Beer #100 - W/C 23 January 2017
BREWERY // Years ago, a triumvirate of beer experts came together in Northern Italy and made plans to open a new kind of brewery in Australia. Leonardo Di Vincenzo is the founder of Birra del Borgo (top 100 rated global brewery) and Kerrie & Johnny Latta own the largest craft beer distributor in Australia. They persuaded Brooks Carretta, Leonardo's brewing protege, to move from the mountains of Lazio to the beaches of Brookvale, Sydney. Brooks had two conditions "To never be restricted by fashions and trends and to use Australia’s amazing native ingredients". That was in early 2014 and since then we've seen beers made with Wattle Seeds, Lilly Pilly Fruit, Hibiscus Rosella and others aged in grappa barrels. Nomad have collaborated with breweries including Beavertown, Cigar City, Jester King and Stone. And they're showing no signs of slowing.
BEER // This Saison is...
"Winner of Australian Champion Brewer for this beer - This is our Trip! Combination of pale and wheat malts, with the addition into the mash of a special variety of coffee beans from our friends at Background Coffee roasters. European and American hops then get combined with some fantastic unique Aussie ingredients like wattle seeds and organic Tasmanian pepper added at the end of the boil. The result is a dry, clean and very sessionable Saison, with hints of coffee, citrus and spice."
Sounds pretty good to us. This beer scores an impressive 94 on rate beer and is a seriously good example of the style.
Saison has it's roots as a farmhouse ale, traditionally brewed with whatever ingredients were at hand on the farmstead, often making it a difficult style to categorize. Saisons can be black, amber, or nearly white. Some are strong, some are not. More than a few have the flavor twist of added spices, fruit, or wild yeast. The range is huge, but most modern saisons display a few common characteristics. They are almost universally very dry and super effervescent. Bitterness is fairly high. Pronounced spicy hop flavors complement the peppery spice and stone fruit notes of Belgian and French yeast strains. They are also superbly refreshing.
BREWERY // Nomad
BEER // Long Trip
STYLE // Saison
ORIGIN // Sydney
ABV // 6.6%
IBU // 39
TEMPERATURE // Cold - 5-7C
FOOD MATCH // Roast Chicken with garlic and herbs, Bouillabaisse, Shellfish, Creamy bloomy- rind cheeses, Pad Thai, cracked pepper encrusted steak
GLASS // Snifter, Tulip, Oversized Wine Glass, Nonic