Beer from the Motherland

Preparations

2009-11-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Things are moving along towards Saturday. The pin of Townshend Old House E.S.B. is now stillaged behind the bar where it will be served directly from the cask, the Twisted Hop bright beers have arrived, I went to Moshims on the weekend to stock up on spices, paneer, chutneys and pickles, the goat will be purchased today. I have a corny of Brooklyn Bulldog on tap at the moment that is tasting fantastic and another ready to go on for Saturday. The forecast is currently for a grey day on Sat with northerly gales, hopefully it proves incorrect.

Thomas Hardy’s Ale 1979

2009-11-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

On Friday I opened my birthday present and shared it with Sarah. My bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale was brewed (or perhaps bottled) 2 months before I was born. This was by far the oldest beer I had ever drunk and in no way did it disappoint.

I popped the crown seal and a faint whisper of gas escaped. I poured it into a jug and left it for 10 minutes to breath. 30 years is along time to be constrained under glass. I was quite surprised at how dark the beer was, a very dark brown. Far darker than the 1999 vintage I had a couple of weeks ago and still darker than the O’Hanlon’s vintages.

The beer poured a very dark viscous brown with the faintest whisper of a white head that disappeared immediately. The aroma featured an incredibly complex cocktail of aged intense malt (Borvril, Milo), marmite, beef stock, citrus (orange flesh) a perfume note, Madeira wine, and a refined sensation of warmth. In the mouth the beer was luscious, smooth and viscous but in no way cloying, full in body yet brisk as a volcano you might say! Flavours of Madeira, a salty note, some liquorice, more orange fruit, and lovely vinous warmth all featured. I had high expectations but I had no idea this beer was going to be this good. Pure liquid engineering!

When I added this to ratebeer I was informed that this was my 100th rate (I don’t do it much obviously) and I was rewarded with a REALLY bad heavy metal music clip from You Tube, weird.

The South Star Brewery (part 1)

2009-11-06T20:16:00.001-08:00

With Sarah and the kids having moved in it’s finally time to move the brewery out of the house. Soon there will be no more mashing and boiling in the kitchen, no more cooling in the bath, fermentation will probably continue in the bar for the foreseeable future. There is a way to go yet though. Right now the Malt Store has moved to it's new location and the gas bottles and burners are living in their own shed. Soon a big shed will be constructed in the carport in order to house a mashing and boiling room. Hopefully at some point I will be able to scale up to one large kettle which will allow me to produce 100 litre batches by mashing twice early in the morning and then fermenting in 5 cornys. If any one (Martin Townshend perhaps?) has any advice on how I can procure/construct a 100 litre kettle give me a yell.

Goodbye 20's Hello 30's!

2009-10-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Your Invited to my 30th Birthday & Sarah, Max and Molly’s House Warming

Join us on Saturday the 21st of November to celebrate my 30th Birthday and the moving in of Sarah and the kids. We will have ales from The Twisted Hop, O-Street and Townshend Breweries on draught and an Indian and Thai themed Barbeque.

When: Saturday 21st of November 2pm till 10pm.
Where: The Mason’s Arms 381 Ohiro Rd Brooklyn
Bring a koha for the beer and something spicy for the BBQ

Gifts not expected but if you want to give me something a bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale for the cellar would be lovely.

30 looming

2009-10-20T13:20:00.001-07:00

I turn 30 early next month. Inspired by Alex’s gift to Greig and David Woods recent purchase I decided to (cheekily) arrange a 1979 bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale as a birthday gift from Sarah. I’m more than a little excited as Hardy’s Ale is one of my all time favourites and I have never had a bottle of Eldridge Pope brewed version let alone one that exceeds the much touted 25 year mark!

I’m currently organising a birthday party for mid November, it will consist of an Asian themed BBQ and Twisted HoHop bright beer on tap.

The 1979 Hardy’s is photographed on our brand new Indian made farmhouse style kitchen table, lovely.

Christening

2009-10-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

The christening of the Mason’s Arms (my new bar) occurred this week. The first Thursday Night drinks in the new venue went very well. The rain was teaming outside , and the temperatures were definitely mid winter rather than late spring! Perfect beer drinking weather. A good crowd showed up and the room was filled to bursting at times, but everyone seemed to enjoy them selves, no doubt aided by the pints of Yeastie Boys Pot Kettle Black (Peoples Choice Remix) that were flowing. The beer was tasting fantastic but it did remind me why I like having at least one low strength beer on tap!, Stu reckons its 5.5% but I suspect it may be a touch stronger.

