Craft brewer invests to triple production

The brewery, founded by Willy Mayne in March 2016, has also installed a fully automated canning line and is aiming to set up a new craft beer outlet in east Belfast.

Another feature of the new brewery, located near Boucher Road in south Belfast, is extensive space for a taproom for marketing its brews to the public through using occasional licenses. The brewery also used a crowdfunding campaign for what is an important development for the small business. Invest Northern Ireland has also offered the company £36,500 of support for the development of the brewery and creation of seven new jobs.

Willy explains: “The new brewery will include another four brewing tanks from China which will allow us to treble our annual capacity to a max of 1,500 hectolitres or about 265,000 pints. We’ve needed this expansion for many months because of the growth in demand for our craft beers in Northern Ireland and developing interest from Great Britain.

“In addition, we will open a craft beer bar in east Belfast with 12 or more draught lines serving a wide range of our brews and other local beers, as well as natural wine and some local spirits. The plan will involve local community development groups including those associated with the imaginative and popular Connswater Greenway development as much as possible.”

Welcoming the expansion John Hood, Invest NI’s Director of Food and Drink adds: “Since it established, Bullhouse Brewing has demonstrated an aptitude for developing a unique product range which has proved very popular with beer enthusiasts. The company first contacted Invest NI in 2017 and over the last number of years we have built an excellent relationship, offering expert business advice on growing its business, innovating and growing sales internationally.

“Our support for the creation of seven new jobs coupled with the installation of the new brew house and associated marketing activities is ensuring the company has a solid platform to expand its business and capitalise on the growing global craft beer industry. I wish Willy and his new team every success for the future.”

Willy, who developed a passion for home brewing into a fully-fledged small brewery, was also influenced by the rapid growth in craft brewing, especially in the US from regular holidays there.

He launched the business on a very small scale and on a part-time basis, producing 400 litres of beer per batch, bottling and labelling each by hand and selling everything out of the back of his car.

Demand soon began to outpace supply and so he enlisted the help of a local distributor and hasn’t looked back since. In September 2017, Willy decided to give up the day job and concentrate on the brewery full time. To celebrate the occasion, he brewed a pale ale and called it P45!

A strong commitment to perfection in his beers is matched with his enthusiasm for experimentation and innovative products.

So far, alongside the core range of two pale ales, a session India Pale Ale (IPA) and a New England IPA, the brewery releases at least two new specials every month.

These currently include a rhubarb and custard sour and a rum barrel aged plum porter which was created in collaboration with Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee, an established producer of an award winning gin and which is also maturing an Irish malt whiskey. The linkup is the outcome of Willy’s friendship with Copeland founder Gareth Irvine.

Willy’s most successful beer remains one of his original brews - the Small Axe 4.3 percent session IPA. “We pride ourselves on our environmentally friendly approach to brewing and packaging, and our involvement within the local community,” Willy explains.

“Our company ethos is also to liberalise the beer landscape in Northern Ireland by providing original, no-frills venues for the local community to experience and enjoy our brews and those of other craft brewers,” he adds.

He founded the business using old dairy tanks on the family farm near Newtownards in a former bull pen – hence the name of the small brewery. The initial aim of the brewery was to bring to market styles of beer not available in Northern Ireland.

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