Co-operative Alternatives AGM

It seems a long time ago now that I made my way to the launch of the Northern Ireland branch of a Co-operative Business Hub in the Nerve Centre in Derry. It was November 2012 and I had gone along with the tentative idea of running a brewery along Co-operative lines, without much knowledge of what structure that would involve. There I met Tiziana O’Hara and Jo Bird of the Hub and their enthusiasm and the inspiring talks at the launch led me to forming a small group to look at starting a Co-operative brewery. At the time, there were very few Co-operative businesses or societies in Northern Ireland so we were entering new territory, particularly when it came to running a Community Share Offer. The examples we had to go on were all across the water.

Fast forward to the present and we are on the brink of installing our brewery and making it to market with a vibrant Co-ownership of 229 of us all eager to see Lacada do well. As for the Co-op Business Hub, they morphed into a new organization called Co-Operative Alternatives UK with an office in Belfast. They are still Tiziana and Jo and they continue to give brilliant and informed support to both emerging and existing co-ops. They had their first AGM on 25th June and they had invited a speaker from each of the four successful Community Share Offers that have run in Northern Ireland over the past 12 months.

First to speak was Matt Dick, the Head Brewer of Boundary. He explained the provenance of the idea of Boundary and talked about the success of their Share Offer. The AGM was actually in Boundary’s brewery on the Newtownards Road in Belfast so that was great as far I was concerned. I had a good look around and a great chat with Matt and we’re going to help each other out with a few things in the near future. It’s really cool to have another co-operative brewery and that is something I touched upon in my little talk to the audience, namely how the success of Boundary’s Community Share Offer was good for us. Of course, I mentioned the other major factors as well – more people joining with expertise in key areas; more Directors again with key expertise; a marketing committee to widen the reach of the Share Offer; more money coming in; the fantastic website; more co-owners joining thus building a momentum.

The other speakers were Karen Arbuckle from Northern Ireland Community Energy. They aim to provide solar roof panel installations to community buildings. Their Share Offer finished on 19th June and they raised £150k. Next was James Orr of Down to Earth.  They will bury you in a cardboard box and plant a tree on top of you - only if you want that, of course. James made some very interesting points about the subject, not least the experience of woodland burial sites showing that they very quickly went from being taken up by pagans and 'alternative' types to being accepted and used by the ‘mainstream’. It was easy to see why from photos of existing sites. What’s not to like about a woodland with its trees and flowers?

So, overall it was a smashing day of Co-operative people coming together. Folks, we are amongst the first people to begin Co-operatives in this part of the world. In the last 12 months there have been four successful Community Share Offers raising a total of over £350k and as we go from strength to strength it will be a great source of pride to us all to say, and show, to others that co-operation works!

Laurie Davies (Director)

ABV15 Beer Festival

Last week on Friday 22nd May, 3 intrepid adventurers set off from Portrush to Belfast on the mid-day train en route to ABV Fest, a brand new beer festival taking part in the Titanic Drawing Offices.

We had been very excited for this day to arrive for quite a while, as not only had the event been sold out for over a month prior, but just the anticipation for what we knew was surely to be a unique and incredible event for beer in our country after seeing what breweries were going to be in attendance.

After arriving in Belfast, a swift pint was acquired in The Hudson and with another fellow Lacadian collected we set off towards The Titanic Quarter.

Probably arriving a good few minutes later than planned due to our built-in “North Coast” Sat-Nav not working very well, we found the amazing venue and well… this was our ABV15 as noted on our very nicely designed and presented festival menu cards.

OH YES!!
Love it x2
Tart
Average
Champagne of the North AKA the beer side of Prosecco
Crisp IPA for me
Fresh & clean, very good
Top notch for a low ABV
Pretty damn special
Uuum? Cherry Ale
Decent, a bit sweet?
Sour
Good
Top job
Derivative, generic, BUT!, why are the beers so cold?
Nice lager, very clean
Just about the beer side of syrup
Jedi knight stuff, well sour
TBH I didn't pay too much for that
Big rhubarb aroma and taste
So, so
Aaaahh, ooofff, errr, oooookaaay, think I'll have another... 4 the road
Awesome, belter
All dayer
Good IPA
Bitter…Fleg!
Hefty & Boozy
Sulphur, but good
Peppery, smokey
Solid
Kernel is better
Only a stout could taste anything like it
Light with an almost milkly mouth feel
Unreal sourness
Peppery, big body
THE BIG DOG. An outrage!

