Killyleagh Beer to be brewed in USA - Down Recorder Article 2/12/09
A Killyleagh brewing company is on the verge of becoming a major player in the United States.
The Strangford Lough Brewing Company has signed a lucrative deal with one of the biggest brewers in America, which will see two of its beers distributed in 20 states from the end of January.
And that’s just the start. The Legbiter and St Patrick’s Best beer could soon be sold in every state and make significant inroads into the Canadian market by the end of 2010.
Interest in the local beers has also been expressed by the brewing industry in China, Japan and Thailand, with the hard work and effort of Mr. Tony Davies and Mr. Bob Little, who started the local company, now paying off.
They have signed a deal with the highly acclaimed High Falls Brewing Company which is based in Rochester, New York. It is one of the largest and oldest continually operating breweries in the United States and is best known for a wide range of lagers and craft beers.
In the New Year, it’s experienced team will start brewing two of the Killyleagh company’s beers and they could soon be joined by the St Patrick’s Ale range. An initial 165,000 bottles of beer will be brewed in New York in January with Mr. Davies explaining the Strangford Lough Brewing Company is thrilled and heartened by the feedback its products have received. “When you look at the challenges of taking beers like these into the United States and to have a brewing partner of this size and stature saying positive things about our brand makes the past five years of hard work all worth it,” said the company’s managing director. “You can’t create a brand overnight like this and we have had to work really hard to establish our beers and get them into the United States.”
Mr. Daves said the very fact that the High Falls Brewery - The fourth largest in the US is a strategic partner of the Strangford Lough Brewing Company is tremendous privilege for the local firm.
“The High Falls Brewery produce quality beer. The beer market in the US is tough and we have licensees with different levels of experience. “You just have to mention High Falls and the distributors know that the key issues of volume and quality are taken care of. We are a small Co. Down business which is now working on a much bigger stage,” he continued. Mr Davies said when the first batch of the local beers are distributed across 20 states from the end of January, he wouldn’t be surprised if the local company is covering every US state and Canada by the end of next year.
“We believe when our beer hits the market we will get a lot of enquiries from the states we are not surrently supplying. Our long term aim is to develop our own local brewery and as we confirmed earlier this year, we have identified a site in Downpatrick. “We have a scheduled meeting with Stormont agriculture minister Michelle Gildernew shortly when we will outline our future vision for the company which is currently working with farmers in Clough who supply us with barley.”
Down Recorder Article - Wednesday 2nd December 2009
