Guinness parent firm Diageo is to lodge plans with Kildare County Council to double the capacity of its €200m brewery in Littleconnell, Co Kildare.
Construction work at the brewery has been ongoing since June last year.
Diageo confirmed that the proposed expansion would more than double the brewery’s capacity to 4.5 million hectolitres.
The firm had already earmarked the Co Kildare brewery as a production hub for lager and ales; including Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny and Carlsberg.
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The planned doubling of capacity would result in the plant becoming a production hub for Guinness and Guinness 0.0 for emerging markets.
St James Gate in Dublin is currently the only Diageo site in the world where Guinness 0.0 is brewed, while regular Guinness is brewed in many locations around the world.
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A spokeswoman for Diageo stressed that St James’s Gate in Dublin would “remain the heart and soul of Guinness, continuing to brew for its largest and most established markets, including Ireland, the UK and the US”.
Diageo’s planned expansion of the plant follows it reporting in June that on-trade yearly volume sales of Guinness 0.0 draught grew 161 per cent between June 2022 and March 2025 and the firm is eyeing the zero alcohol product’s global potential based on its Irish roll-out.
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“Diageo’s commitment to this iconic site – its heritage, its legacy, and its future – remains stronger than ever,” the spokeswoman said.
Diageo expects to lodge the planning application in early November and the proposed expansion at Littleconnell “forms part of Diageo’s long-term plan to increase capacity and flexibility to support future growth opportunities as they arise”.
The spokeswoman also said that “while the realisation and timings of this expansion will depend on a number of external factors, it reflects Diageo’s long-standing commitment to Ireland and reinforces the country’s position as a strategic base for sustainable export-led growth”.
Commenting on the new plans to be lodged, Diageo’s global head of beer supply, Colin O’Brien, said the planned Littleconnell expansion was “designed to position us for future global growth opportunities for Guinness and Guinness 0.0″.
“By increasing our capacity, we can better serve emerging markets while strengthening Ireland’s position as a leading market for beer exports.”
It is expected that the first brew for lager and ales at the Littleconnell site will take place in early 2026.