Laurie's Top 3:
Kinnegar - White Rabbit
Marble - We Are (Magic Rock Collab)
The Kernel - Table Beer

Hammy's Top 3:
Magic Rock - Cannonball IPA
The Kernel - Table Beer
Galway Bay - 200 Fathoms

Greg's Top 3:
Beavertown - Bloody ‘Ell
Siren - Half Mast
Galway Bay - 200 Fathoms

Jack's Top 3:
Galway Bay - 200 Fathoms
White Gypsy - Belgian Scarlet Sour
Buxton Brewery - Pic Tor

We'd just like to say a massive congratulations to Matt, Michael, Darren, Felicia, and anyone else that helped out in arranging such an amazing beer festival (as well as the amazing food on offer). We are very much looking forward to ABV16 already!

Laurie, Hammy, Greg & Jack

The ramblings of a Portrush man who loves beer...

Introducing a new blogger for Lacada, one of our co-owners Erol Bucukoglu. It charts his first discovery of Craft Beer...

Ireland, the two beer state - Guinness or Heineken?

I know that's slightly unfair, we have a number of stouts available; Guinness, Beamish and Murphys being the best known, a plethora of lagers and a few red ales. But for me, it's the stout really matters, it’s our national drink, the beer renowned around the world for being Irish.

St Patricks Day, Six Nations rugby, GAA, Summer, Winter; a pint of stout is the finest drink known to man the nectar of gods, brewed in Ireland, perfected in tiny country pubs around the Emerald Isle. Am I getting carried away here?

What makes stout so interesting to me and other stout lovers is the care and pride required to store, pour and serve the perfect pint. It's such an important aspect of the drink that people like me will travel the length and breadth of the country in search of the perfect pint of stout. Points awarded for temperature, time to settle, creamy smooth head and of course taste.

I’ve traveled to the four corners of Ireland in search of the perfect pint, a task I take on all in the name of research although I can hear the cynics now. From the giant hostelries of Dublin, the buzzing pubs of Galway, Cork & Belfast to the unassuming one room pubs of Donegal....I’ve been up mountains, across water, down valleys, well there's a slight exaggeration there but you're getting the drift...

Always in the back of my mind was this overriding desire to establish an out and out winner or at the very least some form of stout league table and whilst this will sound very strange indeed I’m pleased to announce I have achieved neither! As odd as this may sound I found a sort of comfort in my defeat, the pressure was off!

In hindsight this was an impossible task because there are far too many unquantifiable, immeasurable and intangible variables that contribute to the perfect pint. Location, the company, the time of day, the friendliness of the barman, the smell of the peat fire... I could go on and on

So the only possible winner could have ever been.....me! As cheesy as this sounds I honestly feel that in my journey to uncover the perfect stout I’ve had the great fortune to meet some lovely, friendly, interesting people who have showed me that community is still alive and kicking across the Isle and the pride locals , young and old hold in their local stout is heartwarming and a reminder that it's not just a drink, it is an embodiment of everything Irish.

Onwards & Upwards

Not one to sit still and not one to be deterred I have now turned to a new challenge. Craft Beer! As a beer lover, it’s a bandwagon I was only too delighted to jump on for the ride. A new kid is in town.

Over the last few years I’ve noticed the number of taps at the bar have slowly been increasing. The fridges behind the bar have been filling up. The colours and advertising in pubs and clubs around Ireland have been changing. Its not a lager, its not a stout or a red ale, it’s a new world order, a movement changing the face of beer.

First developed in America as microbrew in response to the English real ale movement, the craft brewer was initially defined by the American Brewers Association as “small, independent and traditional”; only to be redefined a couple of years later as undefinable. I know I’m paraphrasing but in essence, that’s the beauty of craft beer, its undefinable, just brew what you have to hand and innovate.

Ireland appears to be embracing this new world order. Rising to the challenge, creating newer and tastier beers city to city, town to town, everywhere seems to be brewing beer and it's fantastic!

So, off I go again, I have a new goal! To uncover and hopefully taste as many craft ales as is possible in Ireland in a bid to understand whether we can or even want to break away from being a two beer country and truly embrace craft beer. I know I know, I can hear you now, that man is selfless and all in the name of research.

