BREWERY // One of Auckland's newest breweries, the radical team at Cowabunga joined the Beer Mile about a year ago in Morningside and have been ramping up steadily since. The 3 school friends bonded over their shared love extreme sports, gaming, 90s pop culture references and of course, beer!
In a story as old as time, the Cowabunga team had been home brewing in a garage for a decade before taking the plunge and deciding to scale up. They're one of the smallest breweries out, working from just a 300L brewhouse so you're lucky to get hold of their precious beers anywhere! Luckily, after hosting a bodacious pizza party for their brewery launch we had the backdoor to grab some of this Xtremely limited porter for you jerks.
With a penchant for hoppy American styles and dark beers the Cowabunga lads know how to put together some totally tubular beers. They are currently working hard at keeping the council happy and getting the paperwork sorted to open their taproom at some point soon so keep an eye out for a new venue on the Beer Mile soon.
In the meantime you can check out some more of their work in the Auckland Beer Mile Box!
BEER // For this week's beer the team from Cowabunga deliver an amped up version of their core range porter. Porters originated in London in the early 18th century and took its name from the street and river porters who quickly became big fans. The well hopped beer made with brown malts was the was the first style to be brewed in large quantities and the porter breweries of London pioneered many technological advances such as the use of the thermometer around 1760 and hydrometer in 1770. The 'American' take on this traditional style was to elevate the alcohol content along with some heavy hopping. Primo Xtremo is a rich, robust porter made with a hefty dose of Simcoe and Taiheke hops to result in a delicious beer that pairs beautifully with food. Notes of chocolate and coffee from the roasted malts and lovely mouthfeel provide a rich cushion for the 7% abv to rest on to deliver a smooth and flavourful dark beer experience
BREWERY // Cowabunga
BEER // Primo Xtremo
STYLE // Porter
ORIGIN // Morningside, Auckland
ABV // 7%
TEMPERATURE // 7-10°c
FOOD MATCH // Pepperoni Pizza, Garlic Bread, Ice Cream Sundae
VESSEL // Nonic Pint, Shaker Pint, Tulip