Maeve Sheridan of Western Herd talks about brewing beer on a hilltop in Clare, the inspirational Irish food and drink scene and how mistakes make you stronger. Maeve will be the fireside chat guest at Founder Friday Clare in Ennis on Friday, September 22. It’s free to attend but you need to register here.
This is how we started
I was working in Luxembourg for a large American bank in risk and compliance. I lived there for nearly seven years, and with Germany and Belgium twenty minutes away in different directions, I was surrounded by great beer and loved trying new styles and regional varieties.
Over a few beers at Christmas, my brother Michael suggested converting a haybarn on our family farm into a brewery. Michael, a civil engineer by trade, was managing a busy bar in Dublin after being made redundant from his engineering job during the recession and he could see how craft beers were growing in popularity.
“There is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water.”
Our USP?
We noticed that there was no one in Clare brewing beer. Nearly every other county had a brewery in 2014, and with Clare’s growing reputation as a foodie destination and with over a million visitors to the county annually, there was a need for a locally produced beer.
As well as being the only commercial brewer in Clare, there is something unique about brewing beer on a hilltop farm on the West coast of Ireland using fresh farm spring water as our main ingredient.
“We plan to open a visitor centre and tasting room so we can start running brewery tours and sell directly to the public from the farm.”
Funding the business and our growth plans
After seven years in Luxembourg, we
