Cheese of the Month December: Linkwater Cheddar

With the silly season upon us I thought I should choose a cheese that will sit well on a board next to the traditional dried fruit mince pies and Christmas cakes of the moment. It’s an oddity of living at this end of the world that due to our European heritage we end up eating rich warming cakes and puddings while the mid summer sun beats down on us.

Linkwater Cheddar is a brand created and owned by my employer, Moore Wilson’s. The cheese is produced in industrial blocks like almost all cheddar in this country, however unlike most cheddar we aged the cheese for at least 3 years, our current stock sitting at about 3 and a ½ years old.

With this level of aging the cheese develops crunchy ‘eyes’ where minerals and lactose crystallise into salty deposits. The cheese is rich, savoury and almost meaty while also being sharp and tangy.

I have enjoyed linkwater with strong bitters, old ales and imperial stout, for the photo above I cracked a bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale. The fortified vinous fruit flavours contrasted with the richness of the cheese and matched the Christmas Mince pie perfectly.

SOBA Homebrew Fest

On Sunday we ran the first SOBA Homebrew festival, which also happened to be the first beerfestival run by our organisation. It was a fantastic success, all our worries about liquor license infringements, violence and assorted other troubles proved to be unfounded. On offer was a range of craft brewed beer and one cider, and homebrewed beer. There were six beer engines in action which I suspect is more than were employed at the recent Hops and Glory Real Ale festival. There was even a pin of Twisted Hop IPA sent up from Christchurch for the event. I served my Chilka IPA, while other highlights included Brendan’s Smoked Porter, Stu’s American Stout and a very popular Automotivly themed Belgian ale from organiser Rob Owen.

The festival served as a prize giving for the recent SOBA National Homebrew Competition. The competition gathered some outstanding entries including a barley wine which had 10 years of bottle age on it. I took out best in class English style IPA with a silver medal for Chilka IPA.

A great day and a lot of hard work for a good cause, great beer.

The Ultimate Summer Ale?

Last night we ducked into the Malthouse after work to recover from the horrors of working in retail during the massacre that is Xmas. After a somewhat ropy pint of handpulled keg Tuatara IPA (odd woody medicinal character that didn’t make for ease of drinking) we ended up drinking Rodenbach Grand Cru. It fit the hot muggy night perfectly , the acidity was incredibly refreshing with the fruity flavours hitting the spot perfectly. It got me thinking about beers for summer. This summer has already seen a itched legal battle between DB and Lion with the former seeking to secure the term Summer Ale as a trademark for its ginger and honey flavoured lager, a ‘beer’ I would not wish on my worst enemy, while latter wanted to use the term Summer Ale for a rather toned down but inoffensive blond lemon grass flavoured beer. Lion won and right fully so, a style should not be trademarked. However I don’t think either beer from the big two has much to do with the English Summer Ale style.

Of course Rodenbach has little to do with that style either but my word it hit the spot on a sweltering night.

A Simple Pint from a much Maligned Brewery.

It’s a contradictory time of year for me at the moment. I seem to be writing and reading winter and experiencing high summer. I’m not big on summer, my ferments become difficult to control, I can only tap one corny at a time as there is only room for one in the cellar fridge and my stout build seems far more adept at keeping southerly gales at bay than handling heat waves. And hot it is at the moment, with official temperatures in the high 20’s my house has been venturing way into the 30’s.

So it was yesterday when I came upon a bottle of Shepherd Neame Master Brew. Shepherd Neame get a fair bit of flack for producing less than interesting beers, bar the much celebrated seasonal porter. Their bottled beers are hindered by the inexplicable decision to use clear bottles. All in all I’m not a huge fan of the brewery but when I saw a bottle of Master Brew sitting at Rumbles I couldn’t resist, partially because it would constitute a tick in Protz 300 and partially because the heat was making me want a simple pint to slack my thirst.

Shepherd Neame Master Brew 4%abv

Pours a light copper with a tight dense head. Aroma features citrus, lemon and lime fruit essence, a touch of nutty malt and a touch of light strike. On the palate the lemon lime character is continued, a slight caramalt character, and a decent bitter finish. A light quenching pint, would be better from the cask

Over all Master Brew was what I expected, a simple quenching pint, or as I said to Adam when he got home, not as bad as it could have been.

The Session – Winter Warmers

This Session posed something of a problem to me as it demanded a post about winter when here in the Antipodes it is in fact summer!. What was I to do ? imagine it was winter and write a piece on strong milds, pokered ale and firesides? It all seemed a little fake, just a bit staged until it struck me, I had a task ahead of me in preparation for next winter which was perfect to document for The Session.

Ever since the first time I leafed through Michael Jackson’s 1988 ‘The New World Guide to Beer’ , incidentally that occurred in mid winter beside an open fire, I have been captivated by Russian Imperial Stout. I travelled to Auckland in an attempt to try the Romanov Stout brewed at Galbraiths by the Australis Brewing Co, only to find the beer retired and my first ever pint of real ale waiting to change my life forever. I scoured bottle stores searching for Sam Smiths version, I eventually had to travel to Melbourne Australia before I got a chance to try it, I sent a shopping list with a friend who was visiting the UK and back she brought me a bottle of Pitfield’s version. Of course with these extensive breaks between drinks it became clear that I had to brew one my self, and so Merchant of the Devil was born.

