Major boost for Northern Irish craft breweries

Craft breweries in Northern Ireland have been boosted by a decision by one of Belfast's iconic public houses.

The Sunflower Bar has announced that it is to remove the majority of its international beer brands in favour of showcasing products from local breweries.

The historic traditional corner bar has been located at the same place in Belfast for over a century and features everything from poetry readings to live music and everything in between. It's the first bar in Northern Ireland to convert to local brews.

Pedro Donald, owner of the Sunflower, has worked in the hospitality sector for over 30 years. Explaining the decision in favour of local beers, he says: "The licensed trade in Northern Ireland has always been restricted by the tied house phenomenon that excludes competition and only promotes the big multinational's brands, which in turn has meant that the trade's offering to the public has been somewhat generic.

"I firmly believe that consumers are completely fed up with the same standard offerings and now they want something different. I also believe that we now have some amazing local craft breweries here in Ireland that deserve to have their brands showcased."

Northern Ireland has around 30 local craft breweries now, and the craft beer revolution seems to be growing consistently across all channels.

The Hercules Brewing Company, the first craft brewery in Belfast and creator of Yardsman branded beers is one of the breweries featured in the Sunflower. The breweries Yardsman Original Double Stout is now the Sunflower's only stout of choice.

Mr McDonald continues: "We are regularly asked 'What have you got that's local?' and in my view the Yardsman Original Double Stout is a fabulous beer and it is brewed here in Belfast, just a stone's throw from the bar and is made using all natural, local ingredients with traditional brewing methods. We're in Belfast so why not offer a Belfast stout rather than a Dublin one?"

Sunflower's tap range, which is now almost exclusively local, will carry craft beers from across Ireland including ranges from Hilden in Dunmurry - Ireland's oldest independent brewery, Farmageddon from Comber, county Down, Northbound from Derry, county Tyrone's Clearsky. The bar is also showcasing cider from Armagh Cider Company in Armagh and Mac Ivors from Dungannon, county Tyrone.