Bike Ride and Brews

During our week in Kinsale, we thought we would exercise our legs a bit and since we hadn't ridden a bicycle since we lived in Utah, we decided to rent a few bikes and then reward ourselves with a brewery tour at Black's of Kinsale.

We took a bus from city centre of Kinsale to Old Head Signal Tower to meet Ruth, the owner of Wild Atlantic Sports.  We were also joined by Alison from Indianapolis who was in Ireland for work but decided to spend a day having fun riding bikes.  We rode along the beaches on the coast, through the forest, up hills, down hills and stopping at small town cafes for an Americano.  It was a great morning and we finished it by riding the bikes back to Kinsale.  Ruth was nice enough to let us take the bikes and she picked them up from the yacht club later that night.  A fantastic morning and a fun way to explore the coast.

After we returned to Kinsale, we dropped off the bikes at the marina and headed out to find Blacks of Kinsale brewery.  We took a wrong turn and walked up the biggest hill we've seen in Ireland, only to realize we'd gone the wrong way.  After straightening out, we walked in the brewery at 2:58 for a 3pm tour, hoping there would be room for us.  As it turns out, it was Baxter, Molly, a french couple and one of the five employees at Blacks.  We had grandiose ideas of how this beer was brewed when in fact, it is pretty simple with a small number of people putting forth a big effort to make the beer successful.  If you ever have a chance to order a "KPA" (Kinsale Pale Ale), it is their flagship ale and pretty tasty.  A nice reward for a long bike ride and the top off of a great day.

The first beach on the ride

Don't see this view very often when we're living aboard

Forest selfie

This wall (notice the spikes sticking out) was a boundary of an estate.  The spikes would keep the deer in/out depending on which side the spikes lied.

Great day riding bikes.

Thank you Ruth!  Glad you could join us Alison!

Tour at Black's of Kinsale Brewery...he started the tour by saying "Right - let's go have a quick look at some tanks and then come back in and drink some pints"

Stage 2 Tanks

Black's of Kinsale also has a still - the gin is pretty tasty as well.

How the process works and the different herbs and spices used to flavor the distilling process.

The finished product (on right).