White Hag brews fizzy expansion plans

Irish craft beer brewer The White Hag Brewing Company has invested €1m into a new brewhouse as it embarks on a five-year plan to grow employment to more than 60 staff.

Speaking with the Sunday Independent, Paul Mullin, managing director of White Hag, said the brewery had been working on a growth programme over the last 18 months. One of the key parts of the plan was to expand its Ballymote, Co Sligo, brewhouse, with an ambition to hit 30,000 hectolitres — more than six million pints — in the near future. It will brew around 12,000 hectolitres this year, having brewed 8,000 last year.

Mullin said the expansion, which was supported by company funds, Enterprise Ireland and AIB, was a positive step forward for the business.

“One of the main reasons for the new brewhouse is that our markets are growing in Europe and Ireland,” he said. “Even post-Covid, we are seeing growth in taps around Ireland.

“Even though it is a lot of money to invest, we are going to see a lot of pay back in the future. It is that step up from that small two or three-man operation we were eight years ago to where we are now.”

Mullin said White Hag, which currently employs 22 people, was tracking around 30pc growth every year. He added that the company has also hit profitability over the past two years, which has been reinvested into the business.

Mullin, who co-founded the brewery in 2013 alongside Bob Coggins and Brian McTernan, said White Hag would also be looking to raise funding to help it hit its five-year plan of more than 60 staff. The company would use part of the raise to fund a new canning line.

White Hag is also interested in partnering with Paddy Whiskey, which recently acquired nearby Lough Gill Distillery, on a tourism craft experience for whiskey and beer in Co Sligo. Mullin said it has developed a taproom so that it could cater for tours. However, it is waiting for a licence to be approved.

“We always get visitors passing on the Wild Atlantic Way interested in seeing the brewery and tasting our beers,” he said. “Beer tourism is a big industry in the US and Europe, so we feel it would be a nice add-on to the business we could avail of.”

As part of its investment in tourism, White Hag will also be holding its beer festival, Hagstravaganza, in Co Sligo on August 6.

Mullin said it was the first time since 2019 the brewery was able to hold the festival due to lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reporting: The Irish Independent