Two Bro’s, Two All Blacks

The days are shorter, and the temperature in the FreshChoice meat department seems warmer.  This can only mean one thing:  winter’s here.  Darker days call for darker beers, so you get some comforting warmth from dark malt-driven beers that pack slightly more alcoholic warmth.

Two of the nicest winter blanket beers I’ve had come from a couple of Danish brothers who call themselves To Øl.  Pronounced “toe ool” (Danish for two beers), they started brewing in Denmark after they felt a need to taste modern beer styles instead of the centuries-old traditional beers with the same- old same-old.  To Øl don’t push the boundaries of beer styles as their beer styles have no boundaries to push.  They brew beers you do not forget (unless you’ve had too many).  Since their conception in 2005, To Øl have risen to ninth most popular brewery on the 2015 Ratebeer rating.

Anywho, back to the winter blanket beers!

Goliat Imperial Stout at 10.1% is a goliath of a stout.  Brewed with oats, it results in a buttery  smoothness with the mouth feel of melted chocolate.  Infused with fancy French coffee that enriches the layers of delicious malt flavours with no over-roasted acrid bitterness.  It’s on the sweetish side and tastes a lot like you ain’t going to work tomorrow.

Liquid Confidence Imperial Stout.  Even though it’s brewed with three different kinds of chillies it’s not a chilli stout but rather a stout brewed with chillies.  She starts hot but simmers towards the end as the taste buds get numbed from the 12.2% ABV.  And it’s not your mouth burning only smoke from the Chipotle chillies.  It’s all good as these chillies counter the malt’s sweetness.  The chilli kick will give you the backbone to tell the missus you’re not going to her mother’s 80^th birthday!

And finally, for a taste of autumn there is ‘Releaf Me Lime Leaf Blonde’ 5.8%. - lime, ruby grapefruit and tart rhubarb flavours make this brew the perfect accompaniment to any Asian food.

To Øl, for flavour as bold as Steven Adams’s moustache.

Denis “the shark is back with one in black” Cooper

Presenting the Great Garage Project Freak Show

Roll up roll up, for your drinking pleasure, in conjunction with Garage Project, FreshChoice brings you the greatest beer extravaganza on earth.  Come ride the magical mystery tour of eclectic beer styles and sample the three brews developed by Garage Project for the ‘Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular’ (GABS).  The Garage project freak show is waiting to take you astray. 

Taste in awe ‘The Wolf Man’, he’s gonna take your taste buds high.  He’s a bad ass IPA with legend saying he’s the bitter ancestor of ‘Death from Above’.  Crammed with a howl of a lot of melonicious hops, you’re gonna dig him till the day you die.

Try the ‘Old Grinderman’, a stout little beer.  He’s a contortionist who’ll twist your taste buds from bitter to sweet then will untangle and astound you with grindings of coffee and Kahlua, and finally leave you mesmerised with mercurial malts.

And last but not least is ‘Marvellous Madam Mahvash’.  This fortune-telling Belgian blond beauty is love at first sip.  With fragrant cotton candy smells, you will be lulled into her magical spicy spells of Turkish Delight and delightful citrus.  She can be a little tart but give her time and her finishing smile is gingery confection.

Come gargle these gargoyles and experience these beerzare beers. Showtime starts 3 pm this Friday at FreshChoice Nelson and tickets cost nothing.

Denis “Clap for the Wolf Man” Cooper

Taste-Off: Brash Hammer vs Elegant Zombie

For all the hop-heads out there in craft beer land, FreshChoice in association with Epic Brewery brings you the greatest taste-off since barley and hops were fermented:  a taste comparison between the hugely popular ‘Epic Hop Zombie’ and the newly-created ‘Epic Stone Hammer’.  Arguably two of the most hop-audacious beers in the craft kingdom.

Epic Brewery started their first brew 10 years ago with their simply-named Pale Ale and added an epidemic of amount of hops for the time, which resulted in them winning the supreme champion beer award 2006 and creating a beer with what is now of cult status. This beer has a huge amount of citrusy, grapefruity hops but is equally balanced with rich toffee malts; resulting in a beer that caters to all palates.

(They’ve celebrated their decade of brewing by brewing a celebration ale called Epic Celebration Ale 10.1%. She’s a big Barley Wine beer that tastes like port and liquid fruitcake. Buy some before she goes then bring her out for your next significant celebration, hmmmmm!)

Anywho, back to the taste-off…

Hammer time:  First up was the ‘Stone Hammer’ - 7% and from first pisst of the bottle I was hopsmacked.  Hit with pungent hop aromas of tangelos and orange peel wafting from the glass.  The first sip then immediate tongue-curl from a bitterness that almost stripped the tastebuds from the tonsils, then a hop banging wallop of tamarillo, apricots and melons.  A brash hit of hops and an aroma that lasts to the final drop, epic.  

