BREWERIES // Small Gods is Luke & Matt, the guys at Beer Jerk (who love writing about themselves in the third person). They are a 'nomadic' brewery which means they don't own any stainless, they borrow other peoples' breweries to make their beers and rent fermenters which gives them a lot of flexibility. They are passionate about collaboration and take every opportunity to work with and learn from others, whether they are a Bavarian trained Master Brewer, a restauranteur or a drag queen. Small Gods have a passion for historic styles, unusual processes and often take inspiration from cuisine.
Citizen is not a beer company. Citizen is a food upcycling collective - which launched relatively recently with a mission to reduce food waste and have already done a lot. Co-founder Donald Shepherd decided to start with beer made with Aoteorea’s most wasted food product: bread. They now have an excellent core range of beers made with bread and are quickly broadening their portfolio to other drinks and food. Their sparkling Piquette is fermented using waste grape skins from vineyards and they recently launched a range of sauces using discarded fruit and vegetables.
BEER // It may surprise you to hear that Baltic Porters are a type of lager. In the 18th Century drinkers in Russia, Finland, Estonia & Latvia developed a real taste for the boozy, robust stouts being imported from London and the Russian Imperial Stout was created. When politics intervened to turn off the tap, local brewers stepped up to fill the void, creating a style all of their own that was reminiscent of a RIS but fermented with lager yeasts and cold conditioned resulting in a style with no less complexity but a lighter body and cleaner finish. When Donald told Luke & Matt about all of the Central Otago cherries going to waste, a Black Forest Gateau beer seemed the obvious choice to rescue them. Lyra isn't a 'pastry stout', it's more of a refined classy sweet treat. Like those $18 bars of 94% single origin chocolate bars you see in fancy delicatessens. It's made with carefully selected single origin Dutch cocoa, Tongan vanilla and those delightfully rich and tart cherries. The nuances of the adjunct flavours meld nicely with the bold malt base in this beer that finishes relatively dry. Be sure to enjoy at near room temperature and nurse it a while to experience how the aroma and flavours change as it warms.
BREWERY // Small Gods & Citizen
BEER // Lyra
STYLE // Black Forest Gateau Baltic Porter
ORIGIN // Auckland
ABV // 9.5%
TEMPERATURE // Around 13C
FOOD MATCH // Venison Stew. Strong Cheddar on Toast. Dark Chocolate Truffles. Stilton & Figs on Crackers
VESSEL // Snifter