The story of Bullhouse Brew Co began back in 2011, when founder Willy Mayne got a taste for great beer on a road trip around the west-coast of the US with his brother. Visiting Green Flash Brewery in San Diego was the epiphany moment. Drinking flavoursome beers on an out-of-town industrial estate on a Friday afternoon with a mix of local office and factory workers and seeing how beer and particularly breweries can be an integral part of the community was a real eye opener.

 Coming back from the trip, Willy started homebrewing on the farm he grew up on just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland. After homebrewing for four years, he set to work converting the old bull’s house on the farm into a tiny 500sq ft brewery. Working full-time and living at home to save money, over the space of 12 months he converted the Bullhouse into a small brewery, buying second-hand equipment from dairy farms and other breweries across Ireland, including a mash tun made from a converted catering fridge. Starting a commercial brewery for £600 doesn’t result in anything too pretty, but it was something, and it made some tasty beer.