity
In 2003 a major investment programme costing €40 million began, to redevelop the brewery as a state of the art beverage blending agent (BBA) site. The 18 months of intensive redevelopment started with new plant, technology and training to meet the demands of maintaining one of the world’s leading brands. The project was supported by Enterprise Ireland.
There is also ongoing development of skills. This is achieved partly through internal programmes, and also through partnerships with Waterford Skillnets and Waterford Institute of Technology.
As in other Diageo sites, every production cycle at Waterford is closely monitored. This ranges from checking the quality of the ingredients, to equipment tests, through to analysis of intermediate stages and the end product.
The plant has become a world-class production site. Guinness Flavour Extract produced in Waterford is distributed worldwide and used by all breweries to produce Guinness.
Factfile
- Guinness brewed in over 50 countries uses Guinness Flavour Extract produced in Waterford
- Diageo Global Supply invested €40 million in developing the Waterford Brewery
- Waterford and St. James’s Gate are the only two places in the world that produce Guinness Flavour Extract
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