What we heard: The Guinness Storeroom has the most amazing view of Dublin.

What they don’t tell you: The Guinness Storeroom is a seven-story funnel designed to cram as many people as possible into a glitzy special effects zone that glosses over the basics of beer production.

The self-guided tour functions in a spiral that forces the visitor upward until they finally reach a rooftop bar surrounded 360 degrees by floor-ceiling glass. That’s where the ticket holder gets their pint, while surveying some of the most beautiful views of Dublin. But at the time, you get to share the space with hordes of other people, not enough seating and some of the loudest music you’ve ever heard.

So, it’s like a crowded bar on the weekend in vivid daylight.

And for fans of industrial history like me, it’s a disappointment.

And who decided to pass out lots of alcohol and tell people to climb stairs and escalators…

I probably would have paid extra to skip the fields of barley and cascading water to focus on a quiet room with historical artifacts.

The cask-making room was the best done– with displays of all the tools and photos of the men working. There were videos of how it was done and signs about how back-breaking the work was. But it was tiny, with ginormous piles of casks that competed with the actual history.

And the trains were on the same floor as the cafe. It made the trains feel like an afterthought instead of the exhibit.

But next to the trains there was an interesting piece of artwork. A sculpture listing the surnames of the workers. That was a fascinating recognition that industry is built on the backs of people.