A quick Heineken to cleanse the palate then straight into the Epic Hop Zombie.  This monster carries more ABV at 8.5%, so I was expecting to be mauled to death from bitter hops but instead was enlightened with a rich body, smooth mouth-feel and refined bitterness.  Flavours of marmalade, green grapes and kiwifruit, all with a creaminess that belied the high alcohol.  Definitely sweeter than the Hammer with smacks of that Epic Pale Ale malt coming through resulting in an unabashed elegance.

So there it is:  the Brash Hammer or the Elegant Zombie?  My pick is…  the one that happens to be in front of me!  

Hop down to FreshChoice this Friday arvo where I’ll be giving out free tasters of Epic proportions so you can decide your own taste-off!

Denis kept craving hops so got a skipping rope Cooper

 

Easter Elixirs

Exciting times for brewers and brew imbibers alike!  Along with the done-and-dusted St Patricks Day and Marchfest; the Nelson hop harvest currently under way, and the soon-to-be-accomplished “Great Kiwi Beer Festival” in Christchurch, there is a bit of malt madness in March.  And squeezed in the middle is Easter where one of the most bizarre days of the year occurs:  a day where everything is shut with nothing to do, and everything on the shelves get one day older.  It’s called Good Friday, go figure?

If that’s not enough to wet your whistle and you’re still a bit hoarse then why not try Horsebox, Nelson’s latest brewery.  Boasting two brewers who beerly cut their teeth on homebrew but instead took the horse by the bit, delving straight into brewing three quality beers, all sessionable but carry lot of clout:

‘Ronin’ is perhaps one of the better tasting Pilsners below 5% out there.  Here you have everything you would expect from a flavoursome Pils.  It’s got that inimitable character with a crisp, clean taste, tingly effervescence and a bite-of-a-lime finish.

‘Black Stallion Milk Stout’ has a robust body with easy caramel and liquorice tones nourished with scorched roasted malts.  Leaving it to warm will bring out its milky smoothness from the lactose sugars.  A lot of stout for 5%.

‘Storm Hopper APA’ has a thunderous dark berry hop aroma and tastes just like it smells.  Dark berries with melon and tangelos and a bitterness from start to lingering finish.  Bigger than its 5.7% might suggest, which is good as you might be able to sneak in another bottle without getting into too much trouble?  This brew is most excellent with Sealord’s new “Salmon Cakes with Cheese Sauce” selected from the deep-freeze at FreshChoice.

Keep browsing the FreshChoice fridge for the soon-to-be-released Horsebox ‘Vigilante’, a New Zealand IPA that promises bold bitterness, woo hoo!

See me @FreshChoice this Thursday from 3–6 pm for some exciting Easter elixir taste-teasers in the shape of stout stouts.

Gallop down to FreshChoice but no horsing around ’cause it ain’t open Friday!

Denis stout lout Cooper

Three German Lagers and An Ale Walk Into a Bar….

Back from my holiday which is great as I only need two six month holidays every year.  I enjoyed my escape from civilisation but the whole time away I ailed for a decent ale.  Note to self, never underestimate the comforts of home (reads: how good the beer is in Nelson)

After my brief sojourn it was great to come back to see what new crafts have been brewing in the craft brewing industry.  Grabbing my immediate addiction is a newly created craft brewer from Wellington called Tiamana.

Tiamana (Maori for German) is a one-woman company who specialises in brewing classic German-style beers.  She brews four main styles, all of which are totally quaffable whilst burning a few a wieners on these hot summer nights.

First off for a thirst quenching appetiser is ‘Pilski’, a Berliner Pilsner, 5.6%.  An enjoyable easy drinking pils with a herbal, slightly minty refreshing zing.  A more malt-forward example for a pilsner, results in a sweeter note than most but still a wunderkind brewski.

A lager but not as we know it is ‘Kreuzberg’.  It’s a traditional schwarzbier or German dark lager.  This 5.3%er is brewed with dark malts, giving it the aroma and appearance of a stout but retains the light body and clean crispness of a lager albeit mixed with coffee and cola.  Very refreshing and adds a new flavour dimension for all the lager louts out there.

‘Witzig’ Lemongrass Witbier, 5.1%, is a wheat beer with the characteristic big foamy white head and cloudy liquid appearance.  The taste is true to form - that of coriander and lemongrass with a very high effervescence, combines to a prickly but very refreshing back of the mouth experience.  You could food pair as a sauerkraut dressing but probably better with fried rice.

And for after dinner is ‘Old Fritze’, a 7.5% Doppelbock that is a perfect couch sinker.  It’s rich, complex, and as smooth as the top of my head yet still amazingly, a lager!  It oozes sweet malt flavours and is like drinking liquid brandy snaps.

