Kinnegar Brewery in Co Donegal won a gold award at the World Beer Cup 2022 in Minneapolis recently, one of only 103 awarded from 10,542 entries. Kinnegar Black Bucket Rye IPA won in the American-Style Black Ale/American-Style Stout category.

“This is the award that matters most — no question about it,” Libby Carton of Kinnegar said. “Porterhouse were the first to get a medal in 2010, followed by Eight Degrees in 2014, and Galway Bay in 2016, but this is the first gold. Black Bucket is an archetypal American beer, there is no tradition of making it here, so it’s nice to beat the Americans at their own game.

“It is a really unusual style and very difficult to make and that’s what it makes it exceptional. A lot of people try but don’t succeed. It is all about getting the right balance between malt and hops. The danger is using too much black malt — if the brew hits the wrong temperature, you will get a very roasted flavour that ruins the beer.”

“It sells well for the style, but it doesn’t really have mass appeal. It is an important part of our core range, but one of the slower selling. People expect it to be heavy because it is black, but it isn’t. There is some richness from the malts but it is cut through by the citrus from the hops. It is a flavour experience and definitely something everyone should try at least once — you won’t regret it.”