The Naked Hop | Issue Five

WELCOME TO THE NAKED HOP! A monthly publication coming to you from the Glengarry team of beer experts, where we explore everything beer related. Here you’ll find an in depth look into the beer world and what makes it tick.

For our fifth issue of The Naked Hop we give you a fully detailed recount of the journeys and adventures that were had at the 2018 GABS Festival in Auckland this year where many new and exciting beers were tasted. We also tell of our enthralling experience of an epic event at the home of an obsessive beer and wine collector and find some brews definitely worth waiting for. Finally, we put a sour twist on a beer and gin tasting and discover some gems to whip out for the warmer months.

Got a thirst for a cold one on a Friday night? Then make your way into one of your local Glengarry stores for our instore tastings to try some new craft beers from some of the best breweries in NZ.

GABS 2018

Well, what a night. GABS 2018. Which I only just found out stands for Great Australian Beer SpecTAPular. Clever. Another great event this year, with some more outstanding beers. Also, can we all just take a minute to appreciate that brass band?! Damn. They were really kicking the party off. No matter where you were you could hear them, and the bevy of people that were following them, singing at the top of their lungs. What a good time. me of when you’re a kid, making fresh lemonade to sell on the footpath, and you add sugar to the squeezed lemon, take that and then dump a bunch of raspberry in it. It was just so, so good. It definitely challenges the perception of “is it a beer?”, but in a good way. I can’t talk about GP without also mentioning their OMG NEIPA. A style that is TAKING OFF at a great rate of knots in NZ. The hazy beer. This was super hoppy, super hazy and super delicious. Well balanced and each of the flavours stood out individually I’m gonna start with Garage Projects Yuzu

and blended well together also: blood Orange,

Rising Sun, because, DAMN!, was that even

Mango and Grapefruit. OMG! They’re pretty

beer?! I don’t know how they do it. A sour – ale

clever right? Available in 440ml cans soon.

style, brewed with Raspberry and Yuzu. It tasted like fizzy sherbet with a sour tang. It reminded

Let’s talk about Outlier Cartel. The motto of Outlier Cartel is to challenge the perception of what good beers in NZ could be, with stylistically interesting beers. Cloudburst does this. A double IPA that puts the Haze in Hazy. Double dry hopped on an oat base with lactose, this is a fruit smoothie of flavours. Subtle creamy palate, riddled with tropical fruit and a slightly hoppy resinous finish. Well rounded and well balanced, this went down an absolute treat! Also hitting the market in 440 ml cans.

Behemoth took out people’s choice again this year with their Mocha Madness. A Russian Imperial Milk Stout brewed with Harpoon Cold Brew Coffee, Dutch cacao powder and vanilla to bring you a strong mocha/beer combo. Available in 440ml cans, although I would not recommend drinking this too late at night, you won’t sleep.

Find these and more of Glengarry’s GABS picks in store. We had a rip roaring good time, thanks to everyone we got a chance to pop along to and banter with!

Moving along to the complete other end of the spectrum, Bach Brewing with their GABS beer Velvet Marley. This was an absolute winner!

Perfect for the season, it really warmed the soul.

A Chocolate Cherry Stout loaded with chocolate malts, cherries and raspberries. So beautifully integrated, it’s like drinking a cherry ripe. This has been released in 500ml bottles for retail also, so the deliciousness can carry on being enjoyed through the cold winter months!

-HB

THE ULTIMATE STRONG BEER TASTING

I was lucky enough to attend this epic event at the home of an obsessive beer and wine collector a few weeks ago. By the conclusion, everyone including our host had declared this as the best beer tasting they had ever attended. The carefully curated line-up of ten strong beers, ranged from a mild 10.6% ABV, all the way to 16.1%! Some of these had been purchased over 5 years ago and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to be consumed.

On arrival some comprehensive tasting note sheets were handed out, and we began the journey with the Almanac Grand Cru Imperial Sour Blonde Ale (10.6%) from San Jose, California. This was brewed with Muscat grapes and Apricots and aged in ex white wine barrels. The finest sour beer I’ve ever had, so not a bad way to start. Barrel aging (some of it extensive) was a theme throughout the evening.

been duplicated by many other breweries since.

Time for two New Zealand beers. First up was the North End Salt and Wood – Cuvee de Moor 2015 (13%). This included a range of Moroccan fruit and dark sugars in the kettle before it was rested for a year in bretted Pinot Noir barrels. For me this just couldn’t compete with the absolutely sublime Garage Project Next up was a collaboration between Bridge

Bastard Rye (13.75%). It seems this brewery

Road Brewers from Australia, and Nogne O in

can do no wrong, no matter how unusual the

Norway, the stunning Aurora Australis

style. This was one of the most expensive

Quadrupel (11.0%). This beauty was brewed

beers in the tasting, and definitely pushes the

in Beechworth on 20 December 2012, then put

boundaries. An imperial strength Rye with low

into red wine barrels for maturation. That

carbonation (that is extremely difficult to brew

happened at sea on the long journey across

with), that was then aged for 3 years in freshly

the equator to Norway, where it was blended,

emptied American Bourbon barrels. It tastes

bottled at packaged at Nogne O. A stunning

like a quarter of the barrel of Bourbon was left

‘one of a kind’ beer.

in there! Extremely deep and rich, with woody caramel and vanilla flavours, heady and richly textured. Awesome.

