Guinness Open Gate Brewery to hand out 100 free pints in Covent Garden for International Beer Day

Guinness Open Gate Brewery London will give away 100 free beers at its Old Brewer’s Yard site in Covent Garden on Friday 7^th August, marking International Beer Day with a series of activities aimed at showcasing its brewing operation in the capital.

The giveaway begins at midday at the venue on Mercer Walk, WC2H 9FA. Customers may choose between a craft beer, a pint of Guinness or Guinness 0.0, with the offer limited to one free pint per person. Valid photographic identification proving the drinker is over 18 is required. The promotion runs until stocks are exhausted, or until 5.59pm if the full allocation has not been claimed by then – a reference to 1759, the year the Guinness brand was established at St James’s Gate in Dublin.

Alongside the giveaway, the brewery is running guided tours throughout the day, from 10am to 6.30pm, offering access to what is a working production site rather than a purely visitor-facing attraction. Participants will meet members of the craft brewing team, who will explain the brewing process and discuss the beers currently in production in the tanks. The format allows attendees to put questions directly to the brewers and then step behind the bar at Bar 232° to pour their own pint of Guinness. Tickets for the tour start at £30.

An extended option adds a tasting session following the tour. Guests move into the tasting room to sample a selection of beers brewed on site and hear more about the differences in each brew and flavour notes. The two-part temperature-controlled pour associated with Guinness has become a fixture of the brand’s marketing, and the exercise gives visitors the chance to attempt the technique themselves under supervision.

The Old Brewer’s Yard site opened in Covent Garden in 2025, representing the first Guinness brewery in London for almost two decades. Diageo, which owns the Guinness brand, invested a reported £73m in the development, which combines a microbrewery producing small-batch and experimental beers with bars, restaurants and event spaces across a site that occupies a former brewing location dating back to the 18^th century.

International Beer Day falls annually on the first Friday in August. Established in 2007 in California, it is now marked in a range of countries, typically through events at breweries, bars and taprooms.

Food Desk

For further information about tours and the International Beer Day activities, visit the Guinness Open Gate Brewery London’s website here.