Sligo is set to be home to another brewery as the founder of The White Hag brewery, James Ward, will be opening Onward Brewing Company this Autumn.
Speaking to Hospitality Ireland, Ward said that the new brewery is at an advanced stage and that he has plans to distribute beers to international markets such as the United Kingdom and the USA. Ward, who got to see first hand the rise of craft beer in America fifteen years ago when working with a USA distributor that sold O'Hara's beer, returned to Ireland and opened Sligo's first brewery for over 100 years back in 2013.
For the new brewery, Ward has hired a commercial brewer from America with over twenty years professional brewing experience who will brew a wide range of beers from ales to lagers to stouts, adding “I want to return the tradition of brewing to Sligo town.”
Ward also plans on incorporating local ingredients into the Onward Brewing Company beers, saying: “It's rewarding to teach people about how the beer they're drinking is made and explaining that it's using local ingredients unique to their area.”