For sheer strangeness though, nothing could touch the way the next beer was made. From Piedmont in Northern Italy (home of Barolo and Barbaresco), came the Baladin Kentucky Xyauyu 2011 Riserva Te Musso (14%). This starts as an amber top-fermented barley wine.

Teo takes Kentucky Tobacco from the farm of Germany was up next with the classic

Giancarlo Guzzo, then, using a cold infusion

Schneider Weisse Aventinus Eisbock

technique, the tobacco is added to the oak

(12%). They are the oldest wheat beer brewery

barrels where the beer is kept. This was

in all of Bavaria and have been brewing for

incredibly interesting and could easily be

over 400 years. This was very dark, rich and

slotted into a Fine Wine tasting, with flavours

sweet; matured using a special freezing

reminiscent of an old Sherry, Tawny Port or

process. The beer was 'invented' by accident

Madeira. At almost $80 a 500ml bottle, this

when, during a particularly cold winter, a

should be serious drinking!

cistern full of Aventinus beer froze. The water contained in the beer turned into ice; the remaining liquid was in effect Aventinus concentrate, with more powerful aromas, flavours and alcohol. This method of freezing beer, to increase strength and richness, has

Back to Australia we went next with another outrageous offering, Moondog Nordic Saddle Buffer Barrelly Wine (14.6%). This was a collaboration with the golden touch of Danish brewer Anders Kissmeyer. The name is a play on the fact it’s a barley wine, that was aged in ex Shiraz and Pinot Noir barrels for a long, long, long time. “Some people say this mighty ale is so complex, that ‘complexity’ is not complex enough an adjective to describe it.”

Well that was Moon Dog themselves. It’s all

Our oldest beer was next, with the OG version

true though, wow.

of 8 Wired Bumaye Imperial Stout (16%).

This is a craft classic, and this 50 IBU monster

Off to Tweedbank on the Scottish borders next

was the very first release, brewed in 2011 and

with the Tempest Mexicake Imperial Stout

bottled in 2013. They started with the biggest

(11%). Imagine taking a rich, boozy imperial

and baddest Imperial Stout they had ever

stout, and then infusing it with fresh vanilla

brewed, then added loads of tasty sugars to

beans, high-quality cocoa, Ceylon cinnamon,

the fermenter before allowing it to mellow in

Chipotle chillies, and Mulato chillies. Blend that

Mud House Pinot Noir barrels for 2 years.

all together, and what you get is a complex and

Since 2010, 8 Wired has built up what they

delicious beer with a rich, full mouthfeel, a

believe is the largest barrel programme of any

touch of sweetness from the vanilla, ground

brewery in the Southern Hemisphere. Lucky for

spice aroma from the cinnamon, a touch of

us!

fruitiness from the Mulato, and a little heat and smoke in the finish from the Chipotle. Yes, it’s

Out final beer was from the Scottish craft

as good as it sounds.

pioneers. BrewDog Dog D - 8th Anniversary Imperial Stout (16.1%). Unlike their previous anniversary releases, this one was also barrel aged. Thick and delicious, Dog D is like eating chocolate ice cream and drinking cognac in a leather armchair. This was a simply stunning tasting, even for me (I’m not a huge beer fanatic). This was a line-up of incredibly well-

crafted and (despite the strength) wellbalanced beers, that will probably never be repeated.

-RM

SOUR BEER TASTING

Recently we hosted a beer and gin tasting at

Sour beers can be made a few different ways.

our Parnell store. Beer and gin you ask? Well

One of the more common ones we see is a

as it happens, you can combine the world of

Berliner Weisse, which is created by the

spirits and beer quite deliciously. Think

addition of lactobacillus bacteria and then the

summer cocktails? A refreshing, delicious

tart flavour is balanced by the addition of

combination of flavours. We matched up some

flavours such as the cucumber in the Hippy

of our favourite boutique gins with some of our

Berliner by 8Wired that we used. We paired

favourite sour beers, and it went down a treat.

this refreshingly delicious sour beer with

Sour beers are a great gin drink combo

Botanist Gin. The 22 botanicals that make up

because they are by nature lower in alcohol

the Botanist gin paired beautifully with the

and the tart flavours just pair so well with the

cucumber essence in the beer.

aromatics of gin.