First Stop - Cork and the monster Rising Sons Brewery; Big beer, Small Batches is their catch phrase and in the Rising Sons on Cornmarket Street you don’t just get to taste the beer but you can see it being made with huge vats capable of brewing 50 kegs of craft ale are the backdrop behind the bar. The only recognisable brand in the pub was Heineken, and the kind lady behind the bar explained that they need to stock Heineken to please the less adventurous lager drinker but in most cases their own Sunbeam Pils will turn even the most ardent Heineken fan to craft beer. A very fine pilsner it was too; crisp, dry with a lovely aftertaste.

The house stout option, Mi Daza, is described as a traditional cork stout originally brewed in the 1850s. I found the beer to be full of flavour and lighter than Guinness which meant I could drink more:-) The house IPA though was my favourite drink of the evening, Handsum IPA it’s called, bursting with hops, not too heavy but with enough body and flavour to send chills down the spine. The amber ale is called Steeple Hemp, a lovely amber colour, rich in malt and hops and again full of flavour.

The lady behind the bar was extremely friendly and so knowledgeable about beer, everything from the process to the ingredients. She could tell me where each of the hops used were grown, the type of hops used, how the flavours are created. An absolute mine of beery information and in the end gave me a couple of rising sons engraved glasses to take home. Now be honest, you don't find much of that these days, it was both impressive and refreshing.

My favourite beer so far? Handsum IPA, but it's early days and I’m going to enjoy this journey.

To be continued….

Thank You

We are so excited!

A massive, huge, THANK YOU to all of our co-owners and supporters who came out in full force and made the last 2 weeks of our share offer such a success. We had loads of you sharing our story, our vision, our links, and WE’VE DONE IT…HOORAY!

Our minimum target was £40,000. Our target £60,000 and our upper cap £100,000. Running into the last two weeks we were sitting at our minimum target, and in that short time, we've gone well above our £60,000. This is such an achievement, and we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support and enthusiasm. We can now officially announce that Lacada Brewery is on the map, and we are ready to sail.
 
What does exceeding our target mean? Firstly, having the number of co-owners and supporters we do means together we have a lot of skills and contacts so new opportunities are already presenting themselves. It means we don’t need to rely on a bank loan to get started which is good news for us all. It also means we have some decisions to make about how to prioritise our spending. Having that little bit more might be starting off with equipment that is higher spec, which would create a more cost effective brew cycle. So all of you who are co-owners, look out for your next email and invitation to our General Meeting where we’ll be discussing (and voting on) what those priorities are.

We’ve been beavering away processing enquiries, applications and payments, getting our special co-owners limited edition beer glasses ordered, following up on premises, and figuring out how we can get Lacada out on shelves and taps as soon as possible. Head brewer Laurie has also just returned from a brewing consultation which you’ll hear all about soon.

This week holds several promising events for beer enthusiasts along the North Coast.
Monday 16th March; Wetherspoons, Coleraine kicks off its’ Real Ale Festival.
Thursday 19th March; Fairleys Bar in Coleraine host Farmageddon, another Northern Irish Beer Co-operative, for a meet the brewer evening.
Saturday the 21st March; The Sippy of Culture Craft Beers and Fine Ale event returns to Derry/Londonderry at the Legenderry Warehouse No1, showcasing their locals Northbound and Walled City Breweries.

Phew! We'll be kept busy - anyone fancy coming along?

The voyage to Belfast Beer Club and beyond...

Aaaahhh - the joys of good company, good beer and a warm train. Yes, a posse of Lacadians ventured forth on Wednesday to the Belfast Beer Club at the Sunflower and a good co-operative time was had by all. The first port of call, however, was the fabled Crown Bar, well, it is unavoidable isn’t it? We come out of the station at Great Victoria St and there lies the Crown, plumb in the middle of your vision. So, a short time later, we were happy sitting in a snug with a trilogy of “Nicholson’s Pale Ale” (the house beer made by St. Austell Brewery) “American Pale Ale” from Sonnet 43 and “Chilli and Chocolate Porter” from Wadworth Brewery in Devizes, Wiltshire. All three beers were served via a trio of 1/3 pint glasses sitting snugly in a wooden trencher, a great way to try 3 different beers for the price of a pint.

The Nicholson’s PA was a decent swally and the APA from Sonnet caused some brow furrowing and questions such as "is this an APA?"  But the Chilli and Chocolate Porter was a peculiar delight.  First you get a super nose, then the chocolate runs over your tongue and last of all there is the chilli burn at the back of your throat. And that was the same for every mouthful. Why it didn’t mix up in your mouth and eventually give you chilli burn all over and only chocolate in your throat is a complete mystery. That was until Phil started explaining about taste receptors on your tongue being variegated.

