Guinness Open Gate Brewery is shutting down

Guinness is shutting down its Maryland brewery, parent company Diageo North America Inc. announced Thursday.

The 10-barrel experimental brewery and taproom in Halethorpe remained open to the public for three years after Diageo laid off about 100 workers and ended most manufacturing at the plant. Chrissie Dwyer, a spokesperson for Aramark, said 174 employees who supported the location would be impacted by the closure and that “we are working to identify opportunities in other areas of our organization where possible.”

Guinness Open Gate Brewery hosted tours as well as events, including weekly viewings of Ravens games and the upcoming Nigerian American Festival, and continued to release limited-edition ales for the annual Preakness races.

The Halethorpe site was also the only place where customers could purchase Guinness’ Baltimore Blonde, which was made there after production briefly relocated to New York’s FX Matt Brewing Company.

The brewery, which opened in 2018, was the first Guinness presence on U.S. soil since 1954 and cost the company $90 million to build. Its launch followed an effort by Diageo to persuade Maryland lawmakers to revamp laws governing beer production in the state.

“We’re disappointed to learn that Guinness plans to close its doors in Halethorpe and recognize the uncertainty this brings for its employees and their families,” Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said in a statement.

“Baltimore County itself and the state really put a lot of resources in to help them be successful,” said Kelly Dudeck, executive director of the Brewers Association of Maryland.

But the brewing industry has faced a slew of challenges in the years since Open Gate opened its doors, with an oversaturated market and many people drinking less. In the wake of an explosion in craft brewing across Maryland, several craft breweries have shut their doors. Open Gate’s closure, Dudeck said, highlights challenges across the industry.

“This isn’t just a Guinness story,” Dudeck said. “Breweries of every size are navigating the rising costs, changing consumer behavior and an increasingly difficult marketplace. I am very worried that we are going to hear of many more in the next 12 months, and these are ones who don’t have sources of a multinational corporation behind them.”

An August report to Diageo shareholders detailed challenges in North America amid “continued pressure on consumer wallets,” though sales of Guinness continue to grow. In August, John O’Keeffe, president of Diageo North America, said Guinness Draught is the No. 1 tap handle in New York and Boston.

It’s unclear how many employees in addition to the 174 Aramark workers will be affected by the upcoming closure.

Luis Rabago, a spokesperson for Diageo, declined to provide exact numbers, saying the bulk of the jobs lost were with Aramark, the company’s hospitality partner at the brewery. .

Though Maryland law requires employers with more than 50 workers to alert the state’s Department of Labor of all impending layoffs, no notification has yet been posted online.

In a statement, Klausmeier pledged the help of Baltimore County’s workforce development team to connect laid-off employees with resources and new job opportunities.

Guinness Open Gate’s last day open to the public will be Nov. 1.

This story has been updated.