The second Saturday of Melbourne’s Good Beer Week 10-day festival is, without question, bigger than Superbowl Sunday, it certainly has better beer than the AFL Grand Final and, unlike the FIFA World Cup, New Zealand and the USA are guaranteed to make an appearance. Tis the day Carwyn Cellars hosts its showpiece #GBW18 event.
In previous years Boatrocker Brewers &
Distillers was the Force Majeure, the hosts with the most. The objective of
these showpiece events is to pit a selection of the host’s most captivating
beers against one more each from breweries of their choosing per round in an
intimate tasting. Whether it was the beers that helped inspire them; a
complementary, contrasting match-up; or a pairing with the aim of capturing a
brewing concept; the end result was always the same: A most wonderful
celebration of the world’s finest of beers.
2018’s instalment saw New Zealand’s most
creative and experimental brewery: Garage Project, step up to the spot to
deliver another epic shoot-out, this time with a bonus round: 12 beers instead
of the usual 10. As ever the spoils would be shared among one and all.
Garage Project, based out of Wellington New
Zealand, has been brewing trophy winning ales, lagers and sour beers since
2011. Many of the outfit’s beers are of an experimental bent: think IPAs brewed
with gun powder; lager infused with habanero, rosewater and watermelon; and
sour ales brewed with raspberry, tomato and basil.
Co-founder Pete Gillespie cut his teeth at
Malt Shovel Brewing, which may or may not explain his fervour for experimental
brewing. His brother Ian and Jos Ruffell started Garage Project with a
collective love for eccentric beer. In 2012 the trio set about the daunting
task of brewing 24 beers in 24 weeks on a small pilot system. Because, as
Hemingway famously said: “Always do what you said you’d do drunk when you’re
sober, on the grounds it will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” Some of those
beers, including Day of the Dead (chilli and cocoa-infused dark lager) are
still produced to this day.
To top it all off, Garage Project has been
quietly hard at work with its Wild Workshop. An assortment of barrels, five
massive foeders imported from Europe and even a koelschip for spontaneous
fermentation make up this theatre of the authentic sour brewing arts,
inconspicuously hidden in a nondescript part of suburban Wellington. Doubtless
this as yet young endeavour will bear some impressive fruit - and plenty of
fruit beer - in years to come.
Following his fruitful career with Boatrocker
Brewers & Distillers, brewery representative and all round great guy Adam
Holliday joined Garage Project in July 2017, hence he’s no stranger to the
co-hosting role. Joined by Jos Ruffell and Carwyn Cellars’ very own bon ve vant
Ben Duval on the mic, the stage was set for a World Cup scale showcase of rare
beers from Garage Project itself, matched to a selection of air-freighted,
never-tapped-in-Australia-before US craft beers.
Round One
Garage Project: Fuzz Box.
The first beer to take the spot could be
described as a real “Round the World” IPA in terms of its hop profile, boasting
Mosaic, Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin in its arsenal. It certainly proved the ideal
beer to ease guests into proceedings, as suffice it to say bigger IPAs were yet
to come.
Fuzz Box presented as hop forward, slightly
hazy, with plenty of complex honeydew melon and mandarin flavours shining
through. There was even a touch of pine resin, a not so extreme measure, so as
to not wreck the palate before things had begun. Fuzz Box is just one of many
examples of Garage Project’s top draw American-style IPAs.
Tired Hands: Hop Hands.
You gotta love a brewery that describes its
operation as a “fermentaria,” and equally when they self-proclaim the
products thereof as “strange and beautiful.” Established in 2011 and inspired
in equal measure by America’s bold IPAs and Belgium’s complex, dry farmhouse
ales, this Pennsylvania-based brewery is lesser known in Australia but highly
revered by its followers. And small wonder given its Hop Hands IPA.
Brewed with Amarillo, Centennial and Colombus
hops, Hop Hands proved somewhat more assertively bitter than Fuzz Box, with big
pithy tangelo and unripe kiwi character coming through on the mid-palate. The
assertively bitter finish, mouthfeel and creaminess rounded out the experience beautifully.
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| Left: Garage Project - Fuzz Box and Right: Tired Hands - Hop Hands |
Round Two
Garage Project: Golden
Age.
This barrel-aged golden sour beer, brewed
with golden kiwifruit, mango and passionfruit, was concocted to celebrate the
Wild Project’s next-door neighbours’ twenty seven names (fashion designers) and
their Autumn collection of the same name.
A lusciously complex aroma gave way to
gorgeous kiwifruit flavours, which rolled beneath tart and dry Lambic-like character.
There was a sharpness to it too, as sharp perhaps as the shoulders of the
models showing off twenty seven names’ fashionable wares. And despite going
through as many oak barrels, oakiness was restrained, as is true to the blended
Lambic style.
Side Project: Raspberry
Biere du Pays.
Side Project by name, side project by nature.
Few things excite more than the thought of a brewery whose entire operation is
exclusively a barrel program. The brewery was established by Cory King as a
side project of his involvement with St Louis, Missouri brewery Perennial Ales.