Prost!  (German for cheers)

Denis beerest of knowledge Cooper

Pick n Go

Garage Project have blossomed from nano to micro and now macro brewing, such is the demand of their  beersies created with a uniqueness that overlap the boundaries of beer styles. The exponential success of GP is due to the amount they export to places like Australia, America and Germany. It’s like GP’s business success is to invent a beer, test it on the NZ beer boffin for a taste check, then woof, its outta here, off overseas for the big sales. Us poor guinea pigs are then left with a fickle limited supply with a get what you’re given selection for the local supermarkets.

Such a shame about the supply cause all GP’s beers are rated.  Try these 4 cans while you can.

‘Artful Dodger’ new wave English Pale 4.3%. Toasty malts similar to the English pales billow over the front of the mouth then fresh cut grassy hops with a touch of weed, probe the back with pronounced bitterness. Huge flavour from such low alcohol, and quite possibly the perfect sessionable beer for the early morning RWC?

‘Dirty Boots’ American Pale Ale 6.6% Dirty boots has kicked the hop flavour outta the park with huge pineapple passionfruit hop flavours. Very rambunctious, saliva producing bitterness with creamy mouth feel. You’ll keep constantly sipping to keep experiencing the sensations. Inspired by the grunge music that GP listen to when they’ve hopped the mosh pit.

‘Los Lobos’ IPA 8%, means ‘The Wolves’ in Spanish and rightly so as this brew rocks (also a Grammy award-winning American rock band). It’s got those big American hops that generate the essence of mangoes and tropical fruits. Smooth bitterness, luscious body all make for a deceptively easy drinking 8%er.

‘Nerissimo’ 5.6% Porter.  A black porter infused with porcini and truffle. These fun guys add a rich hit of umami, the most enigmatic of flavours, giving this brew dark and complex earthy notes. Not sweet, definitely not sour, some bitterness and finishes with a satisfying savoury saltiness that keeps you wanting more.

Pick em from Fresh Choice, before they go.

Denis beer bum Cooper

Salubrious Selections for the Silly Season Sorted

Eight Xmas shopping days are beering down on us before the fat red man sings but if you’re like me, seven and half days procrastinating before starting. Fortunately you can’t go wrong by picking the third most popular drink in the world, just behind water and tea, it’s beer!

Here’s some great Xmas gift ideas for your most significant other.

A classic from a genuine Trappist brewer, Chimay. These Monk brewers have been refining their brews for the last 154 years and in 1956 this Monastic brewery created a Christmas beer now known as Chimay Blue. This is a 9% liquid Christmas cake with rich complex flavours of malty stewed plums and raisins and a coating of almond icing. Ranging in size options from 330mls to the special celebratory gargantuan 3 litre magnum. Drink this bad boy and believe it or not, you won’t get hungover. The brews yeast residue is recovered by the Monks, dried and compressed to form beer yeast tablets, rich in vitamin B and vitamin H and recommended as a potent natural dietary supplement. Way better than a Berocca in the morning.

The full complement of Chimay Red White and Blue can be partaken with the gift box selection including a special Trappist chalice designed to accentuate the distinctive aromas and bubbles of the brews.

 

Another Belgian heritage brewery is Duvel, with a double bottle and glass gift box. This beer exudes tradition. Tastes of champagne, dried fruits, yeast and some bitterness balanced by sweet malt and an aggressive carbonation.  Perfect for celebration.

 

But wait, there’s more.

 

A gift box of ‘Tuatara Delights’ featuring their most excellent Pilsner and APA, arguably their best rated brews, plus branded Goblet glass.

 

And for the hopheads, this is the gift box for you. Twenty years ago, Coronado Brewing Co put the IPA into San Diego and kickstarted the west coast hop revolution we have come to know and love. Their beer box selection show cases the American hop nuances, beering their four most successful examples.  

 

Gifts galore at your festive FreshChoice store.

Denis older Budweiser Cooper

Sip Pause and Enjoy

For the last five weeks I’ve been living my life totally on the edge – of the couch, fixated to the flatscreen.  The column deadline is just before the finals so the end result thus far is a mystery but certainly looking forwards to it and hopefully the resolution of the afternoon hangovers.  Commiserate or celebrate, either way you can partake with a ‘Funk Estate’.

Of the three Funk Estatians, one hails from Nelson where he crafted his craft then in pursuit of his passion absconded to Wellington to further enhance his brewing career and Wellys rep as the craftbeer capital.  The three brewers were drawn together by their love for lagers, affection for ales and an all-round passion for a pint.

Have a squiz at these four funkalicious finals refreshers

‘Parleyer Pilsner’. This brew is way bigger than its 4.5% would suggest.  A spritzy tart lime bitterness that leaves a clean crisp refreshing aftertaste.  Its got that exhilarating Savea get up and go!

‘Sophisticuffes’ 6%.  Is a hophisticated IPA with peppery orange and mango flavours and a backhand offload of bitterness. Very Rich and McCawsome!

‘Oh Lordy NZ Pale Ale’ 5.5%. Up front this brew has a punchy grassy and passionfruit hop character but also its a beer of two halves as it is equally well balanced with smooth biscuity malts.  This brew is a bit like the French side as it’s very easy to put away.