I try to brew 2 vintages of The Merchant a year, its not a light undertaking as the brew day tends be at least 12 hours long, sometimes more, maturation time prior to bottling tends to last at least a month, tying up precious kegs and then there is the monotonous task of bottling to be carried out. There is however no question as to whether its worth it.

I use a multiple mash method to achieve the 1100 plus original gravity required for this intense ale. This means that first a grist of pale malts is mashed and the wort from this is then used to strike a second mash containing a mix of pale malts and roasted malts. It’s a time consuming method dictating a 4.30am alarm call but it results in unique rich enveloping malt character.

The recipe calls for a base of marris otter pale ale malt with a touch of pilsner malt with large amounts of roasted barley, dark crystal and chocolate malts providing the roasted coffee chocolate, leather and tobacco character that makes this style so special. There is a huge amount of New Zealand Super Alpha hops added all at the 60 minute point of the boil providing plentiful bitterness but leaving the malts and yeast to dominate the aroma and flavour of the beer.

5/11/07 Day beforehand prep. Grist for the first mash is weighted out and put through the mill.

6/11/07 Brew Day. 4.30 am and the gumboots are waiting.

First mash completed. Second and third dark mash's to follow.

The finished product. OG 1106 first kettle, OG 1094 second kettle.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Not only did we win Beer Options tonight, but we did it by a very healthy margin, The destiny of our passionate squad has been forfulled, raise the pewter pint!! come sunday we will be drinking from the cup...

A Pint of Lager

Recently on John’s Blog I took part in a discussion on his attempts to brew a lager. I have never had the desire to brew lager, and I have little in the way of desire to drink them. When the boys and myself go away on road trips, the beers are always counted and categorised into either ales or lagers and at the end he who has drunk the most lager is proclaimed lager boy and presented with some derogatory trophy, the rights and rituals of the modern man eh?

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not one of these chaps who only thinks of lager as a pint of (insert what’s relevant to you Fosters-Export Gold-Budweiser-VB).

While I haven’t been to Franconia or the Czech Republic I have tried a wide range of styles, I have judged lagers at two international beer competitions and I have been to many tastings dedicated to bottom fermentors.

So why don’t I like Lager? My biggest issue with lager fermentation is that is sets out to avoid the rounding fruity esters that ale fermentation ideally produces. For the same reason I am often less than wild over the use of American ale yeasts which also strive to be neutral and clean of esters allowing the assertive American hops to reign. I like fruity esters, I like the complexity that ale fermentations create.

The other night while thinking of this post I decided to taste 2 lagers and one rather odd English beer that I suppose would fall into something of hybrid class.

Wanaka Beer Works Brewski 4.8% ABV New World Pilsner

Brewski is my lager, it’s the one bottom fermented beer that I would regularly part with cash for. I bought a bottle for this tasting and while it was good it wasn’t great or nearly as fantastic as it usually is. Instead of using the medioca tasting notes I have decided to use the ones I wrote when I tasted it at the brewery.

Tasted at the Brewery feb 06 - Pours a bright golden with a healthy white head. Definite but also subtle spicy fruity hop aromas that beguile the nose, hinting at berry fruit and grass but never giving it all away. Fresh malt also makes an aromatic flash. On the palate there is an outstanding balance between fresh sweet malt, fruity hop notes and a satisfying moderate bitterness. Top stuff. To leave such an impression on a non lager drinker it must be good.

Daleside Blond Lagered Ale 4.3%ABV Blond Hybrid

This beer took my interest in large part due to the curious things that were mentioned on its label. The beer was advertised as a lagered ale which seemed to explain pretty well how it had been produced. However then the blurb went on to say “Both beer and lager drinkers will enjoy the complexity of a traditional beer with the mellowness of a premium lager.” As much as I dislike lager even I have to admit that it is in fact beer, oh well on with tasting.

Pours a light brilliant gold with a fluffy white head. The aroma features a tangy light struck note, sweet candi esters, and a touch of resiny slightly oxidised hop. On the palate there is sweet grainy malt, a slight touch of corn, confected fruit, fading to a gentile bitterness. Not the greatest English blond I have ever had but perhaps it would be better fresh and not bottled clear.

Emerson’s Organic Pilsner 4.9% ABV New World Pilsner

This beer could probably be considered the star of NZ craft brewing scene. Its Richard Emerson’s biggest selling beer and a good entry level beer to those who are used to more mainstream lagers. I have never been fond of this one but I must admit it was tasting pretty good the other night.

Pours a light gold with a fluffy white head. Aroma features grainy pale malt, a touch of sweet fruit, but is dominated by a bready character. On the palate there is sweet malt, a grassy character similar to sauvignon Blanc or my granddads garden shed. Ends on a lingering grassy bitterness. Certainly not Richards best beer, but his biggest seller and I can see why that is so.

Right now for a pint of bitter…