BREWERIES // North End. After a couple of years con tract brewing at friends' breweries, in 2015 North End completed the construction of their own brewery in Waikanae and haven't looked back. Not long after the brewery was joined by a tap-room and restaurant, Salt & Wood, making the Kapiti Coast a real destination for fans of good beer and food. The other two North End partners were formerly a waiter and a chef and, as Kieran is a former cheesemonger, they are especially interested in food friendly beers with a gastronomic character. North End take inspiration from historic and unusual styles and we aren't expecting to see a Hazy IPA from them anytime soon.
Small Gods. Once upon a time, before they dreamt up Beer Jerk, founders Luke & Brent enthusiastically got into home brewing in their Auckland kitchens. They devoured books, blogs and videos to learn all they could about brewing and named their brewery (a few pots, bags and a copper coil) Small Gods in honour of the yeasts and Terry Pratchett. Today they rarely brew at home but the Beer Jerk team has grown and they spend a lot of time talking about recipe ideas. And fortunately they're friends with lots of real brewers, some of whom oblige to collaborate on brewing the experimental and unfashionable styles they're interested it.
BEER // Not so very long ago people people worried about their loved ones passing into the afterlife without being absolved of their sins. To counter this, most villages would have a resident 'sin eater' who would stand over the departed while consuming bread and ale to absorb their sin. The last sin eater died in 1906 in Shropshire, the county from which Small Gods' Luke hails. That ale was mild - once the most popular beer style in all England. The milds of the 16th Century were any beer that was served fresh and young. Over the years the style transformed to be the easy drinking counter to the more highly hopped 'bitter' style as a truly sessionable beer. Milds quickly fell in popularity 50 years ago in the wake of lager and bitter and have been regarded by many as extremely unfashionable ever since. We reckon a mild is a thing of beauty - like a good cup of tea, the drinker can revel in its magnificence or simply throw a few back without it being the focus of attention. This recipe is inspired by the milds brewed during World War II that incorporated oats to make up for ingredient shortages. The oats add body and the perception that the beer is 'bigger' that it is. We also amped up the abv slightly and increased the Kent Goldings hops to suit modern palates. Sin Eater is biscuit-y, nutty quaffable liquid bread.
BREWERY // Small Gods & North End
BEER // Sin Eater
STYLE // Oat Mild
ORIGIN // Waikanae
ABV // 4.5%
TEMPERATURE // Cellar Temperature - 10-12C
FOOD MATCH // Ploughman's Lunch. Baked Ham. Fish & Chips w. Mushy Peas. Coconut Macaroon.
VESSEL // Dimpled Pint. Tulip