Northern Ireland's first craft brewing museum approved
Northern Ireland's first museum of craft brewing will be announced next month at Hillstown Brewery, which is located on a family farm near Ahoghill in county Antrim.
The brewery, the brainchild of farmer turned craft brewer Nigel Logan, who also pioneered the development of Wagyu-style beer-fed beef in Northern Ireland, has won backing from the international Économusée network to create a 'working museum' that showcases artisans at work.
The Économusée concept was developed in Québec and involves partners from Canada, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland highlighting their expertise. There are already two such museum ventures here in food - Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil on the Kane family farm at Myroe, Limavady and Boughgammon Farm, a goat and veal farm run by the Cole family near Ballycastle.
Hillstown is setting up a small visitor's centre that will show how its successful craft beers and ales are being produced in the on farm brewery.
Nigel Logan says: "We are delighted to be included in the Economusée scheme and to have the opportunity to show visitors how we produce our extensive range of beers and also enable them to sample the products. It is a perfect fit for our successful farm shop and restaurant here at Ahoghill, an ideal facility for visitors. We've also plenty of space for parking."
The Hillstown farm story stretches back four generations of the Logan family. They farm 150-acres and specialise in beef, sheep, pigs and poultry. The farm also features llamas and rare-breed pigs. The farm shop was set up in 2006 to sell farm produce and other products from local suppliers.
He continues: "We believe you need the finest ingredients, brewed by hand, to produce a truly remarkable beer, taking time to allow the grains, water, hops and yeast to work their magic.
"We have always been passionate about hand-crafted produce, we always strive to support local and create employment, aiming to build a community around us that shares every step of the journey.
"We are dedicated to trying to educate beer drinkers that it is about the bottle of craft beer that you have in your hand, not the quantity, not the alcohol percentage, not who's round is it, simply enjoy each bottle for its taste and in moderation. We want to see more folk pairing beers with their meals," he adds.
The brewery produces a unique range of craft beers. All the brewing operations are carried out on the farm and can be seen by visitors. A new and experienced master brewer, Alistair Thompson has been appointed. An eye-catching rebanding of the beers has also just been completed.
The innovative brewery teamed up with a coffee business to launch an original beer in cans featuring a new identity. The craft brewery launched Pamoja, a black IPA in 330ml cans aimed primarily at the off-trade in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The company is also hoping to sell the new black IPA to Great Britain. It's its first venture into canning beer. It has since added a second canned beer using its established Henrietta the Hen, a Californian style pale ale.