Beer #125 - W/C 17 July 2017
BREWERY // Yeastie Boys is a small brewery with big prospects. Stu McKinlay and Sam Possenniskie are a pair of extremely talented blokes who are steadily working to take over the World with their always interesting beers. Yeastie Boys stay lean by contract brewing with great breweries in New Zealand, Britain & Australia. This allows them to focus on the business of creating excellent beer without needing to operate a brewery. January 2015 saw Yeastie Boys raise $500,000 in 30 minutes when they crowd-funded to take their beers to the UK market. They have been received with open arms (and gullets) in Britain and are doing a great job at showing Britain how brilliant New Zealand beers are.
BEER // xeRRex is an imperial strength version of their modern classic, Rex Attitude. One might describe these beers as an acquired taste. While the use of peat-smoked malt in a beer isn't especially unusual, the received wisdom is to include it as a small percentage of the malt bill. The Yeastie Boys aren't really ones to heed 'received wisdom' so they decided to make the world's first beer with 100% peat-smoked whisky malt from Inverness. Obviously, smoke dominates the aroma and taste leading to favourable comparisons to Islay whisky or unfavourable ones to the ashes of a spent barbecue. Look out for other subtle flavours and you may taste hints of feijoa, bacon or formaldehyde. xeRRex is actually a touch sweeter and smoother than its little brother.
The Beer Jerk budget wouldn't stretch to flights to England to interview Stu. Luckily we found a local guy who helped us out, take a look at the interview below.
BREWERY // Yeastie Boys
BEER // xeRRex
STYLE // Peat Smoked Golden Ale
ORIGIN // Invergargill
ABV // 10%
TEMPERATURE // Cupboard Temperature - 12-15C
FOOD MATCH // Haggis. Kedgeree. Vietnamese Minced Prawn in Kawakawa Leaf. Turkish Delight
GLASS // Snifter. Tulip. Whisky Glass