Real ale version of Epic fails to impress Poms.

[Geoff Griggs]

Hot off the presses, here are the results of JD Wetherspoon's International Real Ale Festival. It seems those lucky Poms just didn't appreciate cask conditioned Epic Pale Ale.

http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/promotions/2009-international-real-a...

[nzbrewer]

Yes I will let you know once the Maris Otter version come through. But realise I won't be going hardcore and doing 100% MO to start with.

[James P]

That means I'm going to need to cellar a bottle from each batch now.... cunning sales plan!

[nzbrewer]

Just made this blog post
http://epicbeer.com/blog/2009/05/brewery-epic-pale-ale-changes-and....

[BREWERY] Epic Pale Ale - Changes and Updates

Just some quick feedback for those that have asked, yes the current batch of Epic Pale Ale is slightly different. It was kegged and bottled on the 5th & 6th of May, with kegs now on tap and bottles arriving on shelves over the next couple of weeks.

You can find the code on the shoulder of the 330ml bottles
BB 06.05.09 (BB=Best Before)
B0379 xx.xx (B=batch number)(xx.xx=time)

It seems firstly that we have used some coloured malt that is out of spec and is lighter in colour than what we expected. This has resulted in the colour being lighter.

Secondly we are now using current season US Cascade hops at 7.6% alpha. Prior batches to this had had a blend of current and previous seasons hops (US Cascade 6% alpha).

The double whammy effect of the lighter crystal malts not only means the colour is lighter but the malt sweetness is slightly lower, but also the hop character is greater being fresher and greener from being 100% current season.

Over all there is a noticeable difference but it isn't significantly different.

Ahh, the joys of using agricultural crops which change from season to season.

FUTURE CHANGES
Over the coming batches I will be trialling using English Maris Otter malt (a variety of malt) in varying percentages. The reason for this trial is that the beer I brewed in the UK at Everards Brewery in Leicester for the JD Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival we used Maris Otter.

Reason for this was it was their standard base malt and they had a silo full of it. So we gave it a go and it turned out fantastic, and the extra malt flavour really seemed to improve the beer.

[Geoff Griggs]

Thanks for all the info Luke. So starting this thread was worthwhile after all! :-)

Seriously though, after all the excellent publicity surrounding your trip, people were always going to want to discuss how the cask conditioned version of EPA tasted. I started this thread to prompt that dialogue - and it worked.

[nzbrewer]

Just got this comment from my blog post.

So there JDW voting results

"Hey Luke,
Being a Brit I wouldn't use anything other than MO as the base malt in an IPA.
That said, I consider Epic an example of what NZ can bring to the brewing world. A true NZ classic! "

[Martin townshend]

Hi there,
I've quietly worked for a while now to perfect my cask conditioned cask ales.
There are currently only 4 venues that can cater for my products: Galbraiths, Twisted Hop, The (new) Free House, and my pub The Moutere Inn. (At least one of these outlets is not available to me.) Other breweries have a plethora of opportunites kegging and bottling.
For Luke to come near bottom at his UK beer fest in a land full of history of cask ale is no bad thing. I won an award for a beer of mine and entered the same beer from the same batch in another awards and it only made the second round. Fickle?
It sounds the EPA in question is under a bit of a metaphosis in an attempt to reconsile its cask endevours....?
Please remember, those of us few who endevour to remain true to our roots and pervay quality cask conditioned real ale do so at the risk of lack of venue support.
I like to think, like my venue, Luke is helping the craft brewing sector without any selfishness and wish him the best.
M
www.townshendbrewery.co.nz

[Steph]

Given that Epic and Mayhem taste so bloody great, and they are basically APAs, why on earth would you care that they don't taste like an english ale. I, personally, think english beers are generally less tasty.

What a great opportunity to go and travel and brew and taste. Give a sh*t what the votes are for. People are used what they are used to. Why do people keep drinking tui, moneiths etc here...???

Luke, love your beers...they would smack the boring English brews left, right and center, so, stuff-em.