A quick dash to Wetherspoons on Dublin Rd and some Butcombe Bitter followed; this was very nice and does what it says on the pump clip. A pint of Elland 1872 Porter was purloined and by the wonders of 3G we discovered that this beer had, that very day, been awarded Champion Beer at Camra’s Winter Ales Festival. We were delighted to discover that this is so far the only porter that matches up to Lacada’s. Yes, yes, we know... conceit, unsubstantiated claims of greatness, b*llsh*t detector on full. Well, if you don’t shout no-one will hear, but we DO have a damn fine porter recipe that we have honed and tinkered and we know it’s good.

Onwards to the Sunflower, a bright spot in a dark street somewhere. Lovely place - lovely people & lovely atmosphere. We quickly ordered a pint of Hilden Twisted Hop from the cask and went upstairs to the Belfast Beer Club where we had a good old fraternal time of it with our Boundary Brewing amigos, some of whom are also co-owners in Lacada! It’s a great thing to have two new local co-operative ventures working together and having strong links through people. Matt Dick was full of greetings and helpful information and it was clear from his MC role that the man is much loved (yes, I don’t think that is too strong a word) by the people present. It felt like a room full of friends... and it was full with approximately 40 people.

The beers were from Wild Beer Company from Somerset, they of the antlers on their labels. Now, these are beers Jim, but not as you may know it. I’ll ‘fess up and say I did stir a bit of controversy by suggesting they were just the beer side of vinegar but that was really only to see how lively the locals were. It worked and ‘man at the door’ (Hi Michael) wasn’t having any of it, and quite right too. It was great to see the love of a good beer ran deep with these people. Wild Beer Company love to do beer that is beyond the Kuiper Belt as far as voyages into the unknown go. Many of the beers are brewed with wild yeasts that are culled from the locality (think orchards of Somerset). Not content with that, the brewers also use numerous additions that are clearly not run of the mill e.g. Hibiscus, cucumber and mint. I think the best description was from Matt himself who, after asking the audience to shout out what tastes they could detect, announced that really with these type of beers you were entering a ‘dark void’ of taste experiences. In other words, you could get lost... somewhere wild.

Unfortunately, we could not stay for the whole voyage because of the need to catch the train up. So it was a quick goodbye to Matt and also to Pedro the friendly landlord of the Sunflower, and we departed a super evening with the floating notes of the downstairs music session in our ears.

Cheers!
Laurie

Hello World!

As the story of Lacada went public with our press coverage in December, and the launch of this website on Christmas Eve, our Share Offer took off. The Press have been in touch, people have been liking, sharing, and craft beer bloggers have been blogging. We’re even beginning to source some elusive second hand dairy tanks (otherwise referred to as hen’s teeth) to build our brewery plant in Portrush.

It seems like the combination of brewing craft beer and the co-operative business model has piqued the interest of many!

The recent public meeting at Portrush Town hall (07/01/2015) attracted a great bunch of like-minded individuals. It was a fair mix of those who had invested, those who were interested and all were willing to get involved in the discussion. They gave us some great advice and ideas too! Sadly, there was only tea and coffee imbibed but that was welcome on a typical wild North Coast evening and that’s going to change soon, once this brewery gets going!

Co-owners are over 60 in number now – certainly a strong, message from the community! The message is clear – ‘Yes we want to brew beer in Portrush to be proud of, and yes we want to employ local people and support our thriving hospitality market.’

With that in mind, the board are rousing working groups to set wheels in motion so that we can hit the ground running when our newly extended Share offer closes on Friday 6th March, 2015.

If you are interested in being part of any of our working groups which cover Planning & Premises, Equipment, Finance, Staff & Policy, Marketing/Networking, please get in touch.

There are lots of ways to get involved with Lacada Brewery;

1. Become a co-owner; Our minimum shareholding is just £100 - click here to apply.
2. Help us source plant & machinery (click here to download PDF list of brewing vessels required as at Jan 2015). I’d like to call them cauldrons but Laurie won’t let me!
3. Help us spread the word by sharing this post on your social networks.
4. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter - Please share and Retweet our posts.
5. Contact us if you would be interested in stocking our beer in your lovely hostelry, bar, restaurant, or off-license.

Thanks for reading – and stay tuned for the latest!
You can sign up to our mailing list newsletter using the form below.

Cheers!
Heather