Belfast’s Bullhouse East has already made it onto city’s beer map

John Mulgrew

Bullhouse East

June 16 2022 04:30 PM

Housed in the former location of a clothes shop in east Belfast it may not appear to be an obvious auspicious start for Northern Ireland’s new beer bar and first permanent taproom.

But Bullhouse East — from Willy Mayne’s brewery Bullhouse Brew Co — already feels like part of the furniture. It could also hardly have hoped for a better opening week judging by the gaggle of beer buffs making their way through the doors of the Newtownards Road location.

It’s also the first new full license to be granted in the area in around 30 years.

The beer bar and taproom is an expanse of solid poured flooring, akin to something you’d find in a brewery, light, airy with clean and simple white wooden tables, chairs and benches, alongside a beer garden at the rear.

With the prevalence of smaller and simpler contactless payments systems, and forgoing large traditional tills, the bar area is clear and sparse.

The brick and steel bar sits to the right as you walk in, a chalkboard of 20 brews on the back wall with the taps sitting underneath. The bathroom game is also strong — dark green décor and plenty of individual cubicles.

The big focus is currently on Bullhouse’s own range of brews, and that’s certainly no bad thing. For those still averse to a lip puckering sour or silage-esque tang and bitterness of a big IPA, there’s a wide selection of drops that are likely to keep tamer palates happy.

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Bullhouse’s pilsner is a crisp and clean offering, while Frank the Tank is a juicy but relatively low ABV pale ale which is a decent middle ground and jumping off point.

The brewery’s double launch of Yer Ma and Yer Da beefy IPAs are there for those after something with more hops and heft, while Cohumulone Cowgirls is a fresh and punchy IPA, served up as two thirds.

As launches and opening weeks go — while there’s obviously an initial buzz built up — the first day and half seemed to have ticked a lot of success boxes.

Little more than 24 hours after it first opened its doors and Bullhouse East was already heaving — tables filling up fairly sharpish after 7pm and an hour or so later it’s standing room only outside for a time.

The pizza oven is yet to get going but will be serving at some stage in the near future.

Dogs are welcome. It’s not something I’m a huge believer in for a number of reasons, but it seems to be the done thing these days. Bullhouse East does have ample space though so it’s much less of an issue than other smaller watering holes.

While the crowd is likely to be more mixed and varied as it beds into the local area, on the first full day of opening there are a lot of small baseball caps, cool trainers and the odd moustache here and there.

And while it’s all about fresh tap beer, there’s a strong can and bottle game on offer. There are big UK and Irish brews, including some juicy drops from Verdant and more subtle lagers from Newbarns Brewery, along with a couple of pricier larger bottles from the likes of Drie Fonteinen and Otterbank Brewery.

There’s also a handful of half decent wines by the glass for those who remain hop averse.

Bullhouse East feels like it’s already forging a place on the city’s beer map, and judging by the initial inertia on opening week, that impact can only grow in the months and years ahead.

Belfast’s Bullhouse East has already made it onto city’s beer map

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