‘Pucker Up Berliner Weisse’ 4.2%. Oh’lordy, hope I spelt that right? A Berliner Weisse is a wheaty sour style of ale. The taste starts with citrusy orange then a gentle sourness  adds a multi-faceted complexity unheard of for such a low alcohol brew. Low alcohol, arrggh, you trying to kill me? Fortunately the flavours in this thirst-quenching brew will still smash ya bro with a cutting Skudder side step of crispness.

A loss doesn’t beer thinking about but thinking about beer does, so charge down a funky black magic woman from Fresh choice for a fairy-tale finish?

Denis Craft (Can’t Remember A Forking Thing) Cooper

Chillaxing Beers

You know its cold when you walk through the meat department at Freshchoice and can actually feel some warmth. These are the darkest days and appeal to the darkest beers and there is no better comfort beer than a stout stout. A stout can be as bitter as a Hurracanes support’s club or as sweet as a Marty Banks dropgoal. Either way, strong roasted malt will dominate the flavour. Because of its sweet or bitter qualities, Stout is also very good to cook with and sometimes you can even add it to the recipe. And in case you think its too cold for a cold beer, the flavour profile of a stout will usually improve if not served chilled.

For instance, Kereru Brewing’s “For Even Greater Justice Wood Fired Toasted Oat and Coconut Imperial Porter” gets warmer, more coconut flavor develops.  Tastes very much like a coconut topped marshmallow biscuit except at 8.5% you get warm fuzzies. 

Townshend’s “Key Stone Milk Stout” 5.5%. it’s called a milk stout as it contains lactose, a  sugar derived from milk and this imparts a very creamy milk taste to the gentle roast malt flavours. Forget you glass of milk before bed, this is way better.

Lord Almighty “Ursus Stout” at a lord almighty 12%ABV. Appropriately, Ursus is the name of a big American black bear. Tastes of dark roasted malt that’s just on the edge of charry bitterness. Its robust body with heavenly chocolate coffee notes and a soy sauce bitterness.  This is one smooth strong gnarly bear.

Tuatara “Black” 6.5% is part of a seasonal one off series and fortunately, is black by popular demand. Beguilingly smooth brewed with real chocolate which comes through in the aroma. A milky cocoa taste with lots of coffee and a bitter malt finish and very easy to drink. The brew comes in a lizard spine necked bottle and may well raise the hairs on your neck on the inside.

So, axe the chills and get a stout from your warm and happy place, FreshChoice.

Denis short but stout Cooper

Craft Beers Have Your Meals Sorted

Craft brewing is a constantly evolving culture and in many ways the definition is in the eye of the beerholder. With more craft breweries hopping up worldwide the creativity of the craft brewer needed to standout amongst the crowd is becoming ever beerzarre. Great food goes with great beer and some brewers have taken food and beer pairing to extremes and literally combined the two.

Try this for a set menu of malt morsels with suggested beer pairings:

Entrée:
‘Pumpkin Savior’ 5.6% from Rogue Farms. This rogue tastes like a brown ale with a delicate pumpkin and spicy background. You wait for it to end with a sweet note but instead it finishes pleasantly dry.

Beer pairing with Garage Projects ‘Spiced Saison’. The spritzy spricy cloves and nutmeg from this brew complements and enhances the Rogue’s pumpkin flavours.

Main:
‘Indra Kunindra’ by Ballast Point, 7% India styled export stout. It’s a stout Scotty, but not as we know it. Smells like it tastes, curry, lime and coconut with a heat that will have you gasping for air and flapping your hand wildly in front of your mouth. Too much and you’ll end up vindaloo. Goes well with a dipping sauce of white rice.  A limited release so get it whilst it’s hot!

Beer pairing with Good George IPA, with its big refreshing citrus hoppiness to help cut through the Kunindra’s heat.

Dessert: 
Garage Project’s Bossa Nova, a 7.7% tropical fruit salad IPA. Fermented with a Belgian yeast to produce slightly tart yet refreshing hopatropical flavours of apricot, pineapple, passionfruit and watermelons. The flavours are so fruit salady that you expect to find watermelon and passionfruit pips in each mouthful.

Beer pairing with Victory at Sea by Ballast Point, a 10% porter with coffee and vanilla.  This brew is wicked. The coffee and dark roasted malt flavours are certainly there but nicely subdued by the vanilla adding a smooth and satisfying milkyness. It gets the lick.

Get your five plus a day and beer pairings from Fresh Choice Nelson.

Denis behind bars Cooper

Ah-Ooooh Werewolves of Taupo

He’s a hairy-faced fellow, a craft brewer from Taupo, doing things with hops that will make you feel mellow. That is James Cooper, founder of Lakeman Brewing and he styles himself as a mythical beer drinking beast, as would 90% of the NZ male population. James aims to produce easy drinking flavoursome beers from premium malts, hops and the crystal clear waters of Lake Taupo.

