Getting Slapped in the Face with a Hoppy Rag at Deep Creek Brewing Co in Auckland, NZ

Hoppy Beers

If you say "hoppy beer" to anyone that doesn't know beer, they think of bitter beer.

Bitterness is a typical characteristic of some European style beers. The lighter beers of the Pilsner and Lager styles thrive on a bit of bitterness to quench your thirst. Some readily available mainstream commercial beers which used Pilsners and Lagers as their foundation for their taste profiles perpetuated this play on bitterness. We think it is to the detriment of the beverage's reputation. Beer should be better.

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In the early days of craft brewing, the brewers also managed to get bitterness wrong (some still do). You often end up with tonsil-throttling gill-destroying bitterness in an American or Indian Pale Ale, with a healthy dose of excuses claiming that if you cannot stand the heat (bitterness) in the kitchen (craft brewery's beer), then you better get out (drink some Bud, bud). Bitter is cruft!

No, it is not! Hops have many roles to play in beer. It imparts bitterness. It has a preservation effect to keep beer yeasts happy. Most importantly, Hops is about flavour. Flavour is all about profile and balance.

What people are discovering, with more beer choices on the market, is that bitterness is only one part, although an important, part that hops play in the flavour profile of a style. We believe there is a much bigger part, which most beer drinkers don't really know about, understand or appreciate. It is the ability of Hops to impart unique flavours to beer.

If hops flavouring is where the rubber hits the road for a good beer, it is also where the wheels come off. For all the angelic flavouring qualities the immaculately expensive hops from all the corners of the world bestow on our favourite beverage, they have one unfortunately quality. They are masters at escaping. As soon as you get them into beer, they have this one unfortunate peculiarity. They pull a vanishing act.

It has driven many a brewer to drink trying to solve this simple dilemma. They can pull off a juicy, citrussy cloudy ale with perfection, only to discover their creation became just another flat clear pale ale three weeks later. If you know what they know, and we know, you will drink the beer when it is fresh and ready. Choose your timing wisely. A week later and it is no longer be the master creation it was intended to be because the Hops flavours departed.

What if you can make the perfect beer and still have it perfect for weeks and months later with the same breathtakingly beautiful aromas and flavours, as the day it came cold crashed from the fermenter?

You can now. The world of beer is about to change forever. Steamed distilled Hops Oil makes it possible. It is popping up everywhere - even in New Zealand, and it is making the beer better. We've had our own disasters brewing with it. However, with a little practice, refinement and restraint we have discovered a whole new world of taste in beer - the way it was meant to be.

For more about Hops Oil, have a look at this entry in our Blog about Glacier Hops Ranch and their HopzOil Product.

Observations

On our recent whirlwind tour of New Zealand, we crashed into Scott Taylor of Deep Creek Brewing Co., at the Dunedin Craft Beerfest. We did a double take when he mentioned that they have a beer, a very popular one, that they made with Hops oil.

Now, there is Hops oil and then there is Hops oil. We were skeptical. But, he had our attention when he mentioned that it was steam distilled oil from fresh New Zealand hops. Apparently, they bet the Hops farm, bought a whole bunch of fresh hops from a farmer in the South Island and got a lavender oil distillery in Christchurch to distill them some oil. Next thing is, they are selling out on Hops Oil beer!

We thought that that North American craft brewers were the pioneers. In typical Kiwi fashion, they knocked something up in the barn and before you know it, the Kiwis are not just keeping up with the Jones', they are leading the charge!

Meet Paul, Scott and Jarred.  They’re the original guys behind Deep Creek Brewing Co, the craft beer brewery from Auckland, New Zealand. Deep Creek was born from a long-term friendship and a burning desire to produce flavour fuelled handcrafted beer and bring it to the kiwi masses (and people as far as Norway) to enjoy.

We loved their beer and their innovation. They have a pretty good restaurant and bar in Browns Bay, North Shore, Auckland too. We will be back with more from Deep Creek. In the meantime, enjoy the video and let them know the Two Cowboys sent you!

Hendrik
Hoppy Beer Cowboy

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Two Cowboys: Filling our Beer Growlers with (A Lot of) Fresh Beer at Our Local in Canmore, Alberta

But, Is It Any Good?

We've been on a craft beer crusade over the last two years. It happened for two simple reasons. Firstly, we discovered fresh beer. Secondly, Alberta Province finally stepped into the 21st Century by allowing small commercial craft brewing. Suddenly, we were spoiled for choice, and crucially, we discovered that we too are entitled to an opinion.

