’Never mix grape and grain’ - we’re breaking the cardinal rule again for our second grape harvest beer. Chataeu Aro a dark rubescent lager conditioned on the freshly crushed juice and skins of pinot noir grapes from the award winning Escaroment Winery. And the result of this unholy union? Rich, complex and surprising. Remember, beer then wine, you’ll be fine.
Fresh sauvignon blanc juice fermented with pilsner wort brewed an extravagant late addition of Nelson Sauvin hops. Vin Nouveau meet Sauvin Nouveau in a vintage harvest pilsner of crisp and intense aromatic fruit complexity, where the flavours of beer and wine intertwine so closely it’s almost indecent. Surely it can’t be wrong if it feels this right? This beer was made possible by the generous assistance of the award winning Palliser Estate Wines of Martinborough.
Lager, but not as we know it. Garage Project’s Day of the Dead - a strong black lager inspired by the Aztec beverage xocolatl, “a bitter, frothy, spicy drink” combining cocoa and chili. Brewed with smoked chipotle chili, refermented with organic blue agave syrup (the basis of Tequila) and conditioned over raw cocoa nibs - rich and dark, Day of the Dead is smooth and drinkable with a complex mix of smoke, chocolate and restrained chili heat. A true celebration of the dark side.
Beer and ballet - an unusual Pas de Deux. Brewed by Garage Project for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Hops on Pointe teases the boundaries between high and low culture.Brewed with premium German malts, Nelson Sauvin hops and finished with a champagne yeast, the result is a pale gold lager with a crisp, clean palate, rich tropical fruit aromas and tight champagne bubbles.Available at all good barres.
East Coast anthem IPA - a big ol’ hop poppa of a beer, packing in intense mango, tropical fruit hit from US big guns, Simcoe and Mosaic. It’s just bigger and juicier than it’s bitter West Coast counterpart, like sippin’ hazy hop nectar from a can. It’s all good.
The arrival of hops to the brewing scene in England in the 1500s led to a moral panic, hops were described as a Wicked, & Pernicious Weed, feared to bring the downfall of civilized society. Thankfully, they were right. Pernicious Weed is a celebration of the NZ-developed hop varieties Nelson Sauvin and Rakau. Huge grapefruit flavour in a worryingly-drinkable strong IPA.
Venusian Pale Ale, a precocious little number using some of the more unusual local flora and fauna you find hanging around here in the less civilized parts of the solar system. Lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf and grapefruit peel that we pinched from rations, meld seamlessly with Venusian Spear Fungus and that funny green stuff the local chappies seem to like licking off the rocks. Zesty is the word that springs to mind and at 7.5% abv it