Get the skinny on stout at Dublin's Guinness Storehouse — usatoday.com

Laura Bly, USA TODAYShare Dublin's Guinness Storehouse is Ireland's most popular tourist attraction. (Photo: By Laura Bly/USA TODAY) Tags For devotees of the creamy dark brew known as stout, a visit to Dublin's Guinness Storehouse is a heady mix of sacred pilgrimage and theme-park frivolity. The seven-story building at St. James Gate, which draws a million visitors a year to the spot where Arthur Guinness founded his namesake brewery in 1759 , is even known as the "Disneyland of beer." Now, acolytes willing to pony up an extra 25 euros (about $33) per person on top of the regular adult admission of 16.50 euros (about $21.50) can get a more in-depth look and taste of the "black stuff" at the new Guinness Connoisseur Bar Experience. The "intimate tasting sessions," limited to 16 participants and lasting an hour and a half, will teach Storehouse visitors how to savor four Guinness varieties: Guinness Draught, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Guinness Original and Guinness Black Lager. Guinness Generous Ale, a limited-edition holiday ale, will be included in the lineup for a limited time. And, of course, the tutorial includes tips on how to pour and enjoy the perfect pint. (A few hints: It takes 119.5 seconds to produce the foam and iconic "surge," a byproduct of the nitrogen used to create tiny bubbles, and an expert will raise his or her elbow and "drink through the head.") But the pinnacle of a Guinness Storehouse visit, both literally and figuratively, continues to be the Gravity Bar, where tourgoers can drink in a panoramic view of the city and Wicklow Mountains beyond. Among the Gravity Bar's patrons: Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and (rumor has it) Hillary Clinton, who may stop by during this week's Dublin trip. Laura Bly Veteran travel reporter and avid iPhoneographer Laura Bly has visited more than 85 countries on seven continents. Her favorite place: a window seat, headed somewhere she's never been.

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