NZ Style

[Martin townshend]

Marchfest seems to have yeided a defining question: What is the beer that is to deifine NZ as a beer producing nation?

We have APA's, Belgian, English ESB's, (you know the list, it goes on and on, check World Beer Cup for further info.)

I don't often see commercial brewers on this forum, but I enjoy making beers that may not really be true to style. As a pom, does that mean they are not (I loath the term) 'Kiwi?'

Personally, anything that comes out of the Mussel Inn is the most NZ of all. Thier Lambagreeny, (spelling?) a Gueze, (I have no other style name for it) is legendary but I doubt it is a true one, thier Cooker can't get any more New Zealand laced with Manuka and based on Cooks first effort. Their Goose, (on a good day) puts Emersons Pils to shame and thier Red Deer is a Kiwi Draught classic.

I'm just using this brewery as an example, but does anyone have any ideas as to a style this craft brewery indsutry can/should produce that can develop into a World Beer Cup category?

Marchfest proved, once again, there is no need for mainstream beer.

I'd love to have a bash at making it...... even if it ends up with a pomy slant!

Cheers, M

[denimglen]

I like the idea of hoppy lagers as our 'national beer'.

It fits in with the lager-swill-drinking-nation we are (unfortunately, and for lack of a better term), but also works with the direction the most modern craft/micros are at with the hoppy side of things. It also gives us a good way to showcase our NZ hop varieties.

Beers I'm thinking of are Emerson's Pils, Mac's Hop Rocker, Twisted Hops Sauvin Pils etc.

As much as I'll get shot down for saying it - NZ Draught is also up there for me. It's a style that I think could have potential if it was swanked up a bit by our micros. People look down on this style but to me it's kinda similar to Irish and Scottish ales - sweet and malty, not much hop. I reckon what Steam/Cock and Bull are doing with their draught is awesome. Taking a relatively plain beer style and chucking a bit more at it.

[Pilgrim]

Hmmm, I like the idea of Hoppy Lagers. Sounds like a good niche for a kiwi National Beer.

[James P]

Welcome to my world..... lagers are as kiwi as tomato sauce. Hmm, tomato sauce pilsner steak pie....

I was a green bottle swill drinker, and occasionally have one to remember where I am now. I have been brewing AG for a couple of years now and started with lagers, and since being exposed to the likes of Epic and other micros, I have just kept adding more and more hops to my beers.

[Greig McGill]

I like the idea of going with NZ's "wild and woolly" reputation, and using the example of lambagreeny, develop our own tradition of wild fermented beer, made with all NZ ingredients. Sure, it's about as far from a commercial beer situation as you can get, but it would certainly separate the men from the boys. :)

I love hoppy lagers, but it just feels a little "boring" - same stuff, just a different hop. Let's embrace our terroir!

[Stu McKinlay]

Any style as long as it is drunk before six o'clock!!! ;-)

Seriously, I've discussed this a bit with Martin since Saturday. I think it's hard to truly define...

I'd almost say NZ Pilsner but to me that is more of an emerging NZ style. There's still only a handful of great long-term examples and I'd contend (probably putting myself out there a bit) that there are actually none that are consistently excellent since everyone switched to NZ malt. On their day they can be but I generally find them variable and

We had a bit of a crack at a classic kiwi beer with Kid Chocolate, our version of "Draught" if you will. It was a bit maltier, a touch hoppier, a shade more bitter and a little more estery but the I reckon the average guy on the street wouldn't spot much difference. The craft beer drinker on the other hand, besides a few old school ones who lobbied for it to become a regular (there's a few for every beer we do), generally fed back that it didn't have enough "flavour" (read "hops", imho).

I'd say draught is up *the* NZ style. 3.6-4.2%, lightly malty, caramel, amber-brown, low hops, mildly estery. But I like Greig's "wild and woolly" idea. Throw some manuka or a little more late hops than usual and that beer will be a lot better. What's growing up Moutere way that you could chuck in?


On a more important note Martin, when are you going to develop the "Townshend Stagecrasher"? The beer to honour your brief appearance on stage at Marchfest 2010? Could be a barleywine I reckon.

[Ally Mcg]

Golden Ticket have something NZ Draught-y in mind for the next beer. Been mulling over the NZ Draught with more hops and a bit of a twist for quite a while - sort of a session-able hoppy brown at 4.0% ish.
Plenty of malt flavour with some late hopping to shift it outside the style and into something we should brew more of in New Zealand - we've got the hops, we love brown ales at lower (by recent standards of craft brewing) a.b.vs, why not combine the two?

[Stu McKinlay]

Looking forward to that!

[AndrewC]

It could be that the defining style is the biggest selling style at any time.

I mean it could have been Mild's in the UK but is now probably bitter as in Fullers London Pride or ESB. The States has rice beer, errr, Bud or Millers. Italy a clean larger as in Peroni, Oz any lager that's cold, Ireland is Guinness, Begium is a Wheat as in Hoegaarden or Monastic in Chimay (at least, that's what they export). That could mean that it's Speights or Tui in NZ, and unfortunately that's a sweet 'draft'. No one really believes Tui is an IPA do they?

Red Deer from the Mussel isn't sweet enough to be the NZ style. Martin, just make a decent brown and chuck some Chelsea in it.

A.

[Andrew]

Yep - I'd agree with that Andrew. It's the consumer that defines the style. The brewers make the beer that sells.
When I first made the Captain Cooker I didn't much like it and didn't think it had a lot of potential. The public demanded that I keep brewing it and so I did. 15 years later, it's still not a style (i.e. no particular catorgory in the awards system other than herb or spice) but it's getting there. When most brewers are brewing it because most consumers are drinking it - it becomes a style.
By the way - the big quaffers in Belgium are Palm and Jupiler - lawnmower lagers.

Townshend Stagecrasher? I think I must have missed something...