His range includes Pilsner, Pale Ale, Lahar, Hairy Hop IPA and Taupo Pale Ale and all have a howl of a lot of hop forward flavour. In just two years brewing, he’s already tasted instant success. At the 2014 New Zealand Beer Awards Lakeman Pale Ale picked up a bronze medal in the British-style ales category and Lakeman Taupo Pale Ale won bronze in the US-style ales class.

And lately he’s been overheard at Beervana. Lakeman’s stand was the first to run dry and his foray into darker ales with ‘Jack Black Stout’ ranked third on the people’s best-rated beer list. It’s not on the shelves yet so keep a big eye out for it in the beer fridge at Fresh Choice.

Four of Lakeman’s line-up are in the pale ale style and craftily demonstrate the nuances of what different hop varieties can do to the flavour profile without rippin your lungs out.

The ‘Taupo Pale’ 5.7%, is my favourite, laden with a forest of hops with notes of blackcurrant, pines, grasses and lime complemented with an underlying maltyness.  Scarily satisfying.

Another equally good pale ale only different, is the ‘Lahar’ 5.6%. It exudes a tropical fruity aroma and overflows with smacks of blackcurrants and lashings of lychees with a touch of grapefruit. Monstrously good.

The ‘Pilsner’ 5.2%, had an intriguing complexity not often found in a pils. It has a sharp vanilla-like taste with a cutting bitterness, robust body and earthy woody hops. Huge bite in this brew.

For hop forward ales this guy is the beast. Pick up a Hairy Box Sampler for your hairy-faced feller for Father’s day and he’ll go Ah-Ooooh!

Denis ♬who loves brew the most♬ Cooper

Green Beer

Just as fresh herbs taste somewhat different to dried herbs, same goes with the hop cone. Because of the volatile nature of hops they are quickly dried straight after picking in an attempt to preserve all the aroma, flavour and bitterness that we have come to know and love, crave and cherish and adore…err, you get the picture.

Moving on, so the thing is, what does beer taste like with fresh hops, or otherwise known as wet hops, green hops or harvest beers, and sometimes seasonal beers?

Short answer, green. Long answer, earthy, woody, grassy green. Here’s a list of local fresh hop brews in my order of pungent hop power.

10/ Funk Estate ‘Oh Lordy’ 5% NZ Pale Ale; lord almighty green and mango hoppyness. 

9/ Renaissance ‘Grandmaster’ Fresh hop imperial India Pale Ale 8.5%; a barley wine cum double IPA, exudes earthy lime hops.

8/ The Mussel Inn ‘Lawn Moa’ Fresh hop lager 5%; a salubrious taste of freshly mown lawn clippings.

7/ Parrotdog ‘Kakapo’ Wet Hopped IPA 6.5%; a big fat green hoppy parrot.

6/ Panhead ‘The Vandal’ Fresh Hop 8%; get smashed on this fresh green hop customisation.

5/ Sprig & Fern ‘Harvest Pilsner’ Fresh hopped 5%; a ferntastic sessionable with green sprigs of passionfruit.

4/ Townshend ‘Oldhams Tap Pilsner’ 5.3%; grassy, grapey, and piney from a Tappy hop garden.

3/ Garage Project ‘Sea of Green’ Pilsner 5.8%; bitterly green lime hops that you get drowned in.

2/ Tuatara ‘Conehead’ Air-hopped IPA 6%; astonishing piney green passionfruit hops, finishing with a lagerish bite. 

1/ Enlightenment ‘Fresh Hopped Black the Ripa’ 6.66%; a hop mosaic, green, black and pale, all at the same time. A proper black IPA with heaps of malt and reeks of hops.

Fresh hop from FreshChoice. These will go faster than a kiwi saver kick start fund. Get em while they're hop.

Bellynote: ParrotDog have just been announced ‘champion small international brewery’ at the Australian Beer Awards. Kiwi beating Aussie in their backyard yet again!!!

Denis reviewing brewing Cooper

Gigantic Pelican and Ballast Point

By adding extra hops to their ales to preserve its qualities for the long journey to India the English inadvertently invented the IPA. A century later, the Americans added even more hops to this IPA style and produced an IPA flavour detonation that plonked their craft beer industry firmly on the world map. Then they supersized it and called it a double IPA.

San Diego is reputably "America's Craft Beer Capital" and one of its early craft beer pioneers is Ballast Point. These are the guys who built the San Diego IPA reputation with their ‘Big Eye’.  They should have given it a big Pee and Aye as well as this brew is the quintessential American IPA. Shiploads of pungent American citrus and tropical hop flavors, finishing off with a tongue buckling bitterness.

If citrus hops tickle your fancy then the Ballast Point ‘Grapefruit Sculpin’ is the bomb. This brew explodes with orange-rind and grapefruit hop haemorrhage and tastes like a cold marmalade bath on a hot tropical summer s night.

