For Immediate Release

Contact: Jay Wince, Owner/Head Brewer of Weasel Boy Brewing Co.

740-605-7468

Jan. 6, 2015

Za nesville -- Weasel Boy Brewing Company in Zanesville announced today that the brewery will be participating in a collaborative Trans Atlantic recipe swap with the West Kerry Brewery (Beoir Chorca Dhurbhne) located in Ballyferriter (Balie An Fheirtéaraigh), Ireland.

Weasel Boy will be brewing West Kerry’s Riasc Red, a traditional Irish Red that uses botanicals to add depth and complexity to the flavor profile. Riasc Red features a balanced malt and hop approach using traditional malts and a blend of English Challenger and Fuggle hops blended with small amounts of American Cascades.

Jay Wince, co-owner and head brewer at Weasel Boy, stated in an email “We are very excited to be bringing a true representation of a Gaeltracht west coast Irish Red to our customers. There are a great many very good versions of this style out there but some seem to have let a little bit of Americanization creep into them and are very hop oriented. We’d like to do a true representation of the Irish Red and we don’t think you can get any truer than partnering with a small Irish brewery to get it done!”

Wince went on to say “While this beer will be well balanced with a good bitterness to back up the malt, the hops will not run the show. This beer should come in around 5.5% abv (alcohol by volume) to make it very enjoyable to drink with great balance and a little bit of something for both malt and hop fans alike.”

West Kerry Brewery will be brewing Weasel Boy’s very popular Bitter Sable Imperial Black IPA (India Pale Ale). This may be one of the first examples of this popular American style to be brewed in Ireland.

West Kerry co-owner and brewer Adrienne Heslin relayed in an email “I am really looking forward to brewing this because it is a complete departure. We have never used any of these hop varieties so that in itself will be interesting.”

Bitter Sable features Summit, Amarillo, Centennial and Cascade hops, none of which are largely used in Ireland. Bitter Sable is a hop forward American style IPA with small amounts of roasted malts added for color and complexity of the malt backbone and the full hop flavors and aromas. The Irish version should come in around 7.5% abv, quite large compared with most Irish made ales.

Heslin, an artist as well as a brewer, has been brewing at West Kerry since 2008 and was eager to share her Riasc Red with a small American brewery.

As to how this project came about, Wince stated “This whole idea started when we visited West Kerry for the second time in 2012. We loved the area, the town and the people. On our first visit back in 2005 there were no small craft breweries in this part of the country. On our return visit we found that this had changed. We visited the West Kerry Brewery and loved the beer and their whole concept as a brewery. Adrienne was great and gave us the whole story. The brewery is located in a mature garden and many botanicals from the garden are used in the brewing. They concentrate on local flavors by using their own well water, Irish malts whenever possible and botanicals from the garden in some beers. It’s going to be a fun project!”

Established in 2008, the West Kerry Brewery (Beoir Chorca Dhurbhne) was originally set up as a partnership between two rural pubs in the West Kerry Gaeltacht (Tig Bhric & Tigh Úi Cáthain), located 7 miles west of Dingle Town near the village of Ballyferriter (Balie An Fheirtéaraigh).

Co-owners and operators Paul O Loingsigh and Adrienne Heslin stated that the emphasis on low volume high quality beers that are bottle or cask conditioned and unfiltered has been the focus from the start.

Also part of the West Kerry team is Daniel O Connell, a recent addition to the enterprise. O Connell who is a transplanted Aussie and married to an Irish woman, showed up on their doorstep nine months ago! He has been a great addition to their team!

The beers are brewed with water from the brewery’s own well, predominantly Irish grain and fresh yeast. The brewery, which recently expanded, has an annual capacity of about 700 US barrels. It is set in mature gardens with botanicals which are experimented with in seasonal specials, making it a truly authentic, indigenous brewery. The brewery has just recently added kegs to their lineup as well, the first time the brewery has released a product not bottle or cask conditioned.