IPA and the rise of over-hopped beers

To me, good beer is good beer. And while I have preferences of style and season, a good beer will always be, to me, a good beer. But beer has waves of popularity, and while it's enjoyable to be in the middle of a craft beer revolution currently that can be polarising. I'm not just talking about the hipster "I was drinking it before it was cool" attitude either.

There is a genuine case to be made for bandwagoning in the beer world. Commercial, Micro and Nano breweries can be guilty of it, but its an accurate observation that there seem to be a heck of a lot of Pale Ales out there at the moment.

Like every other type of beer, there is both good and bad Pale Ale, and that comes down to both preference and craft. The trend with Pale Ales in general, and IPA's in particular is to throw a ton of late addition hops into the mix, giving a sometimes floral, sometimes fruity, sometimes bitter flavour. Again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but again it's accurate to point out that it's happening a lot. It used to be that every brewery worth it's salt had a dark ale, then it was wheat beer, and now it's Pale Ale, what's next who knows (I'm hoping for Lambic, but I don't see that as being likely).

Regardless, it's easy to make the call that there are too many over hopped beers around (and the current "big hop Pilsner" isn't helping things) but as long and people are drinking and enjoying them then where's the harm? If a bunch of would be brewers are inspired to mix malt, wheat, hops and water to yeast because they happened to like some high-hop brew then I say "great" more beer is only going to be better for the craft and the industry.

New Releases

I haven't talked about any of the more commercial breweries in a while, focusing on craft beers is a full time job, and with so many incredible beers around I have my work cut out for me! But both Mac's and Monteith's have quietly (or not so quietly in the case of Mac's) slipped new brews onto the market... and those brews have made their way to me...

It's always quite strange to reflect of the parallel paths of these breweries - both were once independents, bravely forging their way into beer drinkers hearts and minds through innovative and invigorating brewing. Mac's is widely credited with bringing back all malt brewing to New Zealand and a compelling case could be made for both breweries reviving interest in craft beer in our fair land.

So it's perplexing to see that both have just released brews cashing in on the recent wave of Pale Ale popularity. And while its great to see them putting their own spin on the style I can't help but feel that something is missing. Once the innovators they have become the imitators.

My pick of the two would be easily Monteith's Pacific Pale Ale. They've made more of an American style and combined local and US hops. All the elements are their, and very well balanced at that, but the end result is slightly... well, for want of a better word "commercial". Now in saying that, this isn't and drop at all, and twice in recent weeks I've been perusing the selection at the supermarket looking for an easy drinker and this has been my pick. Which is to say that on it's own merits, amongst a selection of global brand lagers, it's a clear winner.

Next up, Mac's have, with their usual and charming brand personality, launched their own Pale Ale, nicknamed "Shady" (sic). Unfortunately the colour is the only real resemblance to Pales Ales you might recognise - the hops are so far down in the mix that all you're really left with is what seems like a top-fermented version of Mac's Gold. Which once again isn't to say that this is a bad beer, just somewhat disappointing. And once again this is quite palatable as a session beer, but if you're expecting something similar to an Epic, Boundry Road or Fat Yak you'll be wanting something with a bit more character.

Great White on their other hand is something to consider next time you're browsing the aisles. Aside from Hoegaarden, we don't tend to get a lot of White/Wit styles in the country and that is a shame. Perfect for summer drinking, a decent Wheat beer is the perfect choice. Great White delivers and more importantly, puts Macs ahead of the curve. Now I'm not sure if I'm picking up on the "rose petals" or "turkish delight" but this does bring all the right characteristics, and with a slice of lemon it's delicious. Mac's proves that they still have the spirit of innovation and that is a great thing to see by a brand once recognised as being cutting edge.

Three Pale Ales and One DJ

I was feeling quite thirsty on Saturday, so I decided to have my own little beer tasting. I've spent a lot of time with the darker ales of late so it seemed like time to explore something different. Enter the "Three Pale Ales and One DJ" tasting. OK so there wasn't really a DJ.

First up, Epic Pale Ale. I can still remember being blown away when I first tasted this. It was one of the first craft beers widely available in supermarkets and back then as an uneducated Lager drinker it rocked my world. This is quite possibly the first Pale Ale I ever tried. Wow. The label doesn't lie - it does indeed just taste bigger.

The nose is all citrus with a bit of caramel, the colour is the most appetising of bright gold, then the taste. BANG Hops. Fruity Hops. Crystal sharp taste and that lovely lingering bitterness. Yes, Epic Pale Ale is all good.

Next out of the gate, Wigram Mustang Pale Ale. It might be that I did this tasting in the wrong order, but I kind of expected more from this. Granted, the style is intended to be American Pale Ale, but to my mind the differences should only be in the hops flavour and Epic uses US hops.

So maybe it's me but first whiff and a distinct something missing. Nice chocolate malts, but not really any hops up front. Not to be put off I pushed on. Colour was slightly muddier than I like a Pale Ale, but again, nothing too amiss and the colour is easily representative of a clever malt mix right? On to this sipping. There they are! The hops flavour starts coming through, unfortunately instead of the crisp fruity American hops I'm expecting, I get the earthy subdued flavour of UK Fuggles or something fairly similar. This might have been a passable bitter, but as an APA I feel a bit let down.

