£2m investment sees Lurgan obtain new facilities to brew and distil

Northern Irish town Lurgan is due to get its own brewery and distillery for the first time in 200 years. This is due to investment from locals who want to rejuvenate the town’s long history within the drinks industry. 

The initial investment is set to be over £2 million and has been lead by Lurgan-born Vernon Fox. The project is anticipated to create approximately 55 jobs by 2023. 

The brewery, dubbed Spadetown, will be located at Silverwood Business Park and will open in October of this year. Plans to build a new distillery, named Lough Neagh Distillers, are still in the works and will be unveiled in 2022. This is set to be the first distillery in the town since 1837. 

Vernon Fox said:  “We want to rekindle Lurgan’s deep history with distilling and the history of brewing on the southern shores of Lough Neagh. We want to build brands and products that will connect with customers locally and around the world, leading to job creation, further investment in Lurgan, and more visitors to the local area”.

He continued: “Our philosophy is to do things in the right way, building a great business culture and brilliant environment for our team to work in, having the best equipment and processes to produce fantastic products, and doing things sustainably. As part of this, the brewery and distillery will become entirely carbon neutral”.

The new brewery will be based in a 5,000 sq ft unit with an automated brewing system which will have the capacity for over 500,000 litres of beer per year.

The company plans to produce a range of beers including IPAs, lagers and special edition beers. These are expected to go on sale once the brewery officially opens.