Back in October 2010 we ran a highly
successful ‘Playing Favourites with the Yeastie Boys’ tasting where the men
behind the Yeastie Boys presented both some of their own beers along with a
range of beers that had influenced them through the years. With a backdrop of
some big changes at Marlborough’s
Moa Brewery we thought it would good to invite head brewer Dave Nicholls along
to present his Favourites. The changes at Moa have included some significant
investment of both money and marketing experience from former 42 Below main man
Geoff Ross.
Dave has come to Moa after a long brewing
career that has involved senior brewing positions around the world brewing
significant quantities of some very well known brands. The first beer of the
tasting was served blind while Dave talked about his experiences brewing first
at DB’s Mangatainoka brewery, and later in the Caribbean and Asia.
We tasted the beer and identified that it was very well brewed, with a nice
rounded malt character and a very restrained hop character. Dave then revealed
what the beer was with a touch of theatrical flourish pulling a Heineken handkerchief
from his pocket and dabbing his forehead.
Next up we tasted Bitburger Pilsner and
Dave told us how it was a German pilsner like this that first showed him there
was more to beer than the traditional New Zealand bulk beer that he was
brewing at the time. Bitburger Pilsner had a nice spicy German hop character
even though it tasted a touch tired after its long trip across the globe.
We tasted Moa’s flagship product while Dave
told us about some of the changes to the Moa Brands. The beer we tasted was
once known as Moa Original but would now be branded Moa Methode while the beer
that was formerly known as Weka Lager would now be known as Moa Original
leaving the Weka brand to the company’s ciders! Confusing to the point that the
brewer himself made the odd slip! Regardless of the name the beer was its usual
unusual self, sitting somewhere between a New Zealand Pilsner and a Belgian
Saison. Moa Methode (to use the current name) starts its life as a hoppy zesty
New Zealand Pilsner before it is bottled with the addition of a champagne yeast
strain that transforms the beer giving it a peppery, spicy Belgian character
that intensifies as the beer ages.
As we tasted Boon Kriek Dave recalled how
in his years brewing for big brewers Lambic beers were often tasted as examples
of flaws that the brewers should strive to keep out of there beers they were
brewing. Dave however grew to love these Belgian wild ales and has now embarked
upon brewing them himself. We were lucky enough to taste Dave’s extremely young
cherry wild ale with samples having been drawn straight from the barrel at the
brewery. Dave told us how he had the barrel that his wild sour ale aging in
tucked right out the back of the brewery away from any of the other equipment
so that the ‘zoo’ of wild yeasts that were active in it didn’t cross
contaminate the rest of the brewery. The beer was incredibly young and also
much stronger than a traditional Lambic would usually be. Dave’s Cherry Wild
Ale had an estimated strength by volume of about 12% when Lambics
conventionally sit in the 4-5% by volume area.
The beer was incredibly complex with a
light cherry character, some low level tangy brettanomyces character, a hint of
sourness and some warming alcohol notes.
Next up Dave talked about how when he first
came back to New Zealand one of his favourite beers was Young’s Special London
Ale and it was this beer that went on to inspire him to brew Moa 5 Hop. With
both beers in front of us it was fascinating to see just how far Dave’s beer
had come from the initial inspiration. While Special London Ale had a
restrained earthy tangy English hop aroma, some light fruity esters and a
rounded malt accented palate, 5 Hop positively broadcasted big New Zealand hop
aromas, a very clean yeast profile and had a complex bready, cocoa tinged ‘continental’
malt character leading into a lingering bitter finish.
Next up we entered the world of big hops from different ends of the pacific.
Ballast Point Big Eye IPA hails from San
Diego and was an extremely fresh advert for the big
zesty citrus and pine accented hops that are grown in the American North
West.
Moa Pale Ale on the other hand takes the
American Pale Ale model and uses extravagantly fruity New Zealand
grown hops to create a big tropical fruit salad aroma with notes of
passionfruit, melon and citrus. Dave said how his original intention was to
show how a fresh New Zealand
hop character compared with a less fresh American hop that had travelled across
the Pacific. Ballast Point Big Eye however refused to read from the script as
it presented incredibly fresh with some striking zesty aromas and a lovely
fruity palate.
Finally we ended the tasting with two
Belgian Tripels. In one glass we had the classic Trappist Tripel from
Westmalle, in the other Dave’s own St
Joseph. Dave talked about the difficulties of working
with the notoriously temperamental Westmalle yeast and how that yeast brings
out some wonderful light caramel notes in the beer.
In the end the fresh tasting Ballast Point
Big Eye IPA took out the tasting by whisker followed closely by Moa St Joseph
with Moa Pale Ale in 3rd.