A brewery from Stradbally is this year’s winner of the Laois County Enterprise Award for 2023, Local Enterprise Office Laois has announced.
Ballykilcavan Brewing will now represent Local Enterprise Office Laois at the 23rd National Enterprise Awards at the Round Room in the Mansion House in Dublin on the 1st June.
Ballykilcavan Brewing sells two separate, but strongly linked products: craft beer and tourism.
The brewery produces a wide range of small-batch beers from a lager and a variety of pales ales, to a red ale, brown ale and stout.
They also brew a limited-edition series of beers, and seasonal beers such as fresh hopped pale ale that is made with hops from their own hop garden.
As well as brewing their own beers, they also contract brew for two other companies who do not own their own brewing equipment.
Connected to this is their new visitor centre that opened in April 2022.
The visitor centre is located in a 200 year old mill building adjacent to the 230 year old building that houses the brewery.
Ballykilcavan caters for tour groups, corporate, family and school groups and have regular scheduled tours for members of the public.
Ballykilcavan are the only brewery in Ireland making their beers using standard and specialty malts made from their own barley, and the only brewery in Ireland who can make a beer using ingredients that are sourced 100% from the farm where the brewery is situated.
Ballykilcavan Brewing will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €35,000 winners prize fund as national judging gets underway in May.
Categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best Start-Up’ and ‘Innovation,’ along with “One to Watch” and a “Sustainability / Green” award in addition to eight regional awards.
In 2022, Laois company Salutem Insights won the Mid-East Regional award at the National Enterprise Awards.
The Laois County Enterprise Awards took place as part of a very successful Local Enterprise Week programme of events.
There were over 300 physical events took place across the country, run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices from March 6th to 10th.
Local Enterprise Week is organised every year by the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by Enterprise Ireland, local authorities and the Government of Ireland with over 300 events taking place nationwide this year.
