Beer with a Whiff of History

This week Epic Brewing Co. release their new batch of Barrel-Aged IPA, which draws inspiration from the past and present.

Photo: Norm Blyton

British brewers created the IPA (India Pale Ale) originally as a pale ale style in the eighteen century to satisfy the demands of their countrymen living in India. The long trip from England to India, around the Cape of Good Hope emulated the cellaring that used to occur with such beers, resulting in increased depth of flavour and maturity. Doubling the amount of hops (a natural preservative) resulted in a hoppy, high-alcohol (in those days 6.5-7%) beer we know today as IPA.

In 2009, curious about how the long sea voyage in barrels would affect a beer, Epic’s Luke Nicholas put 40 litres of his Armageddon IPA into two oak barrels and sat them on the Interislander ferry for six weeks as it made it’s way back and forth across the choppy Cook Strait. The resulting beer proved so popular that Luke made another larger batch - and another and another.

Each time the beer has turned out slightly differently, reacting to the diverse barrels to give various flavours. This year Epic used new American oak barrels and aged the beer for three months, as opposed to two months for the 2010 vintage. Some fresh Armageddon was also blended with the barrel-aged ale, resulting in a beer in which the large vanilla oak character is balanced by the fresh hops. Mandarin, orange oil and cedar are evident in the palate as well. Barrel-Aged IPA is the perfect accompaniment for a creamy blue cheese.

The 2010 Barrel-Aged IPA picked up a Gold Medal and a Best in Class trophy at last year's Brewers Guild of New Zealand Awards and has picked up a Silver Medal this year. Armageddon IPA also picked up a Gold Medal and a Best in Class trophy at the 2011 awards.

Epic Barrel-Aged IPA will be available in bars and retail outlets around the country. For more information, please contact Epic Brewing Co on 0800 212 337 or email orders@epicbeer.com

BeerMen.TV - Episode 32 – Aged Woody

Ageing beer in barrels to expand flavour is a trend that has exploded in the US and is now gaining pace in the Southern Hemisphere. Luke Nicholas from Epic Beer dropped by when we were in Melbourne recently to share a massive new Epic Beer from New Zealand – Oaked Aged Armageddon IPA.

Beermen.TV

More Winners - 42 Days of Epic Armageddon IPA

Well I was hoping this was going to be way more straight forward but all of the entries have been really good. I was also hoping I could get it down to just one winner this week (yes that was last Friday, hope to do better this week), but four winners was the best I could.

Loving the photoshop - 'The Pursuit of Hoppyness' and our first Australian winner.

I have started a photo gallery of the entries and will place all entries there so you can see what you are up against. The standard keeps on increasing, in the gallery there are a couple of non-Armageddon photos but they are worthy of a mention.

Epic Antarctica and Last Epic Supper both very cool.

There was also a video submitted this week and will try and get this upload too.

Good luck for this coming week.

More details at http://42.epicbeer.com

Nominations for the first week of 42 Days are…

Find out more on how you can win a case of 12 x 500ml bottles of Epic Armageddon IPA in the next week

Check out below there are some amazing photos and concepts that include Epic Armageddon IPA. How am I going to pick a winner?

Click though on your favourite, so I can see the number of views as this will influence the outcome of the winner. If it is a popular pick then it has a better chance.

The nominations are...

mazzavernon After an Epic 42 Days the adoption papers finally came through. Isn't he beautiful!

@lesterperryNZ: Armageddon, worth going to Jail for

henry_maddocks  Epic Armageddon IPA  

Epic Shopping Trolley by .donelle

kylecarter Epic Armageddon and the Epic Lager Kr3w

EdOvery  Armageddon IPA at the bar - The Mangawhai Bar that is ...

appareto "The four horsemen of the epicalypse"

actionflynn Have an @epicbeer new year!

epicbeer 42 @epicbeer bottle caps

Do you have a cool idea for a photo that could win you a case of 12 x 500ml bottles of Epic Armageddon IPA?

- Upload a photo
- Tag it
- Tweet it
- Hashtag #42DaysofEpicArmageddonIPA

More info

Oh yeah, I for got to say the big prize is 42 bottles of Epic Armageddon IPA, announced the 42nd day of the year.

Epic Armageddon Wins Best Of BrewNZ Tasting

A recent tasting held by Wellington Beer Writer, Neil Miller at the Backbencher, featured all the Best in Class winners from the BrewNZ Beer Awards.

This taste off to find the best of the best resulted in Epic Armageddon IPA being awarded the top place.

Beerly Tasting at the Backbencher