the smile of Sir Alex Ferguson, creamy cocktails, Fran Drescher’s voice, the baffling popularity of New Zealand’s Got Talent, Jar Jar Binks and the alleged bowling action of Muttiah Muralitharan – in other words, not very much at all.
However, the Handsome Yet Softly Spoken Scottish Proprietor has requested a blog post about chocolate beers as Malthouse will soon have four of them on tap and one more available in bottles. As a writing professional who also regularly drinks at Malthouse, I felt obliged to do some research as chocolate infused ales are not currently an area of expertise. [2]
I turned, as always, to the fountain of all zymurgical knowledge, the Oxford Companion to Beer which is edited by Garrett Oliver. It was Mr Oliver [3] who coincidentally penned the entry on chocolate himself. Here are the highlights:
“It is safe to say that the flavours of chocolate are today among the favourite food flavours of people worldwide, and it is not surprising to see that brewers seek to incorporate it into specialty beers. Chocolate-like flavours can derived from roasted malts, including a variety called chocolate malt, so named because of its colour and chocolate-like flavour contribution to beer. The flavour of actual chocolate tends to be somewhat different than that of roasted malt, however, so brewers wanting true chocolate flavour will introduce chocolate or cacao at various points through the brewing process.
Commercial craft brewers tend to focus on the use of the cacao nibs (chopped beans) themselves… Those wishing to retain purer flavours will stick with straight cacao or with baker’s chocolate. Either can be added to the boil. Another popular method is to age beer on cacao nibs posterfermentation… Used well, various forms of chocolate can add pleasant notes to porters and stouts, but brewers have added chocolate to many other beer styles with varying success.” [4]
From 5pm on Monday 5 May 2014 Malthouse will be hosting the launch of this year’s vintage of Renaissance Craftsman Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. This much-anticipated beer has been released annually since 2009. In addition to the use of oatmeal to fill out the already smooth mouthfeel, Craftsman uses cocoa nibs both in the boil and fermentor, ensuring rich chocolate and coffee notes.
Previous vintages have been described as black with a tan head, notes of medium-roasted coffee, dark chocolate, burnt toast, caramel, vanilla and stonefruit. The silky mouthfeel is a highlight.
Also coming on tap shortly is the Fork & Brewer Easter Egg Stout (4%), another beer released just once a year. This year, it was launched on 14th April and will be available only at a very limited number of venues and only while stocks last. Like the Craftsman, Easter Egg Stout uses real cocoa nibs which are sourced from the local Wellington Chocolate Factory. There is also an added dash of lactose.
The resulting beer is dark brown with an espresso-like head. There are notes of dry chocolate, roast coffee, roasted malt and vanilla in this medium-bodied dark ale. Likely to be coming on tap next week is Brew Moon Ole Mole (5%), a chocolate/chilli concoction. According to the Amberley-based brewery, it is “based on the famous and delicious Mexican dish ‘mole’.” Garrett Oliver identified this trend in the Oxford Companion to Beer when he wrote “Some of the most interesting pair the chocolate character with sweet spice and/or chilli flavour that recalls ancient Mesoamerican drink preparations and currently popular forms of Mexican drinking chocolate.”
Ole Mole, which uses, cocoa, spices and chillies, pours a light brown with a tan collar. There are notes of caramel, hints of chocolate and strong hits of chilli and pepper. It is an interesting beer, very different to the Craftsman and Easter Egg Stouts.
A late addition is Mike’s Chocolate Milk Stout (6.2%) on the handpull. This is turning into a real Willy Wonka Fest. This beer started life as a collaboration with Funk Estate which picked up the People’s Choice Award at the SOBA Winter Ale Festival. It should be perfect off the handpull – smooth, dry, chocolatey and quenching.
In the fridge, as always, is the classic Young’s Chocolate Stout (5.2%). It was the first true chocolate beer I ever tried and it was popular at tastings. First produced in 1997, (former) beer writer Cameron Williamson absolutely nailed it when he said that Young’s Double Chocolate Stout was “a totally indulgent oddity.”
