Beer #124 - W/C 10 July 2017
BREWERY // American-born brewer Mike Murphy is behind Lervig's beers and the brewery a truly international feel. They were voted one of the World's Top 100 Breweries on RateBeer where they are also rated as brewing 4 of the top 5 rated Norwegian beers. Lervig are known for their great collaboration beers with breweries all over the World. They also brew for gypsy brewers such as Mikkeller for whom they brew Imperial Stouts. Brewing in Norway isn't without challenges, all malt and hops need to be imported, prohibition supporting politicians have banned alcohol advertising and alcohol tax is more than 3 times higher than New Zealand. The Stavanger brewery offers tours. While we're talking about ratings- the brewery tour is listed as #61 of '95 things to do in Stavanger' list on TripAdviser but it's #2 on our list. Right after that cool big rock.
BEER // A black take on Lervig's signature APA (and previous Beer of the Week) Lucky Jack. The Black Edition has the same tropical fruit and pine hop profile of 'classic' Jack with another layer of malt complexity added. The dark roasted malts add hints of coffee, chocolate and burned toffee. Black IPA's are a very new style, having only become popular around 2009. They walk a tightrope between stout and IPA and brewers require a delicate hand to strike a balance. There was once a boom of brewers around the World creating Black IPAs which has fallen off drastically of late.
BREWERY // Lervig
BEER // Lucky Jack
STYLE // Black IPA
ORIGIN // Stavanger, Noway
ABV // 4.7%
TEMPERATURE // Cold/Cool - 7-11C
FOOD MATCH // Shepherd's Pie. Bean Burritos. Smoked Cheese
GLASS // Tulip. Shaker