Guinness has secured planning permission to expand facilities at its St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin to increase production of its 0.0% alcohol-free brand of the famous stout following its launch on the Irish market last year.
Dublin City Council has approved plans by Diageo Ireland to construct six new processing tanks in a new two-storey extension of its existing brewing plant off James’s Street.
The company said the need for the facility arose from “the success of low alcohol brands and the need for additional space to ramp up production of these brands.”
Diageo relaunched the alcohol-free version of Guinness 0.0 last summer after its original launch in November 2020 resulted in a recall of the drink in the UK as “a precautionary measure” over fears of microbiological contamination in the production process just days before its scheduled release in Ireland.
The product had been over four years in development at the Dublin brewery.
Each of the new 25-metre-high tanks is capable of holding around 750,000 pints.
The 0.0 version of the drink is initially brewed in the same vats as regular Guinness with the alcohol subsequently removed through a process of cold filtration.
While the new tanks will be visible from outside the plant, particularly along the Liffey quays, Diageo said they would materially match the existing vats, albeit slightly smaller, and would “not look out of place”.
Diageo said the expanded facility will ensure the continued success of the St James’s Gate brewery and protect its role in the local economy.
As a condition of the grant of planning permission, Diageo is required to make a development contribution of almost €107,000 to the council.
