Epic Journey recreates beer’s most famous voyage

Epic Journey recreates beer’s most famous voyage

Epic Brewing Company and Malthouse
15 July 2009

Forty litres of fresh India Pale Ale from Auckland will spend up to
six weeks at sea on the Interislander Ferry looking to recreate a
recreation of beer’s most famous voyage.

In the 1880s, pale ale from Burton-on-Trent in England took around six
weeks on tall ships to reach its thirsty customers in India. British
beer writer Pete Brown recently retraced the long journey which helped
create this iconic style of beer. He chronicled his adventures in the
newly released book Hops and Glory: One Man’s Search for the Beer that
Built the British Empire.

After a sleepless night finishing the book, Malthouse proprietor Colin
Mallon had the ‘crazy idea’ of replicating the experience in New
Zealand. “I had met Pete Brown in England recently and just loved the
book. First, I needed some beer. My first thought was Epic
Armageddon, a limited release double India Pale Ale brewed by Luke
Nicholas from Epic Brewing Company. He agreed immediately. Then I
needed a boat. The Interislander Ferry agreed immediately. I tasked
Luke with finding appropriate barrels,” says Colin.

“I sourced two 20-litre new oak barrels and filled them with fresh
Armageddon,” Luke explains. “I recently brewed a real ale in England
for a huge British beer festival so I knew Armageddon was not a
million miles away from what a traditional pale ale would have tasted
like. For a beer to stand up to the kind of treatment we have in mind
it has to be pretty robust. Armageddon is definitely big, strong and
hoppy. The idea is to see what effect changes in temperature and
constant movement has on beer stored in wood. Most pundits believe
India Pale Ale’s benefitted from the conditioning they received during
their sea voyages.”

Colin and Luke jointly christened the beer ‘Epic Journey’ while the
barrels are affectionately known as Pete (after Pete Brown) and
Melissa (in honour of British beer writer Melissa Cole). Pete and
Melissa will spend up to six weeks on the ferry before being
ceremonially tapped at Beervana at the Wellington Town Hall, 28th &
29th August.

For the full background story see http://tinyurl.com/epic-ipa

ENDS

© Scoop Media