Category Archives: Brewing

Must… have…. IPA…

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It’s been nice becoming forcefully reacquainted with the many other styles of beer in the world over the past year. I used to have a fridge stocked full of IPAs that would share some real estate with the occasional out-of-towner. However, the relocation of the brewing facilities from West to East Coast means that the copious amounts of IPA aren’t as readily available as they used to be and the ones that are available…. well let’s just say, the East doesn’t do West Coast IPAs. There are some exceptions to that statement but only some.

Ramblings aside, while I have enjoyed drinking styles I neglected for a few years, that empty place in my heart/belly/fridge could only be filled with an IPA. Match. Burner. Boil. Hops. Yeast. An IPA is born. Single hops and lots of them! See you in a few weeks!

Whirly Bird’s first keg

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1.041 went into the carboy and 15 days later there was but 1.002 left. Everything went much quicker than I expected but I guess that’s what this type of yeast does (WLP565). First day of spring and Whirly Bird Brewing Co rings it in with our first batch of beer in a keg. Now the real waiting game begins… when to pour that first glass…

A farmhouse in the making

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The match has been lit and the burner has once again come to life. Pilsner, Vienna, wheat, rye and aciduated malt are well on their way into making a Farmhouse Ale with the help of some hops and some yeast.

The goal is a sour-ish farmhouse (saison) and keg it but we’ll see how everything shakes out.

A Little Nutty Brown Ale fizzes to life

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A Little Nutty Brown Ale is officially available for your drinking pleasure. First bottle was cracked open and looks like it’ll be drinkable. For the 16oz of nuts in the batch it only took on a bit of nut flavor. This was the first time using whirfloc and I’ll admit it does wonders to clear things up. Our Little Nutty Brown Ale has Pale Malt, oats, wheat, Caramel 20/60/80, and some chocolate. Magnum and Tettnag play the role of the hops in this brew. A pinch of brown sugar and a pound of nuts found there way into the batch as well. Dry S-04 was the yeast of the day. Final numbers for our Little Nutty Ale are 4.9% ABV, 32 IBU, 10 SRM.

Little Nutty Brown Ale

A nut brown is comming!

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First all grain brew is complete. We’ll see what sort of success story this turns out to be. No significant hiccups in the brewing process. Pretzels were great, beer didn’t boil over, and the cigar held its ash quite well.

This one features the usual Pale Malt, plus a bit of oats, wheat, Crystal 20/60/80, and a little chocolate. Did I mention it’s a nut brown? Complete with a pound of roasted pecans!

aRPA is born

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A Rye Pale has been born… and finally tasted… and it isn’t all that bad! I’m a bit surprised at the FG/ABV given the extra pound of candy syrup I added during the boil but I guess the hipsters call this sub 5% stuff “session” ale right? Rye, rye, and some more rye. aRPA also has a bit of Caramel80 and it gets its color from a little chocolate. Magnum for the boil and Chinook, Columbus, Amarillo, and Citra were added post boil and/or dry hopped after primary fermentation. WLP-001 makes it a beer. Final stats are 15 SRM, 66 IBU, and 4.6 ABV.

aRPA: a Rye Pale Ale

Rye Ale Bottled

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After a week of primary fermentation and 21 days of dry hopping (Citra). This beers ready for it’s 12oz home; 54 bottles of goodness (hopefully) are quietly making bubbles and should be ready to drink in two weeks. Looks like a 15ish SRM and ABV measures around 4.6; the latter of which is slightly lower than expected but probably due to the low OG not the FG. First tastes coming soon.

Rye’s in the future

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God, has it been that long? Last beer put out was Whirly Bird’s Suspicious Stout. The final bottle of that brew is long gone. The boiler has once again been lit and another batch is on the way. This particular beer is to be a Rye-PA of sorts. Due to a lapse in memory (thought I didn’t have a false bottom but I did) this batch was a partial grain. Last time I swear.

Mix of malted rye, caramel 80, and chocolate for the grain plus a whole lot of rye LME. Throw in a fair amount of hops and some WLP001 and you’ll get yourself a beer in a few weeks. That is of course if you enjoy a cigar during the process.

Suspicious Stout lives

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Suspiciously not stout-like in appearance but mighty tasty nonetheless. All the stats listed remain (62 IBU, 4.9% ABV, 23 SRM) but now the beer has bubbles, it’s cold, and lives in a fridge. Suspicious Stout says hello to your mouth with chocolate, caramel, just the right amount of oatmeal, and the spicy/sweet hint of toasted fenugreek. Nugget and Fuggles bring the IBU. The stout is a little on the light side (23 SRM) and has the mouth-feel of more of a brown ale than a true stout but overall the Brewer and the regulars here at Whirly Bird Brewing didn’t complain much.

Suspicious Stout Label