Raspberry Biere du Pays, a barrel-aged
raspberry saison, complemented while equally opposing Golden Age at the same
time; A wondrous pairing that embodied the very essence of this event and its
format. Light on the funk with subtle, gorgeously measured raspberry character;
followed by an incredibly delicate, rounded though somehow subtly dry finish.
Truly a beer greater than the sum of its parts.
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| Left: Garage Project - Golden Age and Right: Side Project: Raspberry Biere du Pays |
Round Three
Garage Project: Petite Mort.
Fact: Saison fermented with Brettanomyces is
technically a wild ale, at least as far as BJCP guidelines are concerned. But
Garage Project never scored goals with beer geeks, instead they score goals among them with treasures like this mixed
ferment-blonde ale. Call it what you will, Garage Project calls it “the little
death.”
Do beers get any more sumptuous, delicate and
divine? The aromatic bouquet that wafted to the nose certainly staked a strong
case for the No campaign. A subtle but revealing interplay between honey and
lemon sherbet enveloped the palate thereafter. Brett funk rolled gently on the
finish for balance, a character that often overwhelms mixed ferment beers, but
not so here.
Hill Farmstead: Arthur.
Few breweries globally have amassed the sheer
volume of praise as Hill Farmstead. Shaun Hill’s Vermont-based brewing
operation, established in 2010, was named “Best Brewery in the World” by
Ratebeer users in all but one year from 2012-onwards. (That year was 2013 - in
which they came second). Not bad for a brewery whose setting is a remote
village some 70 miles from Burlington VT, but Hill’s pedigree speaks for
itself. After experimenting with brewing beer for a science fair project in
high school, he went on to start a homebrew club during his college years,
followed up by stints as a pro brewer at Danish breweries Fanø and Nørrebro.
Arthur, a saison brewed with Hill Farmstead’s
own well-drawn water and native yeast strain, is justifiably a sought after
gemstone among beer geeks. Its nose proved to be among the most complex and
nuanced I have ever encountered. Ripe
apricot? Melon? Passionfruit? Freshly cobbled shoes? There was much to savour
in its delicately nuanced beauty. On the palate Arthur presented slightly sour,
with measured funk, the beer’s flavour being equally nuanced. Passion fruit and
tropical fruit rode on further into the finish like a bike rider heading into
the Vermont sunset.
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| Left: Garage Project - Petite Mort and Right: Hill Farmstead - Arthur |
Round Four
Garage Project: Wolfman.
There was an underlying sweetness on this NZ
IPA that I have been searching for in among the style for a while now, which
may prove even more difficult to find thanks to the recent advent of brut IPAs.
The nose was rich with dessert fruit salad: citrus, particularly orange, and
lashings of mango. This character transposed to the palate with a battering ram’s
worth of pine resin coming in upon the swallow. A big’un that somehow managed
to remain evenly balanced and measured throughout.
Not only was the audience provided with the
colourful back story of each beer, but Ruffell also regaled stories of the
trials and tribulations of his first visit Stateside. During this visit he
travelled from Vermont to Montreal, taking with him a severe bout of food
poisoning, which manifested itself upon arriving at Montreal’s infamous, larger
than life Joe Beef restaurant. The eatery, a favourite of David Chang and the
late, great Anthony Bourdain, is best known for holding diners hostage with its
epically portioned seafood and foie gras dishes, rather than its loos holding
international visitors to ransom. Though the tale had its humorous side, one
can only feel for Ruffell as he was then unable to enjoy what for many would be
a once in a lifetime experience.
Other Half: Double Mosaic Dream.
Other half is among New York City’s lesser
known breweries, however its Double Mosaic Dream New England IPA alone made at
least one instant fan among the guests in attendance on this day. Amazingly
this small, proudly independent, community-minded brewery has only been around
since 2014.
Double Mosaic Dream delighted as much on the
eyes as it did the mouth with its hazy appearance and luscious mouthfeel. On
the nose plentiful zesty Valencia orange, mango and pine rolled out the welcome
mat. A burst of mango, naval orange and bubblegum confirmed the mosaic hop
driven character on the palate, before a dollop of resin drove the experience
home. Mere words scarcely do justice to what is, to my mind, among the world’s
best NEIPAs.
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| Left: Garage Project - Wolfman and Right: Other Half - Double Mosaic Dream |
Round Five
Garage Project: Gyle 500.
And then there were four... The remaining
beers turned things up to 11, or should that be 500? Garage Project’s Gyle 500
(“gyle” meaning “batch”) was brewed to celebrate the brewery’s 500th batch of
beer (with only three barrels’ worth produced). Such a monumental feat demanded
an equally monumental brew, and only a 14 per cent Bourbon barrel-aged strong
ale would do.
