Pale ale with epic flavours
Mar 4th, 2008 | By admin | Category: FoodsIn line with the range of pale ales I have been trying this summer, todays beer is a pale ale packed with hops. It is Epic Pale Ale and is brewed in Auckland by Epic Brewing.
Epic Brewing is owned by Luke Nicholas, who was the brewer at Steam Brewing that supplied the Cock and Bull pubs in Auckland. He has been an active member of the New Zealand brewing industry for over a decade.
He set up the brewers newsletter, sparging, which led to Realbeer. co.nz. He developed the award-winning Monks Habit, which is packed with hops and has been winning awards for many a year. He also created Epic pale ale for Steam Brewing Co.
He liked the beer so much he bought the company. He wants to take the beer to the world. At the moment it is only available at The Beer Emporium in Merivale, but watch for it in the near future in your local good liquor outlet.
Epic Pale Ale has also done well at recent beer awards and I think it is set to become a bit of an iconic New Zealand beer.
Epics philosophy is to make big hop-fuelled beers. You can only drink so many beers in a lifetime so better make each one count.
They claim to cram 15 hops (flowers) into each 330ml bottle.
On pouring into a glass the rather watery head settled quickly to a thin wisp on the surface. The liquid itself was a rich amber brown with a golden tinge at edge. The nose, while not overpowering, is big and bold.
A sweet fruity richness is dominated by a resinous, powdery hop bite. In the mouth it is sweet and rich initially but this is quickly swamped by the presence of hops. There is a huge resinous hop edge to the rest of the palate. It is like the inside of your mouth is coated with a thin layer of pure hop oil.
This resinous edge mixes with a clean bitterness to give a real hop experience in the aftertaste.
Around this backbone of hop grunt is an array of all the great flavours that hops are famous for lots of subtle fruity flavours that blend with the malt richness.
There is no doubt that this beer is full of hop flavour, especially that late hopped resinous character. A well- made clean tasting beer. It is definitely an epic beer.
Unfortunately, it lacks a little balance and class. A true Auckland beer!
Epic Pale Ale
Style: pale ale.
Made by: Epic Brewing Co, Auckland.
Alcohol content: 5.4% abv.
Price: $24.60 for six 330ml bottles.
Description: Rich and sweet with lots of hop fruit. Dominated by resinous bitter hop edge.
