Craft Beers

Bottle conditioned for an extensive period this Stout is oozing character. It is a medium bodied stout has a smooth mouthfeel and a slightly dry finish, the bitterness offset by the mixture of coffee and chocolate from the simple grain bill of Pale, Black and Roasted Barley. Add to this the subtle flavours imparted by that old English hop, Bramling Cross, and you have a classic stout.

This is a bold, dark IPA from the north coast. Like the landmark it is named after this beer is more than a little mysterious not least because, for an IPA, it is a dark, almost ruby red. The creamy head exudes a serious citrus hop waft from the use of Citra in the dry hop, as well as Simcoe. The taste is complex with the chocolate and crystal malts adding toffee and caramel with a substantial body to the beer and a full mouthfeel. There is some sweetness in the middle but then the dankness and bitterness ...

East the Beast is a surfer's wave, beloved and feared, that barrels and dredges the East Strand of Portrush from powerful north Atlantic waves. A single malt crush under a mass of hops breaks into this fruity IPA. It giveth forth an aroma of mango and pineapple with a great sparkling head. There is a nice, smooth mouthfeel before the bitterness kicks in and the citrus and fruity tastes, from Mosaic and Citra, linger on the palate for quite a while.

A gentle introduction to sour beers, our Eldersauer is a crisp summer beer. We took a basic pale ale - single malt and single hop (Eureka) - and then infused the finished fermented beer with freshly picked local Elderflower for two weeks. At this point, Mother Nature involved herself and the wild yeast from the flowers worked its charm. A wild yeasted, tart pale ale infused with elderflowers. It has a light sourness without being a fully fledged ‘sour’ beer. There are notes of gooseberry and cider apple.

The Elephant Rock stands proud in the limestone cliffs close to the iconic Dunluce Castle, east of Portrush. Amarillo hops lead a bouquet of pineapple, passion fruit and orange. Then mandarin and caramel flavours meld with silky oats before a subtle ginger spiciness plays over the late bitter finish of this India Pale Ale. A silky, smooth IPA brewed with a hefty dose of malted oats that gives a mild mouthfeel. The Amarillo hops head up an aroma of pineapple, passion fruit and orange.

A Double Dry Hopped (DDH) Pale Ale brewed with Amarillo, Mosaic & Simcoe hops and New England Yeast. "Escudos" were gold Spanish currency from the 16th Century, part of the treasure from The Girona shipwreck, discovered by the Belgian aquanaut Robert Stenuit in the late 1960s.

Taking its place amongst the new wave of craft India Pale Ales, this beer gives a citrus and tropical fruit aroma on pouring. There is that initial sharp bitter zing to the tongue which soon mellows out to a mixture of pine with a rich burst of citrus as the American hops work their magic on your palate. A fantastic beer with anything spicy, particularly Indian and Thai curries, and bold, sweet desserts or a milder blue cheese, or you can just love it on its own as a great all-rounder.

The ghost of Half Hung MacNaughton upturned the fishermen from their hammocks in Portmoon Bothy. Sip this beguiling rye & beware of Half Hung. Aromas of vanilla & citrus float up from the rich body of this IPA. Then a harvest of fruit & pine flavours bursts over an earthy spiciness from the rye itself.

Scot giant Benandonner must have had a quare sour bake on him, when he saw his adversary, Finn McCool, disguised as a baby by his wife Oonagh Benandonner then fled. This dry-hopped kettle soured Pale Ale contains a light tartness, and is a sessionable introduction to the style.

A collaborative brew between Dead End Brew Machine, MashDown, North Coast Smokehouse, and Lacada Brewery Co-Op. Brewed using locally sourced Dulse from the North Coast of Ireland and malt smoked by Ballycastle based North Coast Smokehouse.

Brewed with pale malt and some crystal malt which adds some sweetness and also give the beer that amber hue. The hop schedule is chosen to match the sweet malt and balance that out with a herbal, pine resin bitterness. A deep gold ale, akin in colour to the Californian Common ales. There is a herbal and earthy note adding to the guitar twang of bitterness from the hops which is offset by a background hint of caramel from the malt.

Brewed with pale malt and a couple of dark, roasted malts. The hops aren’t at the forefront with this beer, they are used judiciously and are subtle in character, almost secretive so perhaps we’ll keep them that way. There are flavours swimming in each mouthful that you know, but which you can’t quite place – there’s a coffee bitterness, but then a liquorice background comes in shortly after that and just when you are confident that’s all, there appears a faint hint of blackberry.

Three Triangles is a collaborative brew made by And So I Watch You From Afar and Lacada, two projects with their roots on the north coast. A big IPA with a malt grist of extra pale for a clean slate, wheat and oats for mouthfeel and Lacada's biggest dry hop so far, 15g/L of Mosaic, Simcoe and Equinox. The finished beer is 7.8%, kicks off with pineapple and citrus, leads into stone fruit before a bitter sweet ending; smooth from start to finish and light for the ABV.

Brewed with four malts. Surprisingly, there are no oats in this Stout but we use a mashing regime/ratio that gives us plenty of body in the finished beer. It is quite silky smooth, not too dry and so it very easy to drink and the big malt flavours of coffee, caramel, liquorice hide the big(ish) abv. The richness of the label carries on into the contents. Really smooth and soft with a lovely caramel roasted, almost liquorice after taste. Surprised it’s 8% abv, the alcohol doesn’t overpower at any stage ...

West Bay, Portrush is sheltered by Ramore Head and the Black Rocks. On summer evenings you can watch the sun set over misty Inishowen in a blaze of colour. This pale ale has been dry hopped with Citra, adding its zesty note to an easy drinking, food friendly beer that’s perfect for this time of year. Drink it fresh! A session pale that is dominated by a strong citrus nose – the orange, lemon and lime leap out of the beer upon pouring. The taste is zingy and sharp, not too bitter but still with a refreshing bite and mouthfeel.

This Stout was a beautiful beer already but then it was spoilt with more love and conditioned in a whiskey barrel for six months. Not just any old barrel either. It is believed that it was a previous home to a 16 year old single malt from a Northern Ireland distillery. What has emerged is a tipple with an array of flavours that start with the first taste and then go on and on. What can be picked up is quite a bit of vanilla, some raisin, touch of almond, some toffee…..the list goes on.

The name Zostera comes from the seagrass which grows in the sea around the Skerries, Portrush, a string of small islets that are the first thing to welcome visitors when they come over the hill approaching Portrush. Zostera is a full bodied black IPA of 6.4% ABV, which has been brewed in the three classic 3C's hops along with Carafa malt to give it that deep black colour.