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The Brewjolais run is underway…
Mar 16, 2006
Author: Lion
Plainly, some breweries are prepared to indulge in shameless publicity stunts just to sell more beer. Here at Mac's, we take our shameless publicity stunts far more seriously than that.
Our latest is altogether a work of art. Early on the morning of February 16 just gone, our Head Brewer Colin Paige went out to River Hops farm in Moteuka to hunt the very first hops of the new season. Speed was of the essence in order to retain the delicate flavour and aroma’s of the hops. Returning to the Mac's Brewery in Nelson with 140 kgs of green Styrian Goldings cones, Colin set about brewing the first beer in the world to be made with the 2006 crop. Madness. In fact, to our knowledge, a beer made with fresh hops has never been brewed in New Zealand before.
Brewing with green hops is a pastime for the brazenly over-confident. Yet Colin was determined to wrangle this 5.5% “Kiwi Pale Ale” into something unique, something that will enhance Mac's reputation for innovation and for infuriating the kind of people who deserve to be infuriated. He's even given it a name to convey the appropriate sense of urgency – Mac’s Brewjolais.
Just like the crazy Anglo-French wine dash from which it takes its name, Brewjolais is going to become an annual event. It’s a celebration of hop-growing, natural brewing and the capacity of Colin's van. And just like Beaujolais, fresh is the way to go.
But wait, there’s more. Because Colin really likes to come first. Not only is he creating the first beer made from 2006 hops, he’s creating a whole new style of beer. Beers with a distinctive hop character are traditionally known as India Pale Ales or America Pales Ales. But to commemorate New Zealand’s first ever green hop brew, this distinctive beer will be known as a Kiwi Pale Ale or KPA. And there’s no doubt that it will have a ‘hoppy’ character. As if using green hops for a full flavour wasn’t enough, Colin has used an outrageous amount of them.
Only one question in all this remains unanswered. What does it taste like? Well, no one knows for sure. Yet. Mac’s Marketing Manager Cormac van den Hoofdakker says, “We’re expecting the green Styrian Goldings hops to create a flavour of orange jelly or mandarin. But at the Mac’s Brewery we’ve learnt to expect the unexpected. What we do know is that with a van load of hops in the mix, anyone who tries the Brewjolais will find out what brewers really mean when they talk about the ‘hop-smile’!”
Excited? We are. Nervous? Colin is. Here's to the fates and the magnificence of Brewjolais, in whatever form it may take. Stand by for the 1st of April when the Mac’s Brewjolais will be available in selected Mac’s bars nationwide. At .50 a pint you’d be crazy not to try it. But make it quick, this is an extremely limited release and the French are on their way…
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