While drinking our way through craft brews and visiting breweries in the Canadian West and as far as New Zealand, we've made an undesirable discovery. Not all beer is created equal. Most of what is brewed and labelled as "craft" is merely failing expectations.

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Let's Talk About Fresh Beer. 

It was a revelation to discover (from a very senior and internationally well respected consulting brewer) that beer goes stale a lot quicker than breweries want you to know. Some beer you should drink within a week or fortnight after the brew. Some can still be in good shape with flavour developing up to three weeks, but then you are stretching it. After that, don't bother unless you are really in need of refreshment. Beer is like bread. Best when it is fresh.

There are ways to make beer last longer (staying fresh for longer). Keeping it in a keg, in the dark, sitting quietly at the right temperature or by adding some stabilizing agent, are ways to do it. The problem is that once it is transported or hits bottles or cans, beer is pretty much done for it. It won't live up to expectations if you are a connoisseur.

Beer's freshness is affected by some factors such as temperature, movement, light, oxygen, etc. The official story is that beer that is appropriately handled, bottled or canned has a shelf life of six to nine months. Expiry dates on your favourite brand typically reflect the beer to be good for up to that time. What it means is that you are unlikely to fall violently ill from the beverage. However, it is no guarantee of freshness or taste.

Here is the revelation: A freshly brewed beer, less than four weeks old, at your local tap room, poured from a chilled keg, is in the best condition for enjoyment. Try it for yourself. Buy the can. Pour a pint from the keg. Drink both. Which one tastes better? Voila! (No, it is not the beer-gas that is the difference.)

This is why we are in complete support of local brewing and local beer. Like you baker and your butcher, your local brewer (if he knows what he is doing) is your best source of fresh beer. Even better if they have a taproom because not only is it your oasis for beer, it is also the local happy place that brings people together and cements friendships.

Observations

Canmore Brewing Company is our favourite local brewery and we are proud of having Brian Dunn and his team in our town. The brewery officially opened on 1 December 2016, a full year ago. We were there when it began. We were there when the tap room opened. I think we kicked the door off a day ahead of schedule. We were there when they participated in Canmore Uncorked, there for the Calgary Beer Festival, and we are there almost every week (sometimes several times) when we are in town for a pint and to get our ten growlers filled.

Over the last year, Brian kept tinkering with the recipes and sometimes we were elated with the results as he mustered new flavours and developed his menu. We also shared in the disappointments and loyally helped to drink those away.

The one thing that stands out for us about Canmore Brewing's beer is that it is not a mad-science experiment (Craft Breweries tend to get a little carried away sometimes). Instead, it is our comfort food. The last thing we want is for someone to fiddle with the recipe when we've fallen in love with it. Brian respects us and honours our wishes. There are seasonal brews. Some are quite good.

However, the locals appreciate Canmore Brewing for doing a few brews really, really well and we hope Brian keeps it that way.

Hendrik van Wyk

Beer Cowboy

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Traveling Cowboys: Community and Old School Ingenuity at [Theoretically] Brewing in Lethbridge, AB

Brewing & Science

Sometimes, the most rewarding way is the better way. There are people in the world that are so enthralled with the process of creation that they take particular care not to sidestep any part of the journey. Words such as authentic, artisan, original, one-of-a-kind, and unique are associated with these makers.

For them, producing ice cream with a powder mix is not real ice cream. Chocolate without cocoa butter is not chocolate. Boots need to be hand-stitched and hats need to be hand shaped. You've seen and met many of these producers on this site. We want to introduce you to another pair that goes out of their way to keep it local, community focused, traditional and pure. They are Kris and Kelti from [Theoretically] Brewing Co. in Lethbridge.

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Changes in Alberta's liquor laws opened up the opportunity in 2013 for craft brewing. [Theoretically] Brewing, took the plunge with a deluge of other budding brewing entrepreneurs to capitalize on the opportunity of making their community's beer. They joke that the process from fire-pit to tasting-room was the biggest game of chicken the pair have ever played as they kept expecting for reality to put a stop to their dream. Encouraging friends, stalwart enthusiasm, and incredible support from their families helped make [Theoretically] Brewing what it is today - Alberta's second smallest brewery.

Saying that it is the "second smallest craft brewery" doesn't do justice to the journey. Kelti explained that their commitment to their community helped to keep welders employed in Lethbridge during the recession to custom make their brew and fermentation tanks. They wrestled through the permitting system with the AGLC and Lethbridge Council until they pioneered a practical approach to sustainable energy use on their premises. However, all the good intentions will mean nothing if the beer is no good, so let's talk about the beer. It is good!

