Great beer weekend in Wellington
Wellington people are in for a treat this weekend! Saturday 6 March is Taieri George release day and Richard will be at Regional Wines & Spirits for a tasting from 11 am – 1 pm.Following that he will be at the Brewer’s Guild stand at the Liquorland Beer Festival, Westpac Stadium. Get along to say hello and taste the ever growing range of beer available in New Zealand.
Annual release soon of Taieri George
As always, March 6th means the release of our popular spicy beer, Taieri George. This limited release beer is always sought after, so order now to ensure you don’t miss out!Taieri George is one of our beers that cellars beautifully so we recommend you put some aside as well as enjoy some at release time. Cheers.
New Brewer's Reserve
March 2010 ReleaseCELLAR DOG KELLER BIER
The heat is on…February and March are the real Dunedin summer months, with hot calm weather. The pleasant smell of barbeque cooking lingering in the air really gets the mouth watering…hey what’s the ideal quencher beer?... A German Kolsch Bier.
This month’s release is our interpretation of the style keller bier. It is often served unfiltered directly from the Brewpub beer tank. In our case, we have lightly filtered the beer into kegs.
The genuine Kolsch bier yeast transforms the basic ingredients into a thirst quenching beer with subtle yet complex flavours, subtle haze and finishing with a light body true to the style. A great relaxing summer beer.
Richard vaguely recalls his experience drinking the beers in Cologne, served in a small 200ml tall glass. ‘Little and often’ was the theme, with the waiters known as ‘Kobes’ swapping glasses as soon as they were emptied, with no mention of payments; free beer, great service?! Then he realized the significance of the Kobes’ notching the beer mats with each change of glasses…aha…a thinner wallet.
Prosit!
The Emerson’s Brewing Team
Alcohol: 4.7% vol
Original gravity: 1047
Malts: Kolsch malz, Lager & Vienna
Hops: NZ Pacific Hallertau, US Liberty
Available at the brewery shop and selected bars.
Brewer’s Reserve February 2010 Release
EMERSON’S EXTRA PILSWhat beer to start off the 2010 Brewer’s Reserve series? None other than a variation on our most popular beer at Emerson’s…The Pilsner!
The Pilsner is a very simple recipe with the emphasis on the NZ Riwaka hop that gives the distinctive flavour to our brew. In this Extra-Pils, we have steered away from that characteristic hop to brew a strong version with two Nelson hops, Rakau and Nelson Sauvin.
Rakau is a new hop variety recently released as result of the dedicated work of Dr Ron Beatson’s research team. The other, Nelson Sauvin, has been on the market for the past ten years and is now proving popular as the new “in flavour” with craft brewers. Both hop cultivars share similar flavour traits with Riwaka except they are more powerful in bitterness and higher hop oil content.
The extra oomph from those hops are the just the thing to balance against the higher alcohol and generous malt recipe. There is some resemblance to the usual Pilsner on the nose however, the beer is stronger at 6.2% abv, more golden in colour as well as the significant “gooseberry” aroma and flavour from the Nelson Sauvin. The lemony flavour and bitterness comes from the Rakau hop to balance the extra malt richness.
Prosit!
The Emerson’s Brewing Team
Alcohol: 6.2% vol
Original gravity: 1065
Malts: Gladfields Lager, CaraAmber
Hops: NZ Rakau, NZ Nelson Sauvin
Available from the brewery shop and selected bars.
Capital Times Beer Necessities Survey 2009
Emerson’s are thrilled to have taken out four places in the NZ beer eight-pack picked in the annual Capital Times Beer Necessities Survey.Capital Times Beer Necessities Survey 2009
By Kieran Haslett-Moore
Copyright: Capital Times, Wellington
www.capitaltimes.co.nz
Brewing up diversity
The top rated beers from this year’s Beer Necessities Survey represent a near perfect cross section of brewing in New Zealand.
Represented in the top eight are New Zealand’s largest brewer Lion Nathan, one of the country’s biggest independent craft brewers Emerson’s, a small craft brewer, Croucher Brewing, one of the new generation of contract brewing companies, 8 Wired and a tiny farmhouse brewer, Peak.
After the controversial Supreme Champion and runners up format of last year, this year the judging panel decided to instead highlight all the top scoring beers resulting in 8 top beers ranging in style from a light crisp lager, through to a “marmalady” malt accented strong ale.
These 8 beers portray the diversity of New Zealand brewing with beers that will suit many different tastes and situations.
This year we have included 10 broad style categories and we have continued last years practise of including a succinct style description at the beginning of each category.
