Keeping our Jack Frost
Kieran Haslett-Moore
WITH winter hitting hard over the last weeks the time for hearty warming food and drink is most definitely upon us. While in New Zealand, beer has traditionally been used as a summer refresher served chilled and highly carbonated, more and more brewers are turning out hearty soothing warming brews for winter. Winter is my favourite season and it’s no coincidence that my favourite types of beer are most appropriate during the colder months.
This year we seem to be totally spoilt for choice when it comes to hearty winter seasonal releases. Two beers came out last month from Blenheim’s 8 Wired Brewing Co that definitely fit the bill. 8 Wired ‘The Big Smoke’ is a lightly smoked porter that offers up a complex aroma of subtle smoke, dark chocolate and caramel. In the mouth the beer is rich and rounded with lovely cocoa flavours and a long smoky finish. I think it’s an exercise in balance that will convert many to the wonders of smoked beer.
Also from 8 Wired, I-Stout is a 10.5%abv Imperial Stout. Imperial Stouts are the biggest most intense members of the dark beer family, combining high levels of roast malt flavour, bitterness and alcohol with dark fruit notes, and in new world examples aromatic hop profiles. 8 Wired I-Stout pours a viscous pitch black, with aromas of berry fruit, caramel and warming alcohol giving way to rich chocolate and toffee in the mouth and a smooth warming finish. Several are destined for my cellar for bottle aging.
Finally from Invercargill Brewing Co there is a Belgian style dark ale called Dubbel Happy broadly based on the dark ales brewed by Trappist Monasteries in Belgium. Dubbel Happy offers up a complex aroma featuring chocolate, a sweet confected note and a hint of spicy green apple. In the mouth the beer is rich, fruity and warming. Try it with a slow cooked beef stew like the Belgian classic Carbonade Flamande. All three beers are available from The Malthouse and Regional Wines and Spirits, while the 8 Wired beers are at Hashigo Zake.
This year we seem to be totally spoilt for choice when it comes to hearty winter seasonal releases. Two beers came out last month from Blenheim’s 8 Wired Brewing Co that definitely fit the bill. 8 Wired ‘The Big Smoke’ is a lightly smoked porter that offers up a complex aroma of subtle smoke, dark chocolate and caramel. In the mouth the beer is rich and rounded with lovely cocoa flavours and a long smoky finish. I think it’s an exercise in balance that will convert many to the wonders of smoked beer.
Also from 8 Wired, I-Stout is a 10.5%abv Imperial Stout. Imperial Stouts are the biggest most intense members of the dark beer family, combining high levels of roast malt flavour, bitterness and alcohol with dark fruit notes, and in new world examples aromatic hop profiles. 8 Wired I-Stout pours a viscous pitch black, with aromas of berry fruit, caramel and warming alcohol giving way to rich chocolate and toffee in the mouth and a smooth warming finish. Several are destined for my cellar for bottle aging.
Finally from Invercargill Brewing Co there is a Belgian style dark ale called Dubbel Happy broadly based on the dark ales brewed by Trappist Monasteries in Belgium. Dubbel Happy offers up a complex aroma featuring chocolate, a sweet confected note and a hint of spicy green apple. In the mouth the beer is rich, fruity and warming. Try it with a slow cooked beef stew like the Belgian classic Carbonade Flamande. All three beers are available from The Malthouse and Regional Wines and Spirits, while the 8 Wired beers are at Hashigo Zake.
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