All of their beers are unpasteurized and unfiltered, meaning that there are live yeast cultures in the beer and that they do not contain preservatives. This sounds like fresh beer to us! They bottle finish their beers, which is gutsy for a commercial brewery. You can never be guaranteed of the end result in a batch. Every bottle can be different. Every batch can be different. At [Theoretically] Brewing it is all done by hand with a lot of love and care, while they tinker with new and creative processes and recipes. This is what craft is all about. Experimentation!

Even their beers are named after scientists and scientific concepts or theories.

Observations

Kelti, didn't spare us on the day we visited the brewery. She took us through their entire repertoire of the brewery's arsenal of beers. Step-by-step we settled into tasting from the lighter to the darker beers until we ended with the stouts. At least, that is as much as I can remember. After the fourth beer, we can't remember what happened. Apparently, she explained how their love of stout is where the inspiration for the Brewery came from.

All we know is that it was a big tasting. We sipped from giant test tubes and savored every moment, aroma and flavor. No beer was wasted. We drank every last drop as Kelti took us through the inspiration for every brew. There is a story behind each one, which we hope to bring you in subsequent installments.

We came away from [Theoretically] brewing with mixed emotions. Somehow, we don't want them to change and grow up. We wish them success and many years of beer market domination and at the same time, we want them to stay as they are.

They must remain one of the smallest breweries in Alberta. We want to keep them our secret. They are quaint, special, practical and passionate about what they do. If you contrast it with some of the other more recent additions to Alberta's Craft Brewing scene, [Theoretically] Brewing inspires what a true Craft Brewery is all about. They don't do hectolitres of yet another Ale, Pilsner or Brown. They don't have the flash taproom or the "beertarts" in sales marketing, crisscrossing the Province and selling yet another label or brand.

Instead, for them, it is about the process of creation. The community that comes from the support of their people. The experiments and the focus on keeping it practical. Theoretically, they are one of the more unique breweries we've had the privilege to visit so far. Believe me, we will be back at the first opportunity we get.

Hendrik van Wyk

Theoretically a Cowboy

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Two Cowboys: Our Own Fresh Beer From the WilliamsWarn One Vessel Brewing Innovators in Hastings, NZ

Fresher Beer

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Canada is not one of the top beer drinking nations. Surprised?

It is Canada's most popular beverage by far but we're not drinking enough as a nation. According to our trusted informant at Wikipedia, Canada is ranked 39th in the world with around 63 liters of beer per person per year. New Zealand, Australia, and the United States are all out-drinking the Canucks.

We were wondering why?

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Society owes an enormous debt to beer. Because of beer, we have civilization. Yes, there are health and nutritional benefits to consider. It is the social benefits of drinking beer that has helped to substantially advance civility.

Beer may just have kept us from wiping out each other. Over time, it became much more pleasurable and life-prolonging to meet our foes in battle at a game and then have a "cold-one" afterward. If you know the Canadian Hockey culture, then you will completely grasp its significance. Instead of death by axe and sword on the battlefield, it became puck and stick on the ice, finished with a beer. In the warmer climates, the principle is the same. It all comes down to having a beer after the game. It keeps everyone alive and in good spirits for the next round.

How is it then that Canadians, a sporting nation like any other, are not consuming their allotment in beer? The answer is simple. A lack of "fresh" beer!

Beer oxidizes over time. When it does, it gets a "papery" or flattened-out flavour. Beer doesn't “spoil,” or become unsafe to drink, just less pleasant. How long your beer will remain drinkable depends on many factors. The conditions under which you store it, the style and whether it is canned or bottled all contribute to its expeditious deterioration. Light and oxygen are the enemies of beer.

If your beer has gone from the brewery to a hot truck, to a cold storage facility, to the floor of your local grocery store, it loses flavour more quickly. As a general rule beer keeps the longest when stored at a constant cool temperature and handling is kept to a minimum. The best beer is fresh beer consumed within seven days from brewing, which hasn't been moved, touched and even bottled. Here's the elephant in the room: "Breweries know this! That is why your draft tastes better than the bottle."

It made us think about how we can regularly get our hands on truly fresh beer, short of pulling a heist on the brewery or bribing the local brewmaster?

We tried brewing our own beer. The results were less than stellar, and we abandoned the mission for the local grocery store six-pack after a month of trying. We made friends with our local brewmaster and picked up a keg from the brewery. We sourced some CO2 gas from the local beer gas guy. Hooked it all up to a kegerator from China and pulled the lever. A mouth full of foam is all we managed after fiddling with the regulators for a week.