A captivating aroma of leather gloves,
treacle, dusted-and-varnished-an-hour-ago mahogany-wood cabinet and bees’ honeycomb
wafted enticingly to the nose and beyond to the palate. Delicious butterscotch
(not the beer fault kind, though it may have been present in a complementary
capacity), caramel and chocolate delighted the palate thereafter. 500 was
indeed a beer of decadence rather than nuance, however this level of decadence
proved to be nothing short of extraordinary.
The Lost Abbey: Cuvée de Tomme.
Sunny San Diego boasts no shortage of world
class breweries, hence when the likes of The Lost Abbey rises to legend status,
one must take heed. All manner of edgy barrel-aged stouts, barleywines,
Belgian-inspired wonders and more have emerged from an unassuming SoCal
business park since 2006; with a select few bottles and kegs somehow reaching
Australian shores.
Cuvée de Tomme, a Bourbon barrel-aged wild
cherry ale and named after head brewer Tomme Arthur, was for mine one of the
highlights on the day. The aroma was gently jam-like with a touch of molasses
making its presence known at first. As it warmed the cherries came in with gusto.
It proved to be a delicate though utterly beguiling aroma; with little
suggestion of Bourbon or Brettanomyces. This all changes on the palate.
Circumnavigating and orbiting a rotund black cherry base flavour were notes of
sour cherry; then molasses, treacle; Bourbon and oak. Hints of unsmoked cigar
tobacco, leather and even sour coke bottles shone through. The mouthfeel was
remarkably rotund as well. A tiny ball smaller than a marble oscillated over
the tongue at one point, a bigger sip saw the marble take on the size of a
medicine ball. Conversely, in no way was this beer heavy, in spite of its 11
per cent ABV.
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| Left: Garage Project - 500 and Right: The Lost Abbey - Cuvee de Tomme |
Round Six
Garage Project: Rebel County.
The final round saw something of a mismatch,
at least in terms of the styles on show, as a contrasting golden ale went head
to head with an American Strong Ale aged in freshly emptied brandy casks. The
contrasting, though somehow parallel element came in the barrels in which each
spent their beauty sleep.
Moreover, it’s not often an Irish whiskey
barrel-aged beer is spotted in the wild. Rebel County delighted with its
understated complexity, with Jameson’s signature oak character evident straight
up on the nose, along with a subtle floral bouquet. On the palate dried apricot
jostled for position with honey, while subtle macadamia nut and hazelnut shone
through. A touch of boozy warmth provided-ballast following the swallow.
The Lost Abbey: The Angel’s Share.
It is common knowledge the Scots and those
from Kentucky regard evaporation from whiskey casks as “The Angel’s Share,” though
some may not know the annual figure of evaporation, which in Scotland alone is
thought to total 160 million bottles. Though I cannot speak for the figure of
bottles or barrels of brandy and Kentucky Bourbon lost to the atmosphere, The
Lost Abbey went and created a beer in honour of the cask’s silent exchanges
with the heavens above by way of this luscious brandy barrel-aged strong ale.
The Angels’ Share’s aromatics presented
profound enough that the palate could pick them up. Intense fruit, apple,
blackcurrant wafted in at first; followed by wood, particularly French oak and
even freshly finished plasterboard (in a good way); all intertwined with soft
stewed prunes; and finally molasses and cocoa. Molasses and chewy toffee
started off on the palate. The flavour was as decadent as it was well rounded,
and equally as boozy. Fat qualities bounded about while a zing of brandy
character danced around on the circumference. The finish was pillowy, almost
down-like. Soft and sweet enough to sleep on.
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| Left: Garage Project - Rebel County and Right: The Lost Abbey - The Angel's Share |
Just like any good penalty shoot-out, the
experience was over almost as quickly as it began. The long-lasting memories
will be of a match-up in which the name of the game was contrast rather than
competition; comparison as opposed to conflict. Truly a flawless victory, made
all the sweeter thanks to the afterparty in which many more rarities from The
Lost Abbey, Other Half, Hill Farmstead and more were showcased.
A special thanks must go out to Carwyn
Cellars, Garage Project, Jos Ruffell, Adam Holliday, Ben Duval and everyone
involved in staging this incredible event. This immeasurable gratitude must
also be extended to all those in the business of logistically bringing these
rarities to Australia. The delivery truck arrived with the precious cargo right
on the 11th hour - at 3:30PM the previous day - thus avoiding resorting to “Plan
B.” (Though I’m sure Plan B would have been fantastic too!) Suffice to say, the
sense of relief and adulation was palpably real amongst the Carwyn Cellars
staff at the time.
And though Good Beer Week may be over for
another year, planning has already begun for next year’s event. How else could
they get better, year on year? To that end, if you have never experienced a
Good Beer Week festival or any one of its 250-300 events, on the strength of
showcases such as this one you should be planning for next year’s festivities
as well.
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| The legends at Carwyn Cellars - from left to right: Steve (bar), James (retail manager), Rob (Carwyn Cellars regular), Ben Carwyn (Wolf of High St) and Ben Duval. Cheers lads! |
Graham Frizzell was a guest of Garage Project
& Friends at Carwyn Cellars.
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