But wait, there’s more. Just as Wellington challenges Nelson as the craft beer capital, so too does Portland Oregon challenge San Diego as their country’s craft beer capital. Portland has been named a beer lovers paradise with a whopping 31 breweries making for a hell of a brewery tour. Two prominent examples are Gigantic Brewing and Pelican brewing.

Pelican brew a spicy little ‘Red Lantern IPA’ at 6.4%. The Red means rye and rye gives smoothness on the palette and a complexity of taste with a touch of spicy heat increasing the sharpness of its piney hops. The delicate caramel malt results in a satisfying refreshing cricket watcher.

Gigantic Brewing brew an IPA which they level headedly call IPA. This brew is like a baby faced assassin. It’s non-aggressive in bitterness with an even confluence of hops between citrus and pine and is very easy drinking.  However, its 7.3% will slap you in the face just when you least expect it.

For sheer hopulence, it’s hard to go past a West Coast American IPA.  

Denis cuddly beer Cooper

Crafty Christmas

Whoa! Only six more days to do your Christmas shopping or if you’re a guy, only five and a half more days before you start.  Usually I get all my gifts from the shop next to where I’ve managed to find a park.

So here’s a thought, instead of the old Susan Boyle CD for Christmas, what about one of those craft beers from parking friendly FreshChoice? A beer that you often had walked past and wondered what that’s like? Well, tis the season of good swill, and what better way to get an ‘out there’ gift for a bit of personal indulgence or for your favourite person who has everything.

Rogue Breweries brew beers that are as much ‘out there’ as dyed female armpit hairs. Two stand-out Rogues perfect for the Christmas day pig-out are the ‘Morimoto Imperial Pilsner’ as the pre lunch or dinner amuze booze and the ‘Double Chocolate Stout’ for the end of day Christmas crash.

The ‘Morimoto Imperial Pilsner’ at 8.8% is one big mo-fo. Like concentrated pilsner, it’s thick, strong and bitingly bitter with walnut like flavours and a dry finish. So strong it takes longer to sip than a six pack and even Rogue has appreciated this by supplying a swing top for you to regain enough decorum to re-savour the flavour on Boxing Day.

A stout in summer? No such thing as a bad time for a stout, especially the ‘Double Chocolate Stout’ 8.7%. This is pure decadence with velvety strawberry, caramellow and milk chocolate tones plus just enough hop bitterness and nutmeg bite to relieve any overt sweetness. Winner of 3 world beer champ gold medals, its perfect for a sofa loafer.

A present that doesn’t need wrapping since the label looks like Santa, is the La Chouffe 8%.  This brew even tastes like Christmas. It’s got the classic strong Belgium beer spices, with notes of cloves, ginger, pineapple, cinnamon and everything else found in a Christmas cake. Crikey, even the big foamy white head looks like a Santa’s beard. 

Malty Christmas and hoppy New Year

Denis Santamental Cooper

Belgian Strong Beers

Back in the 15^th century, the Monks around Europe thought ”beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”, who then turns water into beer.  Err, that’s mostly right, only it’s the yeast which turns water into beer. Not only does the yeast ferment the brew into alcohol, the by-products of which can impart a huge amount of flavour as exemplified by the Belgian strong ales.

Chimay is the leading brewer of the 8 genuine Trappist Monk Brewers in Belgium and brews the ‘Triple’ 8%.  This brew produces a prodigious foamy white head over a liquid the colour of the label. Its creamy effervescence imparts a spicy heat of nutmegs and pears, with a yeasty bitterness balanced with nutty malts. Swirl the bottle before pouring to get more flavoursome bits floating in your beer other than your liver.

The Chimay ‘Blue’ is same as the Triple only way darker and another level deeper in intriguing complexity. Notes of stewed plums, raisins and cloves complement rich warming caramel malts. With 9% it’s a beer to be sipped savoured and satiated.

Another of these living brews is 2013 world ale winner ‘Gulden Draak’ from Van Steenberge. Fruity on the tongue with strong malt toffee sweetness balanced with hoppy whiskey like bitterness and full body barrel aged woodiness.  Don’t serve chilled as you won’t appreciate its myriad of flavours.  This guy is a head wobbler, either from the 10.5% alcohol or from just shear enjoyment.

One of the few remaining historic Belgium beers is the ‘Kwak’. Beautiful deep bright amber colour with a creamy tan head and a spicy malt aroma. Tastes like caramel rum sauce over bananas with a background yeastiness to keep it mildly bitter. You can feel the liquid trundling all the way down from the 8.4% kicking in. A real Christmas kwacker!

Finally, from the small French town of Vieux Lille is a beer ‘Vieux Lille Triple Blonde’, that’s sure to arouse all an 8.5% triple blonde can arouse.

There is no strong beer, just weak men.