If you want to keep track of when the Masons is open sign up as a fan of the Mason’s Arms Brooklyn on facebook.

The bar is dead long live the bar!

2009-09-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

And the new bar is all set up, its looking pretty sharp if I do say so myself.

Changing Rooms

2009-09-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

There will be some changes coming up at the Mason’s Arms (aka my house bar). I used to get asked occasionally why I had a bar and three beer engine in my living room, my answer was always ‘why would you have a bar and 3 beer engines in your living room?’ However the time has come in my life where I will answer my own question. Sarah has sold her house and we are moving her and 2 of her kids into my house.

Its time for the bar to go...

Well move actually. Over the next month the bar will be moved from the central living area into one of the bedrooms that open off from it. This of course will give me a lounge bar and a public bar (or tap room as I’m tempted to call it even though I am well aware that tap rooms don’t usually have taps in them and this one will). Although Sarah will call the lounge bar the living room of course.

I will update with photos as the new bar takes form.

Real Ale at the Races

2009-08-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

Never let it be said that we let a bad beer selection get in the way of a good time. This weekend I made a mad dash to Otaki for a very short weekend away for my good friend Mulchin’s 30^th Birthday. I had to be back for work on Sunday and ended up having to race the train an extra stop in order to catch it home!

On Saturday we visited the Otaki Maori Racing Club meet at the Otaki racecourse. We knew the usual suspects were on offer from bar so decided to sort our own beer out. We set up a beer engine in the back of the van and enjoyed the good stuff

To make the weekend special I had organised 3 soft packs, a concept similar to nasty cask wine but bigger and without the nasty wine, filled with bright moderately conditioned beer. So my title is a little disingenuous as it was really bright ale at the races but that didn’t have the same ring to it!

Through the weekend we enjoyed Twisted Hop Goldings Bitter, Three Boys IPA and Three Boys Oyster Stout. All were tasting absolutely fantastic. We had the IPA at the races and it certainly hit the spot.

Weekend Escape

2009-08-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

One of the fantastic things about my new job is that I can have time off with Sarah. At Moores when one of us was away the other pretty much had to be there, a naff situation. Now we can have weekends away and shock horror, when we can afford it, actually get over to the UK. This weekend is Sarah’s Birthday so we will be off to Waikanae for the weekend. Last year we managed to get away midweek to the Wassail Brauhaus in Taranaki, we intended to go back this year but times are tough and we decided we couldn’t afford it. So this weekend it will be good beer, good cider, good cheese, good simple food, chilly dog walks, and warm fires. I cant wait!

The pictures are from a weekend we booked just after I started at Regionals. The beer was Sussex Old Ale , a low gravity old ale I brewed especially for Sarah.

A Death in the family

2009-07-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

So while I was away from the bloggersphere something deeply sad happened. Heroic brewer O’Hanlon’s came a cropper and decided to throw their most beautiful child to the sharks! What am I going on about? Devonshire Micro O’Hanlon’s have decided they had to give up the contract to produce Thomas Hardy’s Ale. Unfortunately for me this is one of my all time favourite beers. There have been un-encouraging noises coming from the English brewing community in regard to someone else taking up the contract, so now it looks like the classic English Barley Wine will be produced in the states. In my new role I was able to check how much was left in the country and secure some supplies for Regionals, I’m also looking to get a case or two my self to add to the 18 I already have in the cellar.

Geoff has written about it here and I have written about it here

I'm Back

2009-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I’m not dead. I have just been hell busy. To busy to blog almost to busy to brew. The new job is awesome , there has been a lot to do. Still hopefully this marks the return to my blogging career.

Mason’s Mild 3.6%abv

2009-05-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have a new batch of Mason’s Mild on tap. I have re jigged the recipe and it now is much lighter in colour than it was. The patent malt was giving it a roasty edge that was abit astringent and was reducing its drinkability. The new version reminds me a bit of Banks Original which I have had from the can and rather liked. There’s a bit of diacetyl which hopefully I will keep out of the next batch. Then it will be perfect. Interesting to see it topped the mild tasting in the recent issue of Camra’s Beer magazine. Mason’s will be joined on the bar tonight by the last of Yeastie Boys Kid Chocolate.

