June 29 (UPI) -- Iconic Irish brewer Guinness this summer will open its first brewery in the United States in more than six decades, the company announced Friday.
The new brewing facility in Maryland will be a 62-acre former Seagram's bottling plant called the Guinness Open Gate Brewery and Barrel House. The property is already used by beer and liquor conglomerate Diageo, which owns Guinness, for bottling and aging Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum.
The $80 million investment to brew Guinness in Maryland's historic Relay area will include tours of the operation, taproom tastings and a 270-seat restaurant. About 200 jobs are expected to be created with an anticipated influx of 300,000 tourists per year.
"There is a huge multiplier from these 300,000 expected visitors who will come into Relay every year," said Will Anderson, Baltimore County economic development director.
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The Maryland brewery will open on Aug. 3.
"The USA is probably the most dynamic and exciting beer market in the world right now, and, put simply, we'd like to be closer to the action," Diageo said in a statement. "Having a brewery in the USA will help us understand and respond to trends more quickly, as well as brew smaller batches and get them to market faster."
It will be the first time Guinness, which has breweries in 49 countries, will operate in the United States since leaving New York in 1954. Guinness was established in Ireland in 1759, and although its dark brown stout beer is its most notable product, officials said the U.S. operation will initially brew only gold-colored lagers.
