The Guinness Connoisseur Experience was worth the splurge for us. I’m not much of a beer drinker, but the quieter setting, guided tasting and our engaging host, Cat, made it one of the memorable experiences of our Ireland trip.
We spent about three hours at the Storehouse on October 15, 2026. We chose Connoisseur; the standard admission and STOUTie details below come from Guinness’s current ticket offerings.
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you book through these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We paid for our own Guinness Connoisseur tickets.
Guinness Storehouse tickets compared
All three options below include Storehouse admission. Connoisseur adds a hosted tasting to the self-guided visit; it isn’t a guided tour of the working brewery.
| Ticket | Price & Inclusions |
|---|---|
| Standard | From €24 (about US$27). Self-guided Storehouse visit and a Gravity Bar drink. |
| STOUTie | From €32 (about US$36). Standard admission plus a pint with your photo on the foam. |
| Connoisseur | From €95 (about US$106). Standard admission plus a private hosted tasting and a chance to pour your own pint. |
Starting prices checked October 30, 2026. Final prices vary by date and time. USD amounts are approximate.
How much time to allow. Plan on about 90 minutes for standard admission, 2 hours for STOUTie, or 3 hours for the full Connoisseur visit, including time to explore the Storehouse.
Age limits. Visitors under 18 can visit the Storehouse with an adult. STOUTie is for guests 18 and older, though children with a family ticket can watch. Connoisseur is 18+ only.
The included Gravity Bar drink can be Guinness, Guinness 0.0 or a soft drink. STOUTie is advertised as an additional Guinness pint: staff take your photograph and print it on the foam. Only adults can appear in the photo, with up to three per picture, and staff must take it.
Guinness says to allow about 75 minutes for the Connoisseur tasting, plus time to explore the Storehouse. Ours lasted closer to 90 minutes.
What our Connoisseur Experience was actually like
At the entrance, staff scanned our tickets and escorted us past the regular queue. Inside, an employee gave us our drink tickets, helped us check in and showed us where to start the self-guided tour.
The self-guided tour starts on the ground level and works its way up through the building. We saw exhibits on the ingredients, roasting and brewing, quality control, historical equipment, and how Guinness was packaged and distributed over the years. There’s also a large shop and photo area on the ground level, with cafés, bars and restaurants spread across several levels.
I’d missed the advice to arrive 90 minutes before our booking, so we showed up only 45 minutes early. We skipped the tasting rooms on Level 2 and part of the advertising exhibits on Level 3, where the large Guinness harp is displayed, to get to our Connoisseur check-in on Level 4 at 1:45 p.m. Staff said we could finish the self-guided tour afterward, but by then we felt happy with what we’d done and didn’t go back.
For a look at the layout, see the Guinness Storehouse floor map.
At 2 p.m., Cat brought us into the private Connoisseur room, where we settled into comfortable leather bar chairs. There were nine people in our group, and the quiet setting made it easy to follow Cat’s presentation.
Cat covered the basics of making beer, why and how the Guinness recipe changed over the years, the reasons behind the creation of the different varieties we sampled and the history of the Guinness family. We tried Citra IPA, Extra Stout, West Indies Porter and Foreign Extra Stout, with a bottle shared between two people for each tasting.
Our host was humorous and a good speaker, and asked us what we thought of the samples. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only person in the group who wasn’t a regular beer drinker. I’m glad I gave it a shot. The tasting ended up being one of my favorite parts of the visit.
At the end, we learned to pour our own Guinness and could drink the pint we’d poured. We still had a separate drink ticket for afterward.
I used my drink ticket for a Rockshore Apple Cider at Arthur’s Bar on Level 5. That worked well for me as someone who isn’t much of a beer drinker. If you’re hoping for cider too, ask what’s available when you visit.
We made our way to the top floor to see the view over Dublin from the Gravity Bar, but it was standing-room-only and very crowded. We returned to Arthur’s Bar and found a window table. The private tasting room had been a welcome contrast to that much busier public space.
A little tip we picked up on the way out: if the main elevators are busy, check the ones in the side hallway. We got down much quicker that way.
What we paid and whether I would book it again
We paid $220.06 USD for two Connoisseur tickets, or $110.03 each, on August 8, 2026.
For us, the extra cost bought comfortable seating, a quieter room and an engaging host who made the tasting interesting. Learning to pour a pint and receiving another drink afterward added to the experience, but the presentation and personal attention were what made it feel worthwhile.
I’m glad we chose it. On another Dublin trip, I’d probably put the money toward something we haven’t tried yet.
Which Guinness Storehouse ticket should you choose?
I may earn a commission if you book through the GetYourGuide links below.
Choose standard admission if your priorities are the exhibits and Gravity Bar views, or you want to keep the cost down. It covers the core Storehouse visit without the premium tasting. Check standard admission tickets on GetYourGuide
Choose STOUTie if you specifically want the photograph on your pint. Its advertised starting price is €8 (about US$9) above standard, although you should compare the same date and time. I’d treat it as a fun photo-and-drink addition. Book STOUTie directly with Guinness
Choose Connoisseur if a hosted tasting and quieter setting are part of what you want from the visit. You don’t need to be a beer expert to enjoy it, as I found, but the extra cost makes more sense if those features appeal to you. Check Connoisseur availability on GetYourGuide
Consider the Guinness Brewery Experience for a bigger splurge. We haven’t tried this one, but the official tour goes into the working brewery, including Brewhouse 4 and the underground tunnels. Tickets start at €350 (about US$390) per adult, with lunch at 1837, Storehouse admission and a Gravity Bar pint included. Allow about 3½ hours. It’s English-only and 18+, with considerable walking and stairs; contact Guinness before booking if you have mobility needs. Explore and book the Brewery Experience with Guinness
Practical booking tips
Book ahead, especially for Connoisseur: Guinness currently limits sessions to 16 people. Our group had nine, but other time slots were sold out during our trip.
For a 2 p.m. session, plan to arrive around 12:30 p.m. Official Connoisseur guidance recommends arriving 90 minutes early for the self-guided visit, with check-in at least 15 minutes before the session and a strict latecomer policy.
Connoisseur is English-only and adults-only. Guinness asks you to bring photo ID, although we weren’t asked to show ours. Official direct tickets are non-refundable; date/time changes are subject to the purchase terms.
If your preferred Connoisseur time is sold out on GetYourGuide, you can also check availability directly with Guinness. Your Connoisseur ticket already includes Storehouse admission.
We paired our afternoon Guinness Storehouse experience with a morning visit to the Book of Kells. It worked well for us, but leave enough time between the two to travel across the city and arrive at Guinness early enough for the self-guided tour. For the wider route, see our 7-day Ireland road trip itinerary.
Connoisseur earned its place among our trip’s memorable splurges. If you value the smaller setting and guided tasting, I’d consider it. If you mainly want the Storehouse exhibits and city views, standard admission is the more economical choice.