Denis hoppy-hoppy joy-joy Cooper

 

Champion Brewer’s Secret Ingredient

The NZ Beer Guild 2014 Brewer of the year, Martin Townshend, has an uncanny ability to hit the spot. This feral, I mean fella, (he is from Upper Moutere you know!) has won more brewing awards than the All Blacks first five selection.  Could his success be from the fresh access to that green leafy herb with heads that are so popular around that region (I’m talking hops, not weed!)? Or is it from the life blood of beer, water?

Something that is unique to Moutere besides Townshend, is that the water used to produce the beer is drawn through an aquifer. Similar to the low mineral Czech water that produces the famous Pilsners and the rich mineral Burton-on-Trent water that produces the famous Abbey ales, the Moutere aquifer produces the award winning Townshend thirst quenchers.

Here’s some sessionable summer sizzlers suitable for chillaxing.

JCIPA, 5.5%; A sharp, crisp lagerish tasting IPA, whose character has satisfying thirst quenching qualities rather than outlandish hop flavours. In fact it’s quite laid back on hops for an IPA so consequently unveils a subtle sweet malt finish. This easy drinking brew would be a great introduction to any IPA hopaphobics willing to digress from their lager love.

Aotearoa Pale Ale, 5%; Gotta love sticking your beak into the beer glass and inhaling magnificent wafts of tropical hops whilst quaffing this brew.  Tastes of passionfruit hops, from start to finish, then a long dry cloud of peachy aftertaste. Packs the most bang for buck flavour of any sessionable ale.

Tie Break Summer Ale, 5.2%; my first taste of this was of instant relief that this brew wasn’t one of those namby pamby, soapy lemon tasting with a flowery herb note ‘summer brew’. Instead this surprisingly tasted of tart passionfruits and earthy grassy hops with a sharp almost hot lingering bitterness that keeps you pining for more. Loosen off your tie, take a break and enjoy this pearller.

With water making up 90% of beer which is more than PowerAde, I know which I prefer to rehydrate with?

Denis ‘fins up’ Cooper

Hedgehoged

 

What’s a craft brewer’s biggest problem that’s usually out of their control? Their carefully crafted concoction being lightstruck or colloquially known in America as being skunked. This is a term used when the hops in beer is exposed to light causing a reaction that produces a pungent off-flavour resembling that of the defence spray deployed by an angry skunk.

However in the absence of any skunks in NZ, I’ve consequently not had the pleasure to partake, so would compare this awful off-flavour to a hedgehog that has been run over several times then mashed with rotten potatoes.

I’m a beer can fan, they’re light weight, easier to cool, no breakage and more stable in your car’s cup holder. Probably best reason of all, there is no chance of those flavourful bittering hops getting hedgehoged.

Here’s four guaranteed no hedgehoged beer cans from Garage Project

Hāpi Daze 4.8% Pacific Pale Ale: Hāpi is Maori for hops and this brew reeks of it, with big citrusy perfumes. This is one of those brews where the huge aroma follows through with huge taste. Persuasive notes of bananary grapefruit, apricots and toffee malts and all this for 4.8%!  A sensational flavourful sessionable.

Garagista 5.8% IPA: Crack the can and instantly get smacked with wafts of hops. Another big aroma arousal here.  Good ‘ol’ kiwi hops dominate with notes of grape skins and piney hop vines, all with a controlled bitterness. An easy going IPA, session suitable or for those who just want to chillax.

Texas Tea 6.2%: Anything from Texas will look like oil and this brew is no exception. Labelled as brown ale, it ain’t.  It’s black and it’s got the swag.  Yep, this brew is hot, so hot you’ll need a cooling beer chaser.

Tournesol 6.5% Spice Saison: A summer seasonal, but spring is just as good. This sunflower is one spritzy brew. Fulla flavour, hints of cloves, nutmegs and lemons which seems a bit ‘green party’ but they work to give a very refreshing imbibe. 

So, go get your guaranteed fresh beer choices at FreshChoice.

 Denis ‘beer with me’ Cooper

Fuller Flavour

 

Back in the craftless day when I was a hairy lager lout happily humming along to the dial-up tune, when pursuing the beer buzz, I blindingly assumed that beer was, well, beer, cold fizzy stuff that only deserved respect the next morning. Back then, quality NZ beer was an oxymoron.  The only choices were barely bittered lagers and ales with flavour as rare as a quiet builder. Meanwhile, the Poms were quietly sipping away on ‘tongue tingling hop’ or ‘malt in the mouth’ inspired beers, with flavour that would make their cheeks flush and talk with a stiff upper lip.

Nek minnit, Muldoon got dethroned, tariffs came off imports and Fuller’s became one of the first English beers to tempt the lager league. I cut my teeth on Fuller’s ESB all those beers ago, which awoke some dormant monsters inside my mouth called taste-buds.

Here’s four sippulant Fuller’s to try:

Fuller’s ESB 5.9%.  Many craft brewers have been inspired by Fuller’s extra special bitter and as such has become a recognised beer style. This liquid legend is the pinnacle of the fuller’s range, winning many awards. Its “marmalade on buttered toast flavour” is Fuller’s signature taste and flows through all the Fuller’s range with varying authority.