Now comes the stars of the show. I recently discovered that a local bottle shop stocks a fine, fine range of craft beers, including a couple that I've been hearing about for a long while. Last years Epic Hop Zombie was high on my "must sample" list.

What to say: If Wigram didn't meet expectations, Hop Zombie blows them out of the water. I almost think this is something beyond beer, except it most definitely is. Aroma is like the undead, earthy, musty, fruity sweet floral and honey, incredibly pleasant and already promising succulent fluid within. Lovely colour again, gorgeous, light golden as you'd expect from Epic. The taste, it's like they've resurrected hops from the dead, really just unbelievable. It's alsmot sweet but the sweetness doesn't seem to come from the malts - theres really something special about this hops (it's classified) and I'm not at all surprised that Epic are keeping this one close to their chests. Simply put, this is a beer unlike any other and highly delicious.

It's a Porter not a Stout

I've had a look at Porters before, but I want to consider what makes a good Porter and what makes a great Porter. In my previous post I looked at the more well known Stout and compared that with Porter. I'll also take a sip or two of a fantastic Porter, one that reshaped my expectations of what a Porter can be.

The name "Stout" came to represent Porters that were stronger than usual but where did the Porter originate and what is the real difference to the modern beer drinker? According to the ever wise Beerhunter, Michael Jackson: Porter was the forst "National" beer style, becoming synonymous with UK and particularly London brewing. Rumour has it that as malt prices started rising in the 1700's brewers began kilning their Barley for longer and adding more hops to get more flavour into their beer. The name itself is supposed to come from it's popularity with workers carrying goods around the markets of East London around Shoreditch - yes it was popular with Porters, so became known as... Porter!

The Porter style has an interesting and very close relationship with a number of other beer styles. It was developed at around the same time as the pale Ale (though the pale Ale wasn't perfected until nearly 100 years later). Lower gravity Porters evolved into Mild Ale and fuller bodies, higher alcohol Porters became known as Stouts. Pale Ale evolved into Bitter and IPA and there you have the majority of today's English based beer styles.

So, the amazing Porter that reshaped my expectations?

Based in the heart of New Zealand's wine making region, Renaissance aim to make a beer as rewarding as it Marlborough grape based cousins.

At this tasting I tried the Scotch Ale and the Elemental Porter Ale, and these folks are doing an admirable job of meeting their aim. Both beers were surprisingly complex and now that I have them on my radar I will be spending time to get to know the rest of the range.

It's deep brown to black reminding me more of a Guiness than anything else but the lovely light coffee coloured head hints and surprises lurking within. It's aroma is potent with nuttiness and a burnt brown sugar or caramel with a bit of winter fruit. The first thank that strikes me about the taste is the rich warm rewarding caramel which dispoves to coffee bitterness. There are wonderful complex malts, and hints of brown sugar. It's a wide and delicious flavour profile and perfect for the autumn evening.

My interest has been truely sparked!

A Tale of Pale Ale

Pale Ale is one of the most popular Beer styles, produced using predominantly light (or pale, if you will) malts and brewed with top-fermenting yeasts. It's one of the most traditionally innovative styles of Beer and Pale Ale and to this day brewers are making winning Pale Ale's in a variety of ways.

Typically a Pale Ale does indeed derive it's name from it's light hue - before Lagers, it was the lightest beer style. it came about because roasting malts is a tricky business, especially in the pre industrial days when brewers relied on fire kilns to do their roasting. As you can imagine, roasting little bits of barley over open flame produced more than a little darkening of the malts - and hence at the time (this is the late 1700's) Ales were usually of the darker variety.

Anyway, today a Pale Ale is considered to be golden amber through to copper in colour, leaving plenty of room for brewers to experiment with malts to obtain subtle sweetening and complexity of malt flavours. Pale Ale is a broadly encompassing style of beer, including English Bitter, American Pale Ale, Irish Red, Blond and many more, but today I'm going to look at two.

I'll talk about Boundary Road brewery later, but for now lets consider the merits of this beer. Because of the flexibility of the style there is no one Hops profile typical to Pale Ale, and being a man who enjoys a lot of Hops in my beer, The Flying Fortress Pale Ale does not disappoint. There's a certain distinctive tangy frutiness to the NZ varieties of Hops, and Flying Fortress is rich with hoppy goodness. A lush but not overwhelming mix of Pacific Jade and Motueka provide wonderful fruity aroma and just the right amount of bitterness. What most impresses me with Flying Fortress is the beautiful mouth feel - delicate carbonation that could almost pass for bottle conditioning and an impressive almost creamy texture. Boundry Road are quickly establishing themselves as winners in the rapidly growing craft beer market and Flying Fortress is the cornerstone that grounds their excellent range.

I'm not particularly familiar with the craft beer market over the ditch (something that I plan on rectifying as soon as possible) but a little Pale Ale from Victoria is making inroads here. Matilda Bay have made a great Pale Ale with a strange name: Fat Yak.

It's a great contrast to Flying Fortress - this is made in the American Pale Ale style, making it more golden than amber, but is liberally hopped with the American staple: Cascase, with a little Nelson Sauvin for added depth. It's good - delightfully fruity and crisp on the palette, this beer practically screams "Summer Afternoon".

These two Pale Ale's offer a fantastic exercise in hops comparison - both are boldly hopped in different ways. Both are excellent. Enjoy!