Errigal Brewing Company was born out of lockdown in 2021, when Anita and James McDevitt of the family-run Caisleáin Óir Hotel in Annagry decided to do something useful with the downtime — make their own beer. With the guidance of brewer Declan Nixon, they started brewing for the hotel, selling bottles from the front desk. It grew legs from there.
Word spread quickly. Local shops, restaurants, and bars came looking to stock the beer. BWG came calling in 2022 to distribute across the county. What started as a hotel project is now a fully-fledged independent craft brewery in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht, with a canned range, an online shop delivering across the island of Ireland, and a growing following well beyond Donegal.
The beer is the thing though. The range spans a clean, crisp Gaeltacht Lager, a tropical Pale Ale loaded with Citra hops, a smooth Irish Red Ale, a dark Porter, a Weissbier, and the GRMA Seisiún Pale Ale — a light, easy-drinking session beer whose name says it all. There’s even a Crolly whiskey barrel-aged Imperial Porter that pours darker than the night. Something for everyone.
A visitor experience at the brewery is in the works, and Anita and James are as excited about what’s coming as they are proud of how far it’s come. As they say themselves — tá an craic sna cnoic. Sláinte.