Weasel Boy Brewing Company in Zanesville is 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
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
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.