Thursday, March 29, 2012

March 29, 2012

Citrafest... Next Tuesday... California Tasting... Hallertau... Drum Roll, Please... On Tap Now or Soon...

Citrafest

Tomorrow (Friday) is Citrafest, our celebration of the amazing, hoppy beers that have come our way recently and that rely on the Citra hop. From 3pm we'll dedicate no fewer than four taps to these beers:

  • Liberty West Coast Blonde Citra
  • Nøgne Ø Citra IPA
  • Mikkeller Citra IPA
  • Liberty C!tra Imperial IPA

There are a couple of components to this little festival that give us reason to be anxious. One is that the Liberty West Coast Blonde Citra is so fresh that it's still on the way from the brewery. The other is that there are quite limited volumes of two of these - the Mikkeller Citra IPA and the Liberty C!tra IIPA. We considered severe measures like ration cards and iris scanning to control consumption. But we'll settle for insisting on small servings only and a nice early start to give an advantage to enthusiasts. And to those with nothing better to do.

The good news is that Liberty C!tra, possibly the most sought after beer in New Zealand at the moment, is also in stock in bottles. If and when the keg of C!tra runs out we'll offer a discount on those 750ml bottles.

Next Tuesday

New Release Tuesday takes no break and is back next week with two Mikkeller beers that should be nicely unfamiliar to most of us.

First is Ris a la m'Ale. Odd name? Obviously it's a play on Ris a la Mande. Ris a la Mande or Risalamande is a traditional Danish dessert made with rice, chopped almonds, whipped cream and a cherry sauce. Clearly this dessert is begging to be re-interpreted as a beer, which is what Mikkel Borg Bjergsø of Mikkeller has set out to do with Ris a la m'Ale.

This beer has, apparently, used all the key ingredients of the dessert - rice, vanilla, sugar, salt, cream, cherries and almond extract.

The Mikkeller Citra IPA we're enjoying this Friday is but one from Mikkeller's series of Single Hop IPAs. Not all of them are made with as well known and fashionable hops as Citra. So this week we're putting on Mikkeller Apollo Single Hop IPA. According to the US Hops Variety Manual, Apollo is:

a super high alpha variety that was developed by the Hopsteiner Breeding Program and released in 2006... The very high alpha, good storage stability and low cohumulone ratio makes it an excellent choice for bittering. Added late into the boil it provides a strong grapefruit and hoppy note.

California Tasting

Our first formal tasting of the year takes place on April 11. It's a chance to try all the new beers coming in our imminent shipment of Californian beer. We're experimenting with having this on a Wednesday since our programme of New Releases really now owns Tuesdays.

Details are here, along with a chance to book.

Hallertau

We just took delivery of a pallet load of beer from one of Auckland's fine brewpubs, Hallertau. This means that on tap now or soon will be Luxe (a rare thing being a Kölsch that we like), Statesman Pale Ale, Stuntman Imperial IPA and, yes, Beastwars IPA. There are also a couple of rare goodies that we'll save for a really special occasion.

Drum Roll, Please

Back in the closing months of the first decade of the 21st century when we opened, Oregon brewery Rogue was an important supplier for us. They provided some of the most adventurous beers we stocked and many of those beers remain favourites for staff and customers. Back then we were picking up stock via Australia at great expense. Eventually we started receiving shipments directly but complications meant we still weren't in complete control of what came and when.

Hopefully all these hassles are a thing of the past though because our biggest ever order is being assembled at the brewery and will be steaming our way soon. Yellow Snow will be on tap again. As will Dead Guy and Brutal IPA and, for the first time, Chipotle Ale. And those white ceramic bottles of Morimoto Imperial Pilsner will be back.

And in the name of research and thoroughness, we've asked the brewery to throw in a case of Dead Guy Whiskey.

It will also be time we came down hard on those seemingly unwilling or incapable of telling the difference in spelling between Rogue and Rouge. You know who you.... or... no, you probably don't know who you are.

On Tap Now or Soon

This week's Tuesdays releases, Coronado's Nado Nectar and Stoopid Stout, drew some interesting responses, particularly the extremely fruity Nectar which really seemed to divide people. At the time of writing both beers remain on tap, but possibly not for much longer.

While this Friday's Liberty West Coast Blonde Citra will be the focus of attention on Friday, we're sneaking in a keg of another from the West Coast Blonde series - Amarillo.

And there should be a space for another keg of Emerson's Clean Sweep Pale Ale.

And if things go according to plan we'll sneak in a keg of Nøgne Ø Saison.

Finally...

Stay tuned for more information about an event you won't want to miss on Saturday April 21st.

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