After navigating their “terrible twos” in the throes of year one of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guinness Open Gate Brewery will celebrate becoming a “threenager” this weekend with three new experimental beers.
The Halethorpe-based brewery will commemorate its three-year anniversary with back-to-back weekend celebrations, starting July 29 through Aug. 1. They will then pick up the festivities again from Aug. 5-8.
The celebrations will feature food, music, giveaways, and — of course — plenty of beer.
On July 29, the brewery will release its Honey Amber Ale, made with fresh honey from Eastern Shore-based Apex Apiary, which has been a local purveyor partner for Guinness since the brewery opened.
The ale has a 5.3% ABV and hearkens back to the brewery’s Honey Pale Ale anniversary release from last year, which also used Apex honey.
The following week, on Aug. 5, the brewery will release its two other new beers: the Arm-in-Arm and a Barrel-Aged Grand Cru.
The Arm-in-Arm is ale-brewed with dried lavender, lemon peel and fresh blueberry puree. Guinness’s hospitality team helped inspire the beer, which has a 6.0% ABV.
“Made with more than 40 members of the Guinness hospitality team, Arm-in-Arm represents the welcoming feeling that our team aims to impart to every guest,” brewery officials said.
Coming in with a whopping 11% ABV, the Grand Cru is a rework of the 2019 Stock Ale. The Cru uses the same Imperial Stout that the brewery has been aging in bourbon barrels on site since 2019. It also blends in bourbon-aged English Barleywine for a ratio of 60% barleywine to 40% stout.
There will also be complementary anniversary cookies, prepared by D.C.-area Bee J’s Cookies, each Saturday and Sunday of the two-weekend celebrations while supplies last.
The cookies will come in three flavors to pair with the three beers: a blueberry lemon cookie with lavender glaze to pair with the Arm-in-Arm, a Honey Graham cookie with toffee or caramel center to pair with the Honey Amber Ale, and a double chocolate cookie with cherry or raspberry to pair with the Grand Cru.
The brewery will have surprise daily giveaways, including a grand prize of one 1817 Heritage Burger per week for an entire year from the brewery’s taproom and restaurant.
During both weekends, patrons will be able to chow down on the brewery’s food specials, including Dubliner sandwiches and Irish nachos.
Patrons will also be able to enjoy live music throughout the two celebratory weekends, including performances by Joi Carter on July 31 from 4-6 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., and again on Aug. 7 during those same times; performances by Lauren & Rusty Duo on Aug. 1 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m.; and performances by Mallow Hill on Aug. 8 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Over the past three years, the brewery has welcomed more than 800,000 guests, brewed more than 250 experimental Baltimore beers, hosted thousands of celebrations and dozens of marriage proposals, and been the site of “countless stories shared over pints,” officials said.