Fuller’s London Pride 4.7% is UK’s most popular beer hence malty award winning. Here the marmalade on toast is more orangey, and bitter hops in harmony with malts. Its complexity allows it to be an all season session beer that has refreshing warmth.

Fuller’s Golden Pride 8.5%, an uber strong ale with a fruit mince aroma. Tastes of bitter peppery marmalades and belly-warming toffee ports. It’s a liquid Christmas cake for any occasion.

Fuller’s 1845 6.3%, another strong ale first brewed in 1995 for Fuller’s 150^th anniversary. It’s rich, malty, and spicy with hints of nutmegs and a dry fruity finish that is exceptionally satisfying. It tastes boozier than 6% so it’s safe to have a naughty nother.

If Fuller’s have been brewing fuller flavoured beers for 350 years, maybe NZs’ beer barons could step it up?

Denis ‘outa hair’ Cooper

Aged All Black

200 years ago, aged porter was the most hip among the London beer drinkers. Some porters could spend up to two years quietly maturing in massive 3,250,000 litre oak vats, acquiring all kinds of interesting flavours before being blended with younger beer at the alehouse.

Anywho, long story short, one vat couldn’t take the strain and exploded with the resulting tsunami drowning eight people.  Death by porter, way to go. True story, unlike the brewer who fell into a porter vat where he eventually drowned. It was a slow death as he had to get out to go to the toilet three times.

Present day Porters have morphed into a milder version of stout, with less of the charry characters and more flavour diversity by varying the dominance of hops or malts. This porterfection allows them to be enjoyed before, during and after meals.  Porters will also taste better at room temp (as long as the room is between 8 – 12) and an indulgent quantity will bring warmth that will keep you toasty all winter.

One suggested aperitif is the Fuller’s ‘London Porter’ 5.4%, with its signature Fuller’s Ale flavour and hints of coffee, bread and porty flavours.  It’s got plenty of afterglow that keeps you salivating for more.

Perfect during the meal, Emerson’s ‘London Porter’ 5%, starts aggressively but finishes delicately. The coffee with slight char to balance the sweet malts would complement any meaty stew or roast. The warmer, the mellower it gets, letting chocolate and ginger ale flavours glow for a plush porter.

For dessert, Renaissance ‘Elemental Porter’ 6% with creamy cherry chocolate vanilla and wood undertones with not one dominating but equally contribute to a balanced but mental flavour.

Ballast Point ‘Victory at Sea Imperial Porter’ 10% is the essence of porter.  Rich syrupy robust malts with strong attitudes of coffee, vanilla and chocolate.   Layers of different flavours as the bottle empties and its temperature increases.  A very decadent nightcap and maybe another death by porter?

So, get out of your wet gumboots and into a warm porter.

Denis ale be back Cooper

Inhopsicating

I’ve always maintained that when I’ve got a beer itch my preferred lollyshop is FreshChoice Nelson and it now appears I’m not alone with this hoppinion as now confirmed by SOBA that the best off license in the Nelson region is FreshChoice Nelson! (SOBA awards 2013).

 

I’m often in aforementioned shop perving at their multitude of refreshing choices deciding which one to cure my hopaholic itch. What is it about hops that makes beer, beer? Could it be that because this herbaceous climbing plant is a close relative to the cannabis plant, and I’ve actually got some deeper underlying craving than previously thought? Nah, not me, I don’t have a drinking problem,,, unless of course the beers run out!

 

The best craft beers for big hops are arguably the yanks who developed the citrus and piney hop varieties and then pushed the limits of IBU’s. IBU’s are code for international bittering units and sometimes listed on the label. The higher the number, the more your tongue curls and the more that hairs will grow on your chest, on the inside!

 

One flamboyant example of massive IBU beer is ‘Hop Juice’ from Left Coast Brewing on the left coast of America. This beer has a massive 82 IBU’s, close to the theoretical 100 limit of bitterness. It tastes like freshly squeezed hop flowers with the classical American piney citrus hop aromas and taste sensations, and a catahopic bitterness that will shrivel your tongue faster than a cold shower.

 

Now here’s the thing with IBU’s, ‘Trestles’ also a Left Coaster, has 92 IBU’s but doesn’t taste as bitter as ‘Hop Juice’ but instead is soothed with a counterbalanced lingering caramellow malt yet still retains shiploads of piney citrusy hop flavors.

 

Then again, ‘Asylum’, their Belgium Style Tripel Ale, comes in at a paltry 27 IBU’s, gets its flavor not from hops but from yeast where they impart notes of any fruit colored orange including pumpkin and when the 11.8abv evaporates off your tongue tastes rambunctiously refreshing. 

 

Hopfully the reader is now an IBUer, (Informed Beer User)

 

Denis ‘hoppy daze’ Cooper