Meet the Brewer - Renaissance Brewing

When:  Wednesday, 19 June, 5pm onwards
Where:  Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

What:  pay-as-you-go

We're pleased to present the New York debut of New Zealand's Renaissance Brewing Company.  Brewer Brian will be at Spuyten Duyvil to answer all of your questions about their beers, hobbits, and sheep. Please come out to give him