Craft brewers are satisfying the demand for a more sophisticated beverage, writes Joelle Thomson
It's St Patrick's Day on Tuesday and this year more than any other, beer drinkers are spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing how to celebrate. Chances are fairly high that the brews won't be all about tall glasses of deep brown, frothy-headed Guinness.
Hot as that iconic beer is, sessionable beers are just as likely to be the brews of choice.
The word "sessionable" has a slightly indulgent ring, but it refers to craft beers that are lower in alcohol than their "bigger" counterparts.
"A session beer is chock full of flavour interest and diversity, but it's also a beer you can enjoy in a session, without suffering from high alcohol consumption as a result of it," says visiting Australian wine judge and writer (and beer drinker) Nick Stock, who had a whistle-stop tour of Auckland's best craft brews last month.
The idea that bigger is better is being challenged by those in beer making as much as it is in the wine industry, says Auckland brewer Joe Wood, of Liberty Brewing.
"This is particularly important now the country's new drink-driving laws have come into force."
It is not without its challenges, however.
"Getting intense flavour without high alcohol is not always easy," Wood says.
"The new trend towards sessionable beers is all about being able to create the intensity of flavour that other craft beers have, without resorting to high malt levels to do so.
"We made a beer with 9 per cent ABV [alcohol by volume] and a smaller version of it with just 4.5 per cent ABV, but it is much more difficult to achieve great flavour at that lower level."
Joseph Wood of Liberty Brewing aims for beer with intense flavour without high alcohol. Photo / Michael Craig
Wood says beers with higher alcohol levels have generally had more malt added to them because more sugar supports the other flavours.
"Hops provide a lot of good flavours to beer, but they also give beer a lot of bitterness. The best way to balance, for instance, an Indian Pale Ale (IPA) with a considerable amount of hops, is to add more malt."
And this in turn means higher sugar levels will ferment into a beer with a higher level of alcohol.
So, how does Wood achieve a lower alcohol in a still-flavoursome brew?
"We use a lot of unfermentable malts and mash them really high so the sugars that are formed during the mash are less fermentable.
"Then we throw in a whole heap of hops, but we do it later in the process. This way, we get intense flavours and aromas, without picking up so much bitterness.
"The longer the hops are boiled, the more they will impart their bitterness - just like tea that has been steeping for too long. We want to avoid excessive bitterness if the balancing high alcohol [created by higher sugars] taste is not present."
Matt Kelly from 16 Tun bar at Wynyard Quarter's North Wharf in Auckland agrees with Wood. Sessionable beers are the biggest thing in craft brewing right now, he says.
"The big trend is a session beer. This means a beer that is just below 5 per cent but more often one that is in the 3.5-4 per cent alcohol range," Kelly says. "Some people view the 7-8 per cent alcohol IPAs as too big and heavy and they have become almost a stereotype of craft beers.
"So these 'session beers' are a gateway beer for people who want to try something that is not going to be too crazy in taste that they hate it."
The 16 Tun bar is a freehouse, meaning it is not aligned to any particular brewery, so its staff are able to showcase a wide range of New Zealand craft beer.
"We have no imported beers or wines at all. The only imported beverages we serve are a couple of spirits," says Kelly.
Last weekend, 16 Tun was home to the launch of a new brew from Liberty, which Wood has named Miller's Humulus, named as an homage to New Zealand beer writer Neil Miller.
The new brew is a double IPA made with 100 per cent American malt, which gives it a carbon footprint that Wood describes as "nearly as big as its own bitterness".
The new Miller's Humulus has a slightly sweet flavour that slowly fades away to a massive grapefruit hop bitterness that lingers.
"You start thinking it's sessionable, then change your mind," says Wood.
Hoppy bitterness aside, oak barrels are another strong trend in craft brewing and Kelly's favourite is made in this traditional European style, with a Kiwi twist.
"My favourite beer is 8 Wired Wild Feijoa Sour, which was aged in oak barrels.
"It's impressive. It's big on alcohol at 9 per cent ABV, so it's not a session beer, by any stretch.
"But it has a balanced style with strong tartness and intense yeasty characteristics and then you get the feijoas coming through. This makes it very New Zealand-like in flavour," Kelly says.
