McCrackens Brewery& Distillery

McCrackens Brewery & Distillery was founded in 2018 by Ryan McCracken, a Portadown man who began home brewing in 2014 after receiving a kit from his wife Nicola as a Christmas present. What started as a hobby grew into County Armagh's first real ale brewery, producing pale ales, an Irish pale ale and a chocolate and vanilla stout from converted premises on Derryall Road. In 2024 the business became the first Portadown brewer to move into distilling, launching a gin built around eleven botanicals including heather hand-harvested by the McCracken family from the hills around Craigavon. Beers and spirits are still produced at the single Derryall Road site, from where products are supplied to independent outlets, Tesco Northern Ireland and export markets in the United States.