Donegal’s very own lager, DL, made by Kinnegar Brewing in Letterkenny, has achieved the gold medal in its category at the 2020 Brussels Beer Challenge.
Responding to the announcement in the last week of November, Head Brewer and Co-Owner Rick LeVert commented “It’s particularly gratifying after a gruelling year coping with the pandemic to gain this level of international recognition”. All the hard effort was turned to gold as three of Kinnegar’s beers were decorated at the highest level in their respective classes in Belgium.
The Brussels Beer Challenge, the first professional beer competition in Belgium, was created in 2012 in response to the growing interest in beer culture. Since then, the event has expanded to become one of the world’s most important and prestigious beer competitions.
“What’s particularly satisfying about these three medals is the scope and versatility that they represent”, commented Kinnegar’s Seán McCarthy. “It’s great to win with a specialist style like Imperial IPA (Thumper) but to take home gold with a classic Light Lager like DL is truly remarkable. It’s tough to imagine two beers further apart on the spectrum of taste and appeal. Both of them are difficult to get right.”
That a small brewery on the north western periphery of Europe can hold its own amongst the makers of the world is indicative of the progress made in the past 10 years of Irish brewing. Conall Deazley of Kinnegar’s Northern Ireland distributor, Nelson Sauvin, is not surprised by the accolades. “We sell a lot of beer from the leading UK and international breweries but there’s no doubt in my mind—and I see the evidence daily in my order book—that Kinnegar can hold its own in any company. The fact that it’s Irish and independent adds to the appeal but the quality has to be there, first and foremost.”
“It’s not easy achieving consistency and excellence across such a wide variety of styles”, reflects co-owner Libby Carton, “but we firmly believe that our customers enjoy and deserve variety. It’s every bit as important to be able to deliver a simple lager as a show-stopper like Black Bucket, our gold medal winning Black Rye IPA.”
DL has had great support from local customers as well selling strongly nationwide. “We really hope that Donegal people continue to get behind their own lager and choose it ahead of some of the more commercial brands”, says Seán. “They can enjoy it even more now knowing that it’s up there with the best!”
Kinnegar, established at commercial scale in 2013, moved from its original home in Rathmullan to its K2 facility in Letterkenny in 2017. The brewery, with a staff of 16, produces 12 beers in its core range, six of them available in 500ml bottles and all of them available in 440ml cans.
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