The Other Six Counties

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Breweries

Towns

Closed

Tally's take

The character

The North came late and then moved quickly. Hilden has brewed at Lisburn since 1981 — the oldest independent brewery on the island, north or south, and the one that brought real ale back when nobody wanted it. Belfast's answer is a co-operative. Out in Bellaghy a farm brewery is run by Seamus Heaney's relatives on the family land.

Belfast3Lisburn1Bellaghy1Derry1Castlewellan1

The breweries

7 in this scene

Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Hilden Brewing Co.

Ireland's oldest independent brewery, north or south, brewing at Lisburn since 1981 — and the one that reintroduced real ale to the island when nobody else was interested. A family business in a…

IndependentBelfast Blonde

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Boundary Brewing

A co-operative in Belfast, member-owned and crowd-funded, which in a city with Northern Ireland's licensing history is a deliberately communal way to start a brewery.

IndependentExport Stout

Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Heaney Farmhouse Brewery

A farm brewery in Bellaghy — Seamus Heaney's village, run by the poet's relatives on family land. Barley from the fields he wrote about, which is either heavy-handed or perfect depending on your mood.

IndependentHeaney Irish Pale Ale

Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Northbound Brewery

Unfiltered and natural, brewing in the north west where the border is a daily fact rather than a political abstraction.

IndependentNorthbound IPA

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Bullhouse Brew Co

UK Pass 147. Independent Belfast craft brewery; began on family farm before expanding.

IndependentRolling Papers · 5.2%

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Ulster Brewery Co.

UK Pass 147. Fountain Brewery built in 1897; brewing ceased in 1950 before later corporate succession.

ClosedProfile in progress

Castlewellan, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Whitewater Brewery

Established on a fifth-generation family farm in the Mourne area in 1996. Status as recorded: ACTIVE.

Ownership unknownProfile in progress

Counts here are the length of this list, not an estimate. For why a brewery you know might be missing — closures, shared roofs, contract brands, ownership exclusions — see how we count.