Local Beer in Wake Forest, NC

Translates to “The Golden King”, which we thought was pretty cool and fitting for this Hazy IPA. We used the same malt recipe as our ever popular Yellow Submarine IPA, but dry hopped this one with both traditional and cryo versions of El Dorado hops which brings out a soft candied orange flavor.

We paid tribute to a cult classic beer made for over 40 years by one of the pioneers of craft brewing. This pleasantly bitter and old school red IPA is dry hopped with freshly harvested whole cone Cascade. It takes about an hour to stuff them into the tank and another hour to get them back out, which is a huge pain in the butt but totally worth it for this special winter time IPA that probably couldn’t be made any other way.

Let’s face it….the holidays are stressful! From shopping to traffic to competing with your neighbors for the best light display, it can feel like the most stressful time of the year. But don’t fear, reindeer! One of our seasonal beers is here to help ease the pressures of the holidays. We’ve crafted this festive ale with fresh ginger, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg, allspice, and clove – all the warm and ugly sweater fuzzies to get you into the Christmas spirit, and remind yourself what matters most: beer so delicious, so pure, and so damn tall, even Jesus can touch it!

This beer is a love letter to the broskis, brosephs, dudes and dudettes. A super clean, dry, hop forward pale ale. It starts with step-mashed pilsner malt for an enhanced malt balance and hopped with a collage of US and NZ hops in the whirlpool. It’s then dry hopped with heaps of Riwaka, Nelson, and a touch of Mosaic cryo.

We took part in trialing a new product from Crosby Hop Farm in Oregon. They’ve been working on applying the “Cryo” method, or the cryogenic concentration of lupulin and removal of vegetal matter, on freshly harvested unkilned hops. This method could improve shelf life and shipping costs of the hops themselves, two big barriers to brewing these types of beers. We used their estate grown Comet hop strain in the kettle and dry hop. The resulting beer is very low in bitterness with some expected earthy fresh hop characteristics combined with a watermelon like fruitiness.

We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn’t going to solve anything. Flavored dark beers don’t always have to be a big decision with boozy consequences. We used all our tactics to pack in body and flavor into a little porter and dosed it up with peanut butter, cacao nibs and marshmallow. Does not contain lactose.

Nothing beats a dark lager as fall temperatures are finally here. Dark brown with subtle roast from German dehusked roasted malt with a slightly hoppy twist from noble Hallertau Mittelfruh hops and lagered 8 weeks.

A unique Polish style beer that ties together old world smoke character with light lager drinkability. Made with 100% oak smoked wheat malt for a beautiful smoky aroma and slight opaque yellow appearance. Lagered for 8 weeks to clean up the fermentation character and bring out a surprisingly refreshing citrus finish.

German kettle sour made with 100% local barley and wheat from Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham.  Try it neat if you want a tart little refresher, or make it a fruit beer with balanced acidity by adding one of our house made syrups made by Jess, our talented bartender at the Bird’s Nest cocktail bar next door.  Current flavors are Mango Habanero, Cherry Raspberry, and Mango Passionfruit, $2 per syrup. 

Celebrating The Federal’s 20th anniversary, our friend’s neighborhood bar and restaurant in Durham. We wanted to brew a style that was more common on a menu 20 years ago, something that was approachable in flavor and price point but also not too plain at the same time. Belgian malt went through a long 2.5 hour step mash which provides a special array of sugars for the yeast, and in our opinion makes a more authentically Belgian flavor. Hopped with Liberty in late boil and a small dry hop. Fermented with yeast sourced from Achouffe brewery, giving one of the more unique ester and phenol profiles amongst the Belgian yeasts.

Kanpai is ‘cheers’ in Japanese. Inspired by Ian’s Japanese classmates at Siebel Institute brewing school. When it’s 2am and the group has been enjoying beers all over Munich, everyone needs a good “Kanpai!” and it’s on to the next bar. We used our brewhouse mash mixer to cereal mash short grain sushi rice, making the starches available, and then blend it into our pilsner malt mash to enzymatically break it down into a rice syrup. Over 40% of this beer comes from rice. It’s then hopped with floral Lorien hops and lagered several weeks. This is a deliciously light and delicate beer.

Part of our staff beer series where each team member gets a chance to choose a beer style and spend a day creating it themselves on the brewhouse!  This one is Rishi’s turn!  He brewed a Russian Imperial Stout with Harmony and Ian.  The recipe is a throwback to early 2000’s Imperial Stouts when roast and hop bitterness were prized traits that mingled beautifully on a high ABV malt base and are less sweet than the flavored imperial stouts of today.  Brewed with a good dose of roasted barley and features a notable hop aroma and firm bitterness from Cascade, Nugget and Simcoe hops.  

Saison Du Héritage was brewed out of love for authentic Belgian Saisons. We did our best to pay our respects to the tradition and methods of brewing this style of beer. Utilizing local rustic malts such as spelt and red wheat from Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham, along with doing a traditional step mash. This beer consists of a blend of 2 saison strains from Belgium and is full of luscious fruity esters. This beer is also naturally carbonated to heighten the drinking experience and flavor. A votre santé mon amies!

Pride of Spitalfields pub holds a special place in my heart and this beer is an homage to a fun filled night at a boozer of a London pub. The night was filled with plenty of laughs on top of a slight roast from some English lads yelling “You’re Toast Mate!” This beer is perfectly sessionable coming in at 3.5% ABV, and has a delightful malty backbone that is reminiscent of a freshly toasted baguette. Balanced and easy to drink and perfect for any occasion, even if you’re getting roasted by your friends. So don’t be a tosser and order yourself and your friends a proper pint of this beer.

Dunkels are a staple on any Bavarian beer menu. Malty but with great drinkability, it’s designed to be consumed by the liter. Getting the majority of its color from higher kilned Munich-style malt, this single decocted brew was patiently lagered and weighs in at an approachable 4.7% ABV

Modern, West Coast IPAs are one of our favorite styles. We went tried and true with the “holy trinity” hops of Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. Fermented bone dry with balanced bitterness to produce clean, clear hop juice. If you had any doubts before, we are sure they’re gone. Blackbird is your home away from home and where I belong.

Some say it’s always better to be overdressed, but who cares as long as you’re enjoying a beer in a pool. Dress your best, we won’t judge either way. Our pilsners are special beers that require extra steps and know-how on the brewhouse with extended maturation in the cellar. German malt is step mashed then hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrüh and Saphir. Naturally carbonated and lagered in horizontal tanks. Perfect for the most formal and informal parties.

Classic German style wheat beer. 50% of this beer is made from wheat grown at Perry Family Farm in Rolesville four miles from the brewery and malted at Epiphany Craft Malt in Durham. Brewed the hard way, this went through five mash steps including two decoctions to get every bit of character these malts have to offer. Naturally carbonated and unfiltered.

We all live in a yellow submarine, propelling through a sea of hazy IPAs and this is a damn good one. We dove all in by double dry hopping with Citra for those looking for juice. Made with a base of oat malt and London yeast for an opaque and creamy base. This brew was dry hopped mid fermentation with Citra Cryo to pick up those lush biotransformation characters from the yeast and then doused a few days later with hand selected Citra T90s.