The beers were blind judged on their appearance, aroma and flavour with some thought given to their stylistic integrity.
The judges assessed the beers according to technical and stylistic criteria rather than according to their own subjective tastes. Often after competition results are announced judges are approached and asked why certain beers that many people may think are boring are awarded medals.
There are beer style categories which are not overly character full, a technically and stylistically excellent beer entered in these categories will and should do well.
The beers were all scored out of 5 with the panel coming to a consensus on which score each beer would get. Beers scoring less than 2.5 were not included in the write up while beers that scored 4 marks or higher earned inclusion in the top 8 Pack.
I would like to thank my fellow judges. While to many the idea of a days beer judging may seem like a dream job in practise it makes for an enjoyable but incredibly fatiguing days work.
The overall standard this year was high with a clear majority of entry’s earning a mention and some fantastic beers making the Top 8 Pack. Brewing in New Zealand is becoming increasingly diverse both in terms of the beers that are brewed and the companies that brew them. I suggest we all drink to that!
Cheers,
Kieran Haslett-Moore
The 8 Pack
Emerson’s Pilsner, Bookbinder, 1812 India Pale Ale and Old 95
Undoubtedly the biggest winner from this year’s survey is Emerson’s Brewing Company from Dunedin. Having taken out the coveted Champion Brewery title at this year’s BrewNZ it is perhaps no surprise that Emerson’s have done so well several months later.
Steinlager Pure
Lion Nathan has achieved significant success with its heavily advertised Steinlager Pure brand and the result here shows that behind the marketing there is a crisp clean well made beer.
Croucher Pale Ale
Croucher Brewing have been building up a reputation for their range of pale, complex, aromatic beers which they brew in Rotorua making them one of the few craft brewers to fly the flag for brewing in the North Island.
8 Wired Hop Wired IPA
8 Wired is one of the new generation of contract brewers who are using other peoples breweries to produce their beers. Unhindered by the commercial necessities of running a seven day a week 12 month a year business, theses brewers don’t need to brew everyday beers for mass consumption but rather can focus on producing remarkable special one off brews that are full of character.
Peak Great End ESB
Peak is a small farmhouse producer in the Wairarapa producing a wide range of organically produced beers.
Judges:
Geoff Griggs
Colin Mallon
Kieran Haslett-Moore
Brewery shop hours over 2009 Christmas / New Year break:
The brewery shop will be open for public sales during the holiday period as follows:Mon 21 Dec: 9 am – 5 pm
Tue 22 Dec: 9 am – 5 pm
Wed 23 Dec: 9 am – 5 pm
Thu 24 Dec: 9 am – 1 pm
Fri 25 Dec: Closed
Sat 26 Dec: Closed
Sun 27 Dec: Closed
Mon 28 Dec: Closed
Tue 29 Dec: 10 am – 3 pm
Wed 30 Dec: 10 am – 3 pm
Thu 31 Dec: 10 am – 3 pm
Fri 1 Jan: Closed
Sat 2 Jan: Closed
Sun 3 Jan: Closed
Mon 4 Jan: Closed
Tue 5 Jan: 9 am – 5pm
Wed 6 Jan: 9 am – 5pm
Thu 7 Jan: 9 am – 6pm
Fri 8 Jan: 9 am – 6pm
Sat 9 Jan: Closed
Sun 10 Jan: Closed
From Monday 11 January, normal hours will resume:
Monday – Wednesday: 9 am – 5 pm and Thursday and Friday: 9 am – 6 pm.
New Brewer’s Reserve: The temporary return of an old favourite…
MARIS GOLD December 2009 ReleaseEvery now and then we like to look into the recipe archive and resurrect a beer. This release, Maris Gold was one of those recipes that had to be painfully dropped from the production line-up to free up tank space for the popular Pilsner. Notably there were a few upset Maris Gold fans!
Maris Gold was first brewed at the number two Brewery at 9 Grange Street in October 2000 as a stand in when we couldn’t get any malt for the Pilsner for the summer. There were several changes to the recipe over the years in the “search for the perfect golden beer”
Unlike the original October 2000 recipe with all NZ Cascade hops, we have added American hops as well in the kettle boil and
dry-hopping in the maturation tank. This gives a subtle level of hop flavour complexities while still refreshing as a summer golden ale.
As the warm days are coming, this should be the ideal refreshing beer with moderate alcohol content, a great match for prawns on the barbie!
Alcohol : 4.7% abv
Available from the brewery shop and selected bars only.