The only strategy that has worked consistently so far is a significant investment in Growlers that we get refilled every other day at the local brewery. Even this is hit and miss depending on the age of the beer in the keg they sell.

Observations

We kept looking for a better solution, and I think we've found it with Ian Williams and the folks at WilliamsWarn. They cracked the code and solved our fresh beer problem. It is something that has since turned our beer world literally upside down.

WilliamsWarn has an appliance (like a coffee machine) that makes fresh beer on tap. And, it does it better than our local brewmaster (don't tell him yet). Here's the real surprise. You can do it all yourself, at home, from the best ingredients in the world, with nearly no specialist knowledge.

The folks at WilliamsWarn generously hosted us in Hastings at their assembly plant to give us a good look at their new BrewKegs and stocked us up on fresh beer. Our real surprise was to see how these BrewKegs is revolutionizing craft brewing in brewpubs, delicatessens, and restaurants all over New Zealand.

Let's just say, North America and Canada's nearly 5,000 craft breweries better buckle up. Fresh beer is in town. Prepare for your world to be challenged.

We are going to track and enjoy it every step of the way.

Hendrik van Wyk
Brewkeg Brewmaster in Training Cowboy

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Two Cowboys: Olds College Brewery - Olds - Alberta

Every Town Needs One

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When we heard "beer school", we conjured up visions of heavenly aromas, rivers of golden beer, and perfectly valid excuses for consistent intoxication, thanks to an above the norm commitment to beverage quality control.

What we found at Olds College Brewery instead, is a serious business. 

The brewing industry in Alberta and Canada is growing rapidly. It took nearly a hundred years for the impact of prohibition and subsequent corporately sponsored government control of the beer and distilling industries to loosen its grip on enterprising brewers and distilling craft lovers. We are now finally seeing increasing numbers of craft breweries and distilleries, driven largely by strong consumer demand for a greater variety of great tasting, and local craft beers and spirits. Canada is slowly waking up to the realization that we can all have our own beer.

Alberta has the ingredients, the entrepreneurial spirit, and if you go back far enough, the foundational history in alcohol production. It is time we embrace our agricultural assets and our heritage.

Peter Johnston-Berresford is the leading Brewmaster at Olds College Brewery, and a pioneer of Alberta's very own Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Program. In his words: "Every community and town in our Province has the capacity to support its very own small community based brewery." Olds College is playing its part in ensuring this becomes a reality.

The College has a hundred plus year history in education that supports the agriculture and agriculture value-added sectors. The idea of starting up a teaching brewery was seen by their board as a perfect fit to some of the core agriculture production in the Province. They created a state of the art 2,000 square foot facility dedicated to teaching students the art and science behind brewing the best beer possible. 

Their first student intake was in the fall of 2013, and they began to produce their first commercial brews in January 2014. 

It is a two-year program that covers:

• The fundamentals of beer making and brewery operation.
• Evaluating the consistency and quality of beer while also determining beer styles and characteristics
• Conducting analysis and performing advanced techniques in the beer-making process
• Performing laboratory analysis of beer as required in a brewery.
• Formulating and developing beer recipes for the marketplace.

As you can see, this is serious stuff. The magic of the Olds College program is that it is not all about beer. It is also about the business of beer. Students are inducted into the finer points of brewing commerce and production. This prepares them to be good brewers, good entrepreneurs, an asset to existing industry players and above all, good community members.

Observations

The proof is in the beverage! There is no room for hops-trigger-happy-hipsters in this operation. Everything we tasted was delicious, well balanced and full of character. The beer is simply outstanding.

Every Producer knows that you have to start with a good product to succeed in business. The Olds College Producer took on the added responsibility of not only having a good beer, and an outstandingly well qualified candidate for the industry, but it set itself the target of being self-sufficient. We applaud them for this free-market spirit!

The Brewery is a commercial operation. It may be dismissed by some sceptics to be a novel idea, until you realize that what they turn out is high quality stuff. It is well worth the trip to Olds to stock up on their beer. Who knows, it may even become serious competition for the bigger brands in due course.

As we've exclaimed at the end of the video. This is now also "our beer". 

Peter, Tony and David, are doing fine work. It is awesome to see the core values of production and commerce alive and well at an institution that are preparing future generations for their place in society. Not only do they teach the values. The institution lives by it.

We are proud to have the opportunity to tell their story. We hope to have many more excuses to continue to share their success and work beyond Olds, and beyond their beer. We are having a cold on on them!

Hendrik van Wyk

Olds Brewery Beer Fan

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