THIS time last year, Willy Mayne was busy dipping beer bottles into wax. The beer in question was a belting barrel-aged milk stout called the Quest for the Milk Whey and the painstaking attention to detail was made all the more remarkable by the fact that this wasn’t even Willy’s full-time job.
Launching Bullhouse almost two years ago while still working in his job in account management meant long hours for Willy but it did treat the beer-drinking public here to such delights as El Capitan, Uber Tuber and Small Axe.
Now Willy has taken the plunge, quit the day job and gone full-time at his Newtownards brewery. He marked the career change with a cheekily titled pale ale called P45 and at a small gathering of beerophiles at the Black Box in Belfast, revealed his exciting plans for the future.
First up is the addition of a few new beers to the stable. Pucker Up is a 3.5 per cent lemon and strawberry Berliner weisse which debuted at the ABV Fest in September.
Bullhouse’s first lager will be hitting shelves and bars in the coming weeks. Responding to public demand, Willy has produced a 4 per cent hop-forward lager which is crisp and refreshing with a nice malty backbone and has a name which tips a hat to all the lovers of mass-produced fizz – Brainwashed.
Dipping a toe in the haze craze with The Dankness, this New England-style IPA is a juicy number which has gone through a few hefty doses of dry hopping. It comes in at 5.5 per cent ABV and has a slightly creamy mouthfeel. It’ll be out in the next few weeks so look out for those distinctive cans.
Willy also revealed that he intends to launch a crowdfunding scheme in the near future, just in time to make the perfect Christmas present for the beer lover in your life.
Oh and if you didn’t manage to get your hands on a bottle of Quest for the Milky Whey last year, or if you did but need another hit of this sumptuous stout, good news – a new batch is already in the barrels and earmarked for a release very soon.
