Home-Kinnegar Rustbucket

This rye ale pours a hazy orange almost apricoty color  with a strong 1 finger head. It has a very fruity aroma of pineapple, pear, and apple, with some floral and grassy notes mixed in. When you drink it you get a very fruity pineappley taste with a bit on rye spice and tanginess. Another flavor I tasted more strongly as the beer warmed up was a caramely toffee like flavor. Additionally, this beer has a very slick mouthfeel that almost slides down your tongue before finishing in a moderately bitter fashion. This beer is pretty enjoyable, and is a good example of how rye can give a very slick mouthfeel, but it doesn't have that much rye in the flavor or aroma otherwise, just a hint. Additionally, the nice hoppy aroma is pleasant, but probably distracts from some of the spicy rye aromas that could be found if the hops were less present. I would probably classify this as a rye pale ale instead of a rye ale, just so the consumer knows that it is relatively hoppy.

About a week ago, Becky and I took a tour of the Boyne Valley, an often overlooked area by tourists, and it was a lot of fun. We first went to the Hill of Tara, the place where the kings of Ireland sat in ancient times. This grassy hill has a figure 8 shape carved into the top with one half being the coronation site for the kings and the other being where they lived. Our next stop was the Anglo-Norman Trim castle, made famous for its use in the movie Braveheart. This castle is very well preserved as is the surrounding wall and moat, originally designed for its protection. We next made our way to Loughcrew, the site of a 5000 year old passage tomb, and you get a chance to go inside. This site is a bit more primitive compared to the more famous Newgrange, but the views from the top cannot be beat. All you see for miles are tree lined farms, hills full of sheep, and small villages nestled here and there. Afterwards, we made our way to Monasterboice for the best examples of Celtic high crosses, ornately decorated with biblical scenes, used by monks to share the faith with the illiterate indigenous population. Our last stop on the long day was in the medieval town of Drogheda, which has fallen on a bit of a slump as of late, but still has some interesting shops and sites, including the mummified head of Saint Oliver Plunkett. Overall, it was a very enjoyable tour and nice to see some historical sites often missed by the crowds of tourists.