Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014
DAY 13 – Imperium by Epic Brewing Company
BOTTLE: Imperium
BREWED: Steam Brewing Company
ABV: 9.0%
HOPS: Fuggles, Chinook
It got to 6:30pm this evening and all of a sudden I remembered the Advent Calendar. It was a huge day at the Lumsden Freehouse yesterday. Thanks to everyone that come along to have a beer with us for our 9th Birthday, it was a really fun day. Once again my Spotify playlist was a bit of a hit, even if I was only allowed to play my 2pm to 4pm choice of tunes. I even had someone subscribe to the playlist during the day. I have embedded yesterdays list on the side bar.
So a lazy day, lead to a lazy beer choice. As each day passes I think more and more about Alice Galletly and the massive undertaking she did with her blog Beer For A Year. I have only just passed half way on my 24 day endeavour, yet she did this for a whole year. Hat off to you Alice, I don’t think anyone realises what you achieved, I am only just starting to gauge how massive your undertaking was.
Unfortunately I haven’t brought home my stout glass, so just used a wine glass instead to appreciate the aroma, which has hints of mixed spice and Christmas cake. (I put the bottle in the freezer for 30 mins before opening just to get a chill on the beer).
On tasting the beer, the roast and bitterness dominated, and came across as being a bit young (this is the 2014 Vintage Ale). It isn’t an Imperial Stout like many people think or expect , but more of a foreign export stout. As it warmed the malt became fuller, but it really needs another 6-12 months before that maltiness is going to work with the bitterness, and the fruity hops will back off a bit. This beer has done well in awards this year winning a couple of gold medals.
For dessert this evening there were some fresh blackberries, blueberries and Whittakers Dark Chocolate with Almonds. I tried each separately with the Imperium, and BOOM!, the blackberries were an incredible match (chocolates and blueberries didn’t work so well). The blackberries became joyously spicy with the black berry goodness, and the beer became more malty and chocolatey (without eating the chocolate). I would have never have guess these two would have worked so well together.
Craft Beer in Auckland
#craftbeer, #auckland, #newzealand, #lumsdenfreehouse #epic9 #adventcalendar
These links might help you find out what is on tap around Auckland
https://twitter.com/TapHunterAKLD
http://auckland.taphunter.com/location/
https://twitter.com/NowPouringAKL