First wheat beer from Northern Ireland brewer

A new wheat beer has just been launched by Clearsky Brewing Company, a recently formed craft brewer in Northern Ireland.

Clearsky's first branded beer, Fulcrum, a premium product, was launched at the end of October and is already available in bars and through off-sales across Northern Ireland. The bottle-conditioned beer has 5%ABV and is being retailed in 500 ml bottles.

Northern Ireland's first wheat beer, Fulcrum is the brainchild of Stephen McKenna, who has extensive management and marketing experience over 20 years in the industry with Diageo, and is based at Dungannon in county Tyrone.

McKenna left the corporate sector to realise a dream of creating a contemporary beer using traditional craft techniques and his own recipe. He aims to export the beer to the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and the US and has linked up with Drinks Inc, a leading Northern Irish distributor of beers, ales and other beverages which has an established network of customers in the Republic.

The new beer is brewed from wheat, malted barley and hops. McKenna's plan is to develop a portfolio of craft beers for export.

He aims to bring 'craft beer into the mainstream' and is targeting the product at young adults aged 21 who are keen to experience the distinctive flavours of a craft beer. "Fulcrum is competing in the premium lager category. It's designed to be a contemporary lifestyle brand that will be marketed using a range of techniques particularly social media channels that are well established within our target market," he says.

He chose Fulcrum as the brand following extensive market research. "Fulcrum is the point where everything works in perfect balance. It's a hand crafted wheat beer that strikes the perfect balance between crisp depth of taste and dry satisfying refreshment. It has a golden colour, is perfectly balanced and has the DNA of a craft beer that is also accessible to non craft beer drinkers," he adds.