Emerson's Old95

[Hopfull]

Hi Guys and Gals,

We are having the best month ever down here in Dunedin - not only our best sales month ever but I hope you've noticed the temperatures......30C and late 20's .... pretty damn fine for Dunners! Great times to sit back and sup an ale or three and contemplate the brews of 2009. I hope you are all enjoying the break.

We've just sent out a batch of Old95 that was completely sold over a two week period. It basically went out only just having finished its warm conditioning - yes just like a certain Auckland lager it was couriered out 'hot' not from pasteurisation but at 30 from the bottle conditioning room. Tasting what we have left in the brewery I've noticed some flavours I'm not happy with and the beer is
a little firey pouring. Not sure if the flavours will alter overtime due to the beer going through a maturing phase straight after warm conditioning which happens and the higher than normal carbonation isnt helping the flavour profile either.

As you know we've had issues with the Old in the past and we've been really vigilant on quality with it since then - I dont want another series of Old we're not happy with out there. Its a small batch and with it going out so fast i might not have caught what i think was 'too hot a ferment' and potentially over priming for the style. A catch twenty two with falling behind on a beer that whilst isnt our biggest seller is still passionately sought out by a committed group. And when we are out of stock of Old boy do i get it in the ear!

So in your beer travels if you could provide feedback on recently purchased Old that would be great. Please mention to any stockist if you experience dissatisfaction and get them to contact us here for potential exchange....

We are still struggling with Xtra emails coming to our email network from time to time - I dont understand the issue but apparently its still occuring. So it may take a landline call - happy to discuss directly - just ask for me - if I'm not immediately available leave message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I've been enjoying plenty of other brewers ales lately over the Xmas season - one in particular Three Boys wild plum - holy hell this has to be their best! Stunning - Well done to Ralph and his team - I was in the middle of brewing Taieri George (stuck mash, brewed from 5.30am to 10.30pm, this old bugger was a tired wee lad - but the pleasure of its aroma fermenting next morning made up for the tired bones! Look out for TG in 2009 its going to be beautiful - better be for that long bloody day) Richard handed me a glass of the Wild Plum and I was blown away - incredibly delicate, plum character really there and a lovely soft finish, too bad Richard only had one bottle - or did he......? Basta*d? Once again Ralph - a stunner.

Right back to fining the IPA and keg cleaning - have a good break and keep your palates on the lookout for any Old95 you're not completely happy with.

Cheers and see you in 2009

Chris
Emersons

[Kempicus]

Rub it in!!! ;0)
Yeah i've gotta say i've never had a bad Emersons from the bottle, my favourites i guess would have to be Dunkelweiss, Smoking Gun or Imperial Pilsner.....oh and Booky of course!

[James P]

Actually didn't Emmerson's do a Hefeweizen not long ago? If so I got a smack in my face from a banana....

[Kempicus]

That's a regular

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/emersons-weissbier/4973/

[James P]

Ah the was on tap at Pomeroy's... I'm not a hefe fan though...

[Rusty Chch]

Wasn't it the Tuatara Hefe we had?

[Father]

Emersons Weissbier hasnt been on tap in the immediate past. We are looking at releasing it potentially on tap mid summer? I'll keep you informed. Have joined as my own self Stu so no confusion from now on. Well hopefully not - depends if I've been sampling too much Old95!
Chris

[Kempicus]

Oh right, i've just always seen it in the shops in the bottle so figured it's a regular, my apologies

[Father]

Emersons is going all out on its Weizen range from this year. In the past we've had a Dunkelweizen occasionally, last year the BrewNZ Trophy Weizenbock, and our regular core pale HefeWeizen. You'll see the Pale hefeweizen for 9 months of the year, the Dunkelweizen for those three months during winter and potentially The Weizenbock across the same winter period. There are no trade secrets with this one - they are Weizens we already brew but this year there will be some thought put into release dates and brew dates! The challenging thing with Weizen is freshness. Brewing just enough to run out each month to ensure fresh beer available every month - very challenging and often frustrating for customers looking at stocking on their shelves regularly.
Father
Emersons

[Kempicus]

LOVE the weizenbock!!!
Had a flagon of that from regional wines....made for a really good evening in front of the fire!

[Father]

Ah glad you enjoyed it. I was uncomfortable professionally putting Weizenbock out there on flagon fillers.....not really the way I like to see Weizen served - many of you may have felt it tasted a little flat - I've seen comments on some tasting reviews - well naturally it would taste flat - the bock was at tap carbonation levels - around 2.5 vols CO2 much much lower than traditional bottle carbonation levels of around 3.0 to 3.5 ! - that make a bottled weizen taste the way it should. Combine that lower carbonation level with a high finishing gravity around 1.025 and the bock might have appeared a little flabby or 'fat'. But a case of getting it out there for you to enjoy than not at all. And yes we are putting serious consideration into bottling Emersons Weizenbock this year..... lets get the Old95 back on track first eh.

Father of Wheat?
Emersons

[Kempicus]

Sure it was a little flat (i did mention that in my rating) but when you're getting a weizenbock on flagon i'm not going to complain, it certainly didn't disappoint me it kinda created a rounded smoothness that i found pleasing, sometimes the old aventinus can be a little 'prickly'

[James P]

Chris, what batch numbers should I be looking for in the bottles?