Lacada Brewery brought proper modern craft beer to the north coast of Northern Ireland while keeping one foot firmly planted in pub culture instead of disappearing into full hype-beer madness.

Based in Portrush, the brewery started as a co-operative project and quickly built a reputation for approachable well-made beer with loads of personality underneath. IPAs, stouts, lagers and seasonal specials all show up regularly, usually brewed with balance and drinkability as the priority rather than trying to melt your palate off with adjuncts.

There’s a very local feel to the whole brewery too. A lot of the branding and beer names tie directly into the Causeway Coast landscape and folklore around the area. Devil’s Washtub especially feels like exactly the sort of name a Northern Irish brewery should be using.

The beers themselves stay clean and pub-friendly. Hop-forward enough for craft beer drinkers, sensible enough that you still actually want another pint afterwards. Always a good sign.

Portrush already had surfing, sea views and questionable weather patterns sorted. Adding a good brewery into the mix feels like a very sensible upgrade.