8 Wired Brewing is based in Warkworth where its founder and brewer Soren Eriksen set up a contract brewing following a hobby stint in home brewing.
Soren Eriksen, owner of 8 Wired Brewing. Photo / Supplied
"Before long, the hobby was taking a stronghold on my life. Somehow Monique, my wife, and I persuaded ourselves to take the leap to professional brewing.
"We devised a plan to start a brew pub, preferably at a quiet beach community somewhere in the North Island. To gain some commercial experience I got a job at Renaissance Brewing in Blenheim.
"The plan was to stay there for three months, but we quickly realised that we lacked the capital or experience to start our own brewery.
"I worked for Renaissance for a while and they allowed us to borrow equipment to start a contract brewery of our own."
His story is similar to those of many New Zealand craft brewers, such as the Yeastie Boys in Wellington.
The "boys" are Wellingtonians Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie, who began a brewing brand as a hobby but were able to give up their day jobs in the not-too-distant past.
This year they took a massive step into commercial success when they raised half a million dollars in half an hour to to establish a brewing facility in the UK (see left).
This will allow them to brew in the Northern Hemisphere rather than ship their beer over there.
Liberty Brewery is a similar story. Wood began home brewing as a hobby in New Plymouth about six years ago when he was running a shipping terminal.
The business grew organically and he ended up contract brewing with Tuatara (based in Waikanae) to keep up with demand.
"They couldn't give us all the beer we wanted, so we moved to Auckland and built a new brewery with the owners of Hallertau. It's a full-time job now. It's great. I'm living the dream."
Visiting Australian Stock says the trend to session beers is all about understanding how to push the right flavour buttons to get an impressive depth of taste without sacrificing "sessionable appeal".
This can be achieved by clever selection of the types of hops used as well as the amount in the brew, he suggested.
"Hallertau Minimus Breakfast IPA at 3.8 per cent ABV appealed to me. It has a hoppy nose but the palate is not at all bitter or aggressive. It's lightly fruity with great balance" Stock says.
"Sawmill Pilsner has a very hoppy nose, attractive flinty reduction and is grassy and fresh. The Earl Grey tea flavours add nice weight to its flavour balance."
Whichever brew you choose to celebrate with on St Patrick's Day, the craft brewing scene has ensured we are spoiled for choice - good old Guinness and sessionable brews; double IPAs or citrus-infused, lighter alcohol beers. And that's just for starters.
With such a wide range of taste sensations, we could say that we have the luck of the Irish.
Yeastie Boys creative director Stu McKinlay. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Take two capital city brewers, one online fundraising event and a goal of $500,000 and what do you have? The answer is: half a million dollars in half an hour on January 28 this year, not bad for first-time fundraisers Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie, aka the Yeastie Boys. Their swift fundraiser was held via the equity crowd funding campaign known as PledgeMe. Its aim? To enable the Yeastie Boys to brew their beer in Britain rather than ship it there. Now the funds are in the bank, the pair will be able to begin the UK brewing of their Yeastie Boys beers for the British market. This will trim 25 per cent off the price of the brews and six to eight weeks off lead times for orders.
Great Kiwi Beer Fest
March 28 is the time, Hagley Park in Christchurch is the place for this year's Great Kiwi Beer Festival. Event organisers expect more than 50 brewers to serve more than 300 beers with food, a home brew competition and live music from Hello Sailor and Sola Rosa, among others. The event is open to all. Find out more at: • greatkiwibeerfestival.co.nz or the Great Kiwi Beer Festival Facebook page.
Who was St Patrick?
Legend has it that the man who was later named St Patrick arrived in Ireland at the age of 16, about 1500 years ago. He was apparently a slave who worked in County Mayo where he was sold to an Antrim farmer for whom he tended sheep before escaping to Britain where he began religious studies. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, converting the pagan Irish to Christianity. Patrick is believed to have died in 461 and has subsequently become the patron saint of Ireland.
• Sunday March 15, 1pm to 3pm Free entertainment begins in Market Square and at the Viaduct Harbour outside O'Hagans Irish Pub with music from Sean Kelly and The Celtic Flyers, the Connolly School of Irish Dance and the Doyle Academy of Irish Dance.
• Tuesday March 17 The official St Patrick's Day will be celebrated around the city at all the usual Irish haunts.
