CRAFT BREWERIES
David Walsh-Kemmis, Owner, Ballykilcavan Farm & Brewery
Ballykilcavan
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n the last issue of Licensing World, we highlighted Ballykilcavan’s participation in #DrinkersForUkraine, a fundraising initiative that saw breweries from around the world brew a stout that was first created by displaced Ukrainian brewers. “We had to ration the beer as people were looking for more stock than we actually had. The reaction to it was great and it’s all been sold; I think there were about six cans left in Egan’s Off-Licence in Portlaoise
a couple of weeks ago! It was the first beer we made that wasn’t our own recipe and initially we were a bit unsure about it as it called for quite a lot of beetroot. But people really enjoyed it, so we were delighted,” said Ballykilcavan Farm & Brewery owner, David Walsh-Kemmis. For more than 13 generations, David’s family has lived and worked at Ballykilcavan Farm. Traditionally, Ballykilcavan was always a mixed farm, with woodland, grass for livestock and fields of crops. Located just outside Stradbally in Co Laois, the farm sits in a prime malting barley growing area, perfect for making beer. “I took over the business in 2004 and after farming the land for a decade, I saw diversification as a way of sustaining the farm for later generations. I’ve always been interested in home brewing and making my own beer, so it seemed like a natural progression to setting up a brewery.” Initially, David was making beer in another brewery, using barley from the farm. In 2018, the brewery at Ballykilcavan officially opened and today, David also runs tours where visitors can have a look around the brewery, hear family stories spanning back 380 years and find out how beer is made. “We have a good smattering of international visitors booking tours at the moment, which bodes well for the rest of the summer. There’s volume there with the tours, but we’re lucky in that we’re not reliant on them. We’ve also got the brewery and the farm, which I still work on. The tours are an added bonus but we’re keen to expand that part of the offering in the next couple of years.”
“We had to ration the beer as people were looking for more stock than we actually had”
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15/06/2022 12:54