Above is the draft design of the Mason’s Mild pump clip Dave has designed for me, they will soon be professionally pressed into real pump clips. Very exciting, yes I’m a nerd.

Audits Progress

2009-05-02T15:23:00.001-07:00

A fortnight after brew day I have run Alfred’s Audit Ale from its two fermentors into a secondary vessel where it will slumber in the cellar for a month or two before bottling. I’m not going to give it the full 8 months in secondary that the Merchant gets as having one keg tied up for that long is hard enough!

I took a gravity reading and the ale currently is sitting at 10.5%abv, I don’t think there will be any need to prime the bottles as there are still a lot of sugars left.

Its tasting clean, incredibly malty and sweet with a firm bitterness and some hop aroma and flavour. The hops will come out as it leans up.

Good Omens

2009-04-23T13:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while walking the dog down the valley I made a startling discovery. A stream runs down our valley and just beyond the old Brooklyn Bagel Factory there is a reasonably deep pool which sometimes has eels in it so I always stop there to have a look. Yesterday I was struck by a floral hoppy aroma as I stood gazing into the pool. I looked down and there was a massive patch of hop bines growing up the bank from the stream! I have cut some away and strung them behind the bar, I also took a small bag to the Malthouse last night where an assortment of Brewers Guild members were drinking after a committee meeting. There Dickie Fife told me the hops were immature and still had some way to go before they would be ready to brew with. If the frosts don’t get them it looks like a green hopped Brooklyn IPA might be on the cards!
Now I’m not superstitious but talk about omens, they day after handing my resignation in to sell beer I find a massive patch of wild hops!

Goodbye cheese …Hello beer

2009-04-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

I resigned my position at Moore Wilson’s this week. In a months time I will be joining Regional Wines and Spirits, taking responsibility for their beer retail category. It’s very exciting, and I’m sure its going to be challenging.

Alfred’s Audit Ale

2009-04-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

I have had barley wine on the mind recently. I have been writing an article for the up coming issue of The Pursuit of Hoppyness on strong blue cheese and Barley Wines as a match. During the course of this Adam has kindly lightened his cellar and we have tried the best barley wine this country ever produced Limburg Oude Reserve 2004. Let me tell you it was fantastic but that’s another story. I have also had my first serious go at brewing a barley wine.
I have held off doing a barley wine up until now for several reasons. Firstly I have been working to fine tune my imperial stout recipe and didn’t want to start trying to perfect two vintage beers until I had the R.I.S. down. Also until recently I didn’t have enough nip bottles. Having collected the empties from every Regional Wine Tasting to have used a beer in nips over the last two years I now have enough to do two vintage beers a year. And so Alfred’s Audit Ale is born…

Alfred’s Audit Ale is named after my grandfather who was born in the draymans quarters above the horse knackering yards. I loved my grandfather and hopefully he would have approved of the beer which will bear his name.

Brewed to a modified clone recipe for my favourite Thomas Hardies Ale I achieved a staggering 1130 original gravity! An initial mash of 5kgs of NZ ADM Pils Malt was left over night at 70C , the runnings of this were then used to strike a mash of 6kg ADM Pils Malt, 4kg Maris Otter Pale Malt, and 200g Dark Crystal. The runnings of this mash were then boiled in the kettle for 3 hours with 60g of NZ Super Alpha 50g of English Goldings added an hour from the end, 50g of English Fuggels and 40g of NZ Styrians were then added 20min from the end of the boil. The wort was cooled to 24c then divided between 2 corny kegs with a sachet of s-04 added to each, the ferment cooled down to 18c over night and has more or less steadily sat there since. I will pitch another ½ sachet into each fermentor after one week has elapsed.

I also made a small beer of 1045 with a second wash of the mash and hopped this with Super Alpha and NZ Cascade.

