BREWERIES // Small Gods is a brewing project from the boundary pushing team at Beer Jerk dedicated to collaborative, historical and experimental brewing aiming to keep history alive by bringing ancient beer styles and fascinating legends to light with a modern twist. It all started in the kitchens on Beer Jerk co-founders Luke & Brent 8 years ago and they decided to scale things up a couple of years back after being joined by talented homebrewer Matt. Not many people were brewing Mummes, Milds or decoction Rauchbiers so they decided to partner with their brewer friends around the country to change that.
Double Vision are Evarn, Warren, Mario & Harry. A bunch of Wellington based mates whose enthusiasm for home brewing became more than a hobby when they officially launched in July 2016. Before then, their 100L pilot brewery had been working overtime as their bar manager friends started to insist they ramp up production so they could sell DVB beers in their bars. By day the foursome were engineers and graphic designers but by night (as well as evenings, weekends and early mornings) they become Double Vision. They draw influence from a wide variety of beer cultures with Warren being involved with the Colorado beer scene and Evarn having fallen in love with European styles while living in Holland.
BEER // Reflection Of Narcissus is a reprise of the first ever Small Gods collaboration brew from 2 years ago - Black Narcissus - which won Gold at the Brewer's Guild Awards. The recipe is almost the same with the botanicals being swapped out. On Monday 22nd April 1661 Samuel Peyps and his pal Sir Thomas Batten had a lovely time watching the great royal procession for Charles II's coronation in London. They celebrated by heading to a Mum-house and getting 'very merry' on bowls of 'fattening Mum'. At least as early as 1390 Mumme was the beer of choice in Braunschweig, Germany. Drinkers described the pitch black drink as extremely bitter, so thick you'd need a knife and "strong as six horses, coach and all". It is thought that Mumme was the first beer in Germany to be made with hops rather than other botanicals. As the decades passed, various versions emerged - Stadtmumme (town mum) was designed for everyday consumption and distinguished by it's inferior strength from the potent Shiffmumme (ship mum) designed for export. As the English embraced the style, they tinkered and incorporated all manner of botanicals into recipes that were close guarded secrets. Fir branches, pennyroyal, bruised barberries and 'ten new-laid eggs unbroken' are just some of the ingredients we encountered while researching recipes and trying to figure out what a bushel is. Reflection of Narcissus is a modern interpretation of a style forgotten about for hundreds of years. The brew incorporates wormwood and thyme to give it a unique herbal, savoury flavour. The maltbill was huge to result in an 11.5% beer and includes wheat and oats for mouthfeel. The wort was boiled for around 4 hours, reducing the volume by a third and creating an even thicker beer. We have no idea how accurate it is to the Mummes of old but we're pretty happy with it 🍻
We reckon this beer will develop and improve as it ages for up to 10 years. Stock is limited so we heartily recommend you grab a few for your cellar from our webshop.
We look forward to seeing what you all think in the Beer Jerk Members Facebook Group. If you enjoy the beer, be sure to check it in on Untappd!
BREWERY // Small Gods & Double Vision
BEER // Reflection of Narcissus
STYLE // Mumme
ORIGIN // Wellington
ABV // 11.5%
TEMPERATURE // Cellar Temp - around 10-13C. About an hour out of the fridge
FOOD MATCH // Mushroom Paté. Quinoa Felafel w. Cucumber Yoghurt. Grilled Pork Cheeks & White Beans. Ginger Loaf
GLASS // Ceramic Stein. Pewter Tankard