← All events
food-drink · Saturday 5 September 2026 · Various 
Sip Off at the Bramley Barn - Long Meadow Cider
At Long Meadow Cider - Bramley Barn · 38 Ballynamoney Road, Loughgall, Portadown, Co. Armagh
At Long Meadow Cider - Bramley Barn · 38 Ballynamoney Road, Loughgall, Portadown, Co. Armagh
The Sip Off at the Bramley Barn is one of the signature dinners of Armagh Food and Cider Weekend, held in the glass-fronted Bramley Barn at Long Meadow Cider’s orchard farm near Loughgall. If you like food with a competitive edge - or just enjoy a good evening out in an unusual setting - this one is worth booking early. It suits anyone curious about craft cider, premium spirits, or simply the idea of eating a tasting menu while surrounded by apple trees that are usually heavy with fruit in early September. Tickets sell out in advance.
Each course of the tasting menu is paired with two things: a Long Meadow craft cider and a premium spirit. At the end of each course, guests vote for their favourite pairing. That vote-as-you-go format keeps things lively and gives the evening a friendly, interactive feel that lifts it above a standard dinner.
Long Meadow is a family farm run by the McKeever family, third-generation apple growers who have worked this 28-acre holding near Loughgall since the 1960s. Peter McKeever senior planted the first Bramley apple tree on the farm in 1968. The cider operation was added in 2014 and has picked up Great Taste Awards and Blas na hEireann recognition since. The Bramley Barn itself - glass-fronted, set right in among the trees - was added to give visitors a proper base for tastings and events. In September, during harvest season, the setting is about as close to source as a food evening gets.
The event is part of Armagh Food and Cider Weekend (3 to 6 September 2026), the county’s main annual celebration of its Orchard County identity.
Long Meadow Cider is at 38 Ballynamoney Road, Loughgall, roughly ten minutes from Portadown town centre and about twenty minutes from Armagh city. A car is the usual way to get there, though Visit Armagh typically organises a coach transfer for the Bramley Barn dinner so that no one needs to drive - check visitarmagh.com when booking for current transport arrangements.
Portadown itself is well connected by road: the A3 runs south to Armagh city, and the M1 motorway is a short drive north towards Belfast. Translink trains serve Portadown from Belfast (around 40 minutes) and from Dublin via Enterprise, making it one of the more reachable towns in the north for visitors arriving without a car.
The area around Loughgall and Portadown is proper apple country - an orchard visit during harvest season fits naturally alongside a walk or a browse of local food producers. There is more to see in Portadown and across Co. Armagh.
Heading to Long Meadow Cider - Bramley Barn in Portadown? Armagh has plenty more to see. Read the Portadown area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.