My own article described mixing beer with chocolates as “living the impossible dream” while my tasting notes read “this deep mahogany beer has a fluffy tan head and a moussey nose of chocolate and fudge. Somewhat reminiscent of a frothy chocolate milkshake, the beer is a veritable smorgasbord of velvety chocolate, Milo, vanilla and coffee with a deftly crisp finish.” [5]
As a reward for producing 771 vaguely readable words about chocolate beers, Colin the Handsome Yet Softly Spoken Scottish Malthouse Proprietor agreed to let me talk about beers that I actually would drink. First up is the welcome news that two more Hopstock beers will be going on tap at Malthouse – Renaissance Brewing Fresh Hop ‘Grandmaster’ MPA (8.5% Double IPA) and Tuatara Conehead (5.8% IPA). Both are made with lashings of fresh hops and Malthouse is lucky to source them as they were hugely popular during Hopstock (Renaissance at Tap Haus and Tuatara at D4).
In genuinely surprising news, I haven’t tried either of them. Not only did I not try all the Hopstock beers, I did not even try most of them. I spent the majority of the Festival in the Wairarapa – taking in the sights, attending a conference and taking selfies with the Prime Minister. Missing most of Hopstock was a sad reflection on my planning abilities.
Also currently pouring is one fresh hopped beer from Auckland. It is (yet another) collaboration between Liberty and Hallertau breweries, which, given they are co-located and brewed on the same kit, seems sensible. [6]
Liberty/Hallertau GCSB (Green Cone Special Bitter) is a 7.4% Strong Bitter made with green Waimea hops which were freighted overnight from Riwaka to Kumeu. It’s on my list to try – Joe and Steve don’t make many bad beers, especially not with lovely, sticky, resinous, mouth-watering fresh hops. Anyone who has the last pint of GCSB will have me to deal with…[7]
Finally, this is advance warning of Beer Yum Cha which will be held at Malthouse on Sunday 18 May. There will be ten Garage Project beers and a selection of dumplings from the Dumpling House. More details to come. [8]
Next time, we drink to JJ Abrams who has managed to get Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Kenny Baker (R2D2) reprise their roles. Additionally, John Williams returns to produce the score and Abrams has added the awesome Max von Sydow who had better be a baddy.
[1] Known at my dining table as “demon slime fruit.”
[2] My current knowledge could be reasonably summed up as “you put some chocolate into the beer while brewing and now it tastes like chocolate. Hooray?”
[3] The formality is because are not friends. We did meet briefly in San Diego in 2009 and exchanged very brief pleasantries. I even saw, but did not touch, his famous hat. This was back before the hat had its own Twitter account (@garrettshat) and, if legend is to be believed, groupies.
[4] I often explain to beer tasting audiences that “you can put pretty much any ingredient into a beer, but it’s not always a good idea.” See: Pumpkin Beer.
[5] Not sure when I last tried chocolate milkshakes, chocolate (velvety or otherwise) or Milo but you never truly forget the flavours and aromas.
[6] Colin has cheekily suggested they are so close that they should be called Libertau and Hallerty. Don’t worry, took me ages to get that joke too.
[7] And probably the GCSB who are undoubtedly reading this article.
[8] The Garage Project beers have not been finalised. Beer Yum Cha is almost three weeks away so Garage Project could release up to five new beers by then.
Cheers
Beer Writer
Beer and Brewer Magazine
Cuisine Magazine
Links
Renaissance Brewing – http://www.renaissancebrewing.co.nz/default.aspx
Fork & Brewer – http://forkandbrewer.co.nz/
Brew Moon – http://www.brewmoon.co.nz/
Young’s – http://www.youngs.co.uk/
Tuatara – http://www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz/
Liberty Brewing – http://www.libertybrewing.co.nz/
Hallertau Brewbar – http://www.hallertau.co.nz/
Malthouse Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Malthouse/7084276173
Malthouse Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/malthouse
Malthouse Taps on Twitter – www.twitter.com/#!/MalthouseTaps
Neil Miller on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/#!/beerlytweeting
Beer and Brewer Magazine – www.beerandbrewer.com/