Beer #60 - W/C 18 April 2016
BREWERY // In 1989, after taking redundancy from a career working on oil rigs Mike Johnson took his life savings and opened a brewery in Urenui producing beer commercially in Taranaki for the first time in a generation. It took until 2000 to secure a consistent supply of organic malt and hops when Johnson achieved his goal of making mike's Mild the first accredited organic beer from the North Island. When brewer Ron Trigg and his family bought the brewery in 2007, only two beers were in production- mike's Mild and an organic lager. That didn't last for long as Ron rapidly added to the core range and also began releasing seasonal beers throughout the year. The traditional beers are supplemented with more modern ones which don't always fit within standard style guidelines such as their Strawberry Blonde, Chocolate Milk Stout and Whiskey Porter. mike's are still committed to brewing with organic ingredients whenever possible and we think the beers taste all the better for it.
TASTING NOTES // There is a certain delightful conciseness to Vanilla Coffee Porter from mike's which may be helped by the name- you know what to expect and you do not leave disappointed. In recent years the word 'vanilla' has become shorthand for boring or bland. We'd guess that this association arose from people in North America raised on synthesised vanilla-flavour ice cream. Chefs, perfumers and we lucky inhabitants of the South Pacific know that there is no finer flavoured spice than vanilla which comes from orchids and is second only in cost to saffron. After the big aroma and initial sweetness of vanilla, the roast coffee and hop bitterness kick in. As a bit of an added bonus, you may detect dark chocolate caramel and liquorice from the malt profile too. With more beers like this in the cellar- we are starting to get excited about Winter.
BREWERY // mike's
BEER // Vanilla Coffee Porter
STYLE // Porter
ORIGIN // Taranaki
ABV // 8%
HOPS // Pacific Jade, Green Bullet, Wakatu
TEMPERATURE // Cellar Temperature- 10-13C
FOOD MATCH // French Toast with Bacon. Gruyere. Dark Chocolate Truffles.
GLASS // Tulip. Stout Glass
Beer Style Blog - Read more about different styles over on the BLOG.