CT Column 14/12/2011 : Rex Revisited

IN July I wrote about the launch of Yeastie boys Rex Attitude, the world’s first beer to be brewed with 100% peated distilling malt. I thought the beer would change significantly as it aged. I suggested that the volatile peaty character would meld and develop in the bottle.
As I wrote that column I decided I would put some of that first batch into the cellar and compare it with a younger example later in the year. A few weeks ago I used the return of a friend who has been living in Liverpool as an excuse to open the two examples and compare the golden peaty contents. The first batch poured a hazy gold with healthy head, while the younger example poured a brilliant much clearer gold with the same white fluffy head.
Aromatically the older example offered up Rex Attitude’s characteristic heathery smoked kipper character, autumnal bonfire notes and a suggestion of charred timber. The newer example displayed the same heathery smoked note but also an earthy, raw, gamy character and a medicinal note and a spike of ashen flavour.
Tasting Rex Attitude is always a complex experience. Many are put off by the first taste and never let their palates acclimatise to the peat and pick up the complex range of flavours that are present in the beer. The older example presented sweet malt, mellow smoke and a hint of earthiness while the younger example was much rawer and bolder with medicinal notes, earthy smoke and tropical fruit hop flavour all vying for attention.  The aged version had mellowed significantly with the peat character maturing and rounding out much as it does in the single malt whiskeys that usually slumber for years in wooden casks before being sold. The compromise has been that the wonderful tropical fruit hop character that features in the younger version has been lost as the beer ages.
Last week the Yeastie Boys released an imperial version of Rex Attitude which they brewed to celebrate the Morton Coutts Award for Brewing innovation that they won at the Beer Awards this year. Named xeRRex (pronounced x-rex, as far as I can work out) this 10%abv version of Rex is ironically a far more drinkable beast than its smaller brother. Sweet malt, earthy smoke, and warm bonfire aromas give way to rich rounded sweet malt, complex smoke and a hint of tropical fruit. xeRRex strikes perhaps the perfect balance between complexity and drinkability. There are also rumours that there is a chardonnay barrel filled with some of the first batch of Rex Attitude slowly aging up. This may at some point come out as a super limited edition beer although I have also heard from a reliable source that it may be destined to become a ‘Directors Reserve’ and all be consumed by the Yeastie Boys themselves.
Cheers.

CT Column 2/02/2011 :Europa, Rapture and Tally Ho!

GOLDEN ales are a relatively young style of beer dating from the early 1980’s. Independent English Ale brewers decided they needed a style of beer to compete with the pale lagers that were becoming increasingly popular with the masses. They devised a beer that was pale, and hoppy with a rounded fruity note from the ale yeasts they employed. These beers were ultimately a far more interesting and satisfying proposition than the mass produced lagers they were trying to rival. Today, both in the UK and here in the Antipodes, golden ales are increasingly being seen as a crucial element of the perfect summer, or at least they are a crucial element of my perfect summer! Over the next few weeks there will be three seasonal golden ales hitting the local taps.
Never ones to do things by halves, Wellington’s own Yeastie Boys are releasing two golden ales. The beers will be identical apart from the yeast that has been used to ferment them. Both beers comprise a very simple recipe of pale malt, wheat malt, and Nelson Sauvin and NZ Cascade hops. The first of the two beers is called Europa after a Blondie song although there have been whispers that it may in fact also be a reference to New Zealand’s local and now defunct oil company. As descendent of a former Europa employee I side with this far less likely theory! Europa has been fermented with a clean crisp Kolsch yeast which has highlighted the subtle malt flavours and lightly fruity hop aromas. At 4.2%abv it makes for a fantastic session beer offering just enough fruity hop character and nutty malt flavour to keep the drinker interested. Rapture which is most definitely named after a Blondie song has been fermented with the Belgian Abbey Ale yeast strain that originated at the Chimay brewery. It will be released early Feb, and is sure to be an altogether spicier more peppery proposition than Europa.
The new Emerson’s Brewers Reserve has been named ‘Tally Ho!’ after The Clean’s 1981 single. Tally Ho! is a golden ale that has been brewed with NZ pale malt, caramalt, English grown Challenger and East Kent Golding Hops and a fruity English yeast strain. At 4.9% Tally Ho! is a little stronger than the Yeastie Boy offerings but I’m sure it will be equally drinkable.
All these beers are sure to start popping up at the now considerable range of good beer outlets that Wellington is blessed with. Keep an eye out for all three at Hashigo Zake, Malthouse, The Hop Garden, Bar Edward and Regional Wines and Spirits.

Christening

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.

Yeastie Boys Are GO!

Last week I attended the launch of the first beer from the Yeastie Boys at Bar Edward, a new player in NZ beer scene. Yeastie Boys is the brainchild of fellow SOBA founder and Wellington Homebrewer Stu McKinlay and rate beer extraordinaire Sam "The Grandmaster" Possenniskie. They are currently contract brewing seasonal releases at Steve Nalley’s Invercargill Brewery. The first release is a highly hopped porter called Pot Kettle Black, which I’m told is a Wilco Song, musical theme here Beastie Boys, Yeastie Boys, get it? Despite not being a style I would normally get into it’s a damn tasty drop and was very good through the handpump, particularly once the sparkler was banished. The next release for Summer is a hoppy golden ordinary bitter, I cant wait.

Again Photos by Adam, cheers!