Kettle souring borrows from the traditional

The last match we had was pretty in pink. We

Berliner Weisse method. The crux of the

took our new favourite, Blush Gin, infused with

method is to use lactobacillus alone to quickly

Rhubarb and an all-natural blush pink colour

sour the unfermented beer prior to boiling;

and paired this with the new Rose Gose from

once boiled it can be treated as normal, as the

Kereru Brewing. Gose is traditionally a German

bacteria will have all been boiled off. We used

method of souring beer; top fermented and

the Garage Project White Mischief, which is a

inoculated with lactic acid bacteria in the wort

kettle soured wheat beer; lightly salted, then

before the primary fermentation. This Rose

infused with white peaches. It is tart, fruity and

Gose is a cloudy German wheat beer brewed

low in alcohol. The perfect mixer for

with salt water and infused with the buds and

Scapegrace Gin. We paired these two because

petals of roses and hibiscus flowers. The

Scapegrace is distilled with quite a heavy

delicate floral aroma paired beautifully with the

handed citrus influence; this paired with a tart

rhubarb infused gin, and who doesn’t love a

white peach flavour was our standout for the

pink drink?

evening. Try it. A shot of Scapegrace, tall glass, lots of ice, topped up with White

When the warm months hit us again, be sure to

Mischief. Add fun drink umbrella. Voila!

try this combo.

-HB

WHAT'S ON OUR TAPS?

Our Victoria Park, Grey Lynn, Kingsland and Kelburn stores have a wide range of kegs on their Growler Stations that are constantly changing. So rather than leave you guessing what’s on where, we thought it mighty handy to collate in one place what’s on.

CLICK HERE FOR WHAT'S ON TAP AND WHERE

EVENTS AND TASTINGS

BEHEMOTH | GREY LYNN IN-STORE TASTING Behemoth Brewery is the brainchild of the 1.98m Andrew Childs, a.k.a. Beer Giraffe. This keen home brewer was one of the winners on the day at the Wellington In A Pint competition, with his cunningly monikered ‘Celia Wade Brown Ale’. Let's face it, a sense of humour is seemingly everything in the world of craft beer.

WHEN: Friday 3rd August WHERE: Glengarry Grey Lynn, 16 Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn TIME: 4:00pm-6:00pm

CROUCHER | ELLERSLIE IN-STORE TASTING Born in Rotorua and loved all over, Croucher is the taste of discovery, from the home of adventure! Croucher are all about celebrating the beauty, the adventure and the hospitality

Read More...

that Rotorua is renowned for all around the world.

WHEN: Friday 3rd August WHERE: Glengarry Ellerslie, 87 Main Highway, Ellerslie

Every Croucher beer is an invitation to

TIME: 4:00pm-7:00pm

explore. A challenge to never stop taking risks.

A reminder that life is about making stories, and great beer is about sharing them.

Read More...

GOOD GEORGE | TAKAPUNA INSTORE TASTING Good George Brewing was started up by a group of friends who decided, after years in the hospitality industry and brewing, that it was time to create their own craft beer brand.

Good George aims to show people the potential of great beer. At Good George, they believe that beer "shouldn't be bland, full of WHEN: Friday 10th August WHERE: Glengarry Khyber Pass, 409 Khyber Pass Rd, Newmarket TIME: 4:00pm-6:00pm

chemicals, mass produced and boring. Nor should it be hard, pretentious or scary.

Exploring and drinking beer should be enjoyable, simple and really rewarding."

The team transformed the former St George's Church into their brewery and dining hall, hence the name.

Read More...

EPIC AND BEHEMOTH | DOM ROAD IN-STORE TASTING Epic Brewing Company are lovers of the aromatic hop flower, creating a wonderful range of floral and citrus-tasting award-winning beers. Brewed in Auckland by Founder, Director and International Beer Judge Luke Nicholas, Epic is widely known for its powerful list of IPAs, including the sought-after Hop Zombie and the multiple award-winning Armageddon IPA.

WHEN: Friday 17th August WHERE: Glengarry Dominion Road, 250 Dominion Rd, Mount Eden

Behemoth Brewery is the brainchild of the

TIME: 4:00pm-6:00pm

1.98m Andrew Childs, a.k.a. Beer Giraffe. This keen home brewer was one of the winners on the day at the Wellington In A Pint competition, with his cunningly monikered ‘Celia Wade Brown Ale’. Let's face it, a sense of humour is seemingly everything in the world of craft beer.

Read More...

SAWMILL | KELBURN IN-STORE TASTING In the last couple of decades, the demand for Kiwi-constructed craft beer has increased dramatically, so much so that the pioneering Sawmill Brewing Company, owned by Mike Sutherland and Kirsty McKay, have relocated from their cramped holdings off the back of the Sawmill Cafe into a brand new purpose-built WHEN: Thursday 16th August WHERE: Glengarry Kelburn, 85 Upland Rd, Kelburn TIME: 5:30pm-7:00pm

brewery. Mike and Kirsty work with a small but dedicated group of talented brewers. Loaded down with awards and medals (nine alone at the 2015 Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards), this innovative lot were the first in New Zealand to put their crafty product into cans.

That's it for this month's Naked Hop. Issue Six will be hopping its way to your inbox next month.

Cheers,

Glengarry Wines 118 Wellesley St West, Auckland Free Phone: 0800 733 505 Email: sales@glengarry.co.nz Website: www.glengarrywines.co.nz

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