Golden Ale Challenge 09

2009-04-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

It’s taken me awhile but here is the Golden Ale Challenge round up. Last months Autumn Ales Festival included the Golden Ale Challenge where different brewers brewed a golden ale at the same strength with the same ingredients. We ended up having 3 entry’s One from Brendan, one from Ed and one from me. Ed and myself both brewed English style Golden Ales with the character of the NZ hops shinning through. Brendan on the other hand chose to brew a Kolsh. Ed’s Sugerloaf Gold was definitely the best beer, it was bursting with hop aroma , brilliantly clear with a nice malty backbone. My Golden Challenge was a touch on the young side with a bit of diacetyl and raw grain flavour coming through. Brendan’s Kolsh was pretty good, alittle hazy and estery with a subdued hop character that the style dictates. Half way through the evening both Brendan and Ed admitted they had broken the rules and used Golden Promise instead of Maris Otter (Brendan even tried to make out it was some kind of act of solidarity with his Scottish heritage!) so I won by default. I was drinking Ed’s however. I will come up with a porter challenge for winter.

Autumn Ales Fest 09

2009-04-12T17:31:00.001-07:00

Good things

2009-03-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

A few good things have happened over the last fortnight. Fulham have trounced Manchester United (If only I were still in contact with Andrew from Huddersfield) Autumn has well and truly started and I have got a gig as a beer columnist for the Capital Times.

Autumn Ales Fest this Sat, the beers are tasting great.

Brewery without malt

2009-03-18T15:27:00.001-07:00

The only thing worse than a brewery without malt is a pub without beer. Chicken and egg really. Anyway the former has been rectified the latter was avoided.

Cheers Stu.

Autumn Ales Fest

2009-03-15T21:45:00.001-07:00

I havent got time to do a nice poster so here goes ...

Autumn Ales Festival

When ? Sat 28th 3pm on
Where ? Private Ale House 381 Ohiro Rd Brooklyn Wellington
What? Beers from some of Wellingtons best homebrewers including the
Golden Ale Challange entrys.

All Welcome, koha for food appreciated.

A Very Special Vintage

2009-02-26T11:15:00.001-08:00

When we moved stores late last year we discovered a wheel of Karikaas Vintage Leyden tucked in behind a chilled storage space that had slipped from view and never been cut and sold. The cheese was made in December 2005. While the out side was tacky and musty the centre proved to be spectacular. Leyden is a style of Gouda that is spiced with cumin seeds, the years of aging left a firm intense cheese with an earthy spicy cumin note before a long rich sharp finish. I have kept the cheese out the back cutting and selling it to customers I know will appreciate it.

Last night I decided to try and find a beer match. Rather than go for the beer I thought would work out right I decided I would try a range of beers with the cheese. So last night the boys and myself put the Leyden up against Namibian Ur-Bock, Schneider Aventinus, and my own Merchant of the Devil Imperial Stout.

Ur-Bock

Bock and gouda is usually a match made in heaven, however in this case the cumin seed posed a pretty major threat to a harmonious match. Sure enough the cheese demolished the rich toasty bready bock leaving it tasting watery and impotent.

Schneider Aventinus

The Weizenbock promised to match the spice of the cheese with the phenolic clove character of the beer. However the spices ended up clashing horribly. The cheese also accentuated the caramel and banana in the beer and left it tasting hot.

Merchant of the Devil

This one was always the one I thought would work, and it certainly delivered. While the other two matches ended up in a sweet mess, this match was un-mistakenly savoury. Aged sharp cheese melded with intense roast, cumin seed blended with sharp bitter hops, dried fruit and rose esters in the beer capped the whole match off. Like walking through Moroccan market.

Oh would you look at that , my beer worked best …

Boys Bitter

2009-02-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

I’m brewing a new beer today. Its not often that I come up with whole new recipes as I tend to spend my brew days trying to improve the ones I have. I have a bit of a thing for low gravity beers that can still be characterful. Cask Conditioned Real Ale (there! I will use both terms as that seems to be topic on the month on the blogs) tends to allow low gravity beers to shine with out hiding there attributes under high carbonation and low temperatures.
I have come up with a dark copper coloured, hoppy, boys bitter called Southern Star.

Southern Star (3 keg batch)

Target gravity 1033

Grist:

- 5kg Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
- 1kg ADM Pilsner Malt
- 500g Dark Crystal

Hops:

- NZ Goldings 37g (60min)
- NZ Goldings 60g (5min)
- NZ Cascade 60g (1min)

Yeast:

S-04

Kingston XX

2009-02-12T01:19:00.001-08:00

Golden Promise Pale and Medium Crystal Malt, cane sugar, English Fuggels, English Goldings, NZ Styrians, NZ Cascade Hops, Brooklyn Water, agar cask finings, S04 yeast. 1042 , 4.2%abv.