BREWERY // Brewing is in Christopher Barber's blood. His Hawke's Bay brewery, Zeelandt, opened in 2012 around 125 years after his great great grandfather opened a brewery near Christchurch. Christopher honed his skills working at St Austell Brewery in Cornwall before returning to New Zealand to brew at Hallertau. The brewery's name (pronounced zay-land) reflects the inspiration taken from classic European styles with a distinctly New Zealand twist. Their brewery bar is under construction and will be ready for you to visit in Summer.
Small Gods is a brewing project dedicated to collaborative, historical and experimental beers aiming to keep history alive by bringing these recipes and legends into the modern age. It was the name of Beer Jerk co-founders, Luke & Brent's, home brewery and it stuck when Matt joined the team and they decided to scale up. They don't brew at home much these days but fortunately have access to contract breweries as well as those belonging to friends around the country who are surprisingly happy to oblige in collaborating on weird and hard to sell beers.
BEER // Once upon a time all beers tasted a little smokey. Malted grains were kilned over wood fires until the introduction of smoke-less coke a century or two ago which meant maltsters could roast non-smokey pale malts and beers like Bitter and Pilsner were born. The brewers of Bamburg, Bavaria saw no need to change - they liked the wonderfully complex flavours imparted from beechwood smoke. And so did their customers. Brünhilde's Fate is an homage to those great brewers and Luke & Christopher chose to use another archaic practise by doing a decoction mash. That is basically a slow and laborious way of steadily heating the wort in steps to result in a beer with more layers of sweet complexity that compliment the smoke notes. It was then lagered (stored at a cold temperature) for an extended period to result in a flavour packed unique beer with a crisp dry finish that we'd be very happy to drink again and again. Aim for a large head when pouring - around 1/4 of the height of the glass is traditional to release optimal aroma as you drink.
BREWERIES // Zeelandt & Small Gods
BEER // Brünhilde's Fate
STYLE // Rauchbier
ORIGIN // Eskdale
ABV // 5.4%
TEMPERATURE // Cool - 7 - 8C
FOOD MATCH // Bamburg Onion. Beef & Cheddar Sandwich. Bean Chilli
VESSEL // Willi Becher Glass