CT Column 9/11/2011: Flying Nun

THIS month two beers are being released to honour the Flying Nun record label. Emerson’s Tally Ho! is making a return to taps around town after first appearing in February this year. Tally Ho! takes its name from The Clean’s debut single and forms part of the Dunedin brewer’s annual ‘Dunedin Sound Series’ of seasonal beers which first appeared last summer. Brewed in the English Golden Ale style, a type of pale fruity ale pioneered by English brewers in the 1980’s to compete with the golden lagers that were beginning to gain in popularity, Tally Ho! is fruity and complex with earthy herbaceous English hop notes, a hint of orchard fruit from a characterful fermentation and a rounded malt backbone.
Also out this month with a Flying Nun theme is the official 30 Year Ale from Epic. 30 Year Ale was brewed to be served at the Nunvember Anniversary gigs that are going on around the country throughout November. Epic brewers Luke Nicholas and Kelly Ryan set out to create a beer that would be accessible to Flying Nun fans who wouldn’t necessarily have drunk craft beer before but would still be identifiably an Epic beer. Much like the Emerson’s brew Epic have crafted a golden ale with a sweet malt backbone, however unlike Tally Ho! Epic 30 Year Ale is packed with loads of New World dry hop character. Brewed using a blend of American hops, Liberty, Cascade and Falconers Flight, and a New Australian hop called Galaxy. 30 Year Ale certainly has an assertive ‘Epic’ character to it. The aroma is full of lemon, tropical fruit and a big earthy ‘hopsack’ note. In the mouth the resiny earthy hop character dominates with some sweet malt just managing to cushion the hop attack before a resiny but not particularly bitter finish. 30 Year Ale certainly manages to identify itself as an Epic beer and will no doubt go down well with the hophead crowd, however I suspect it might prove too much for many of the non craft beer drinking music fans it’s been brewed for. I hope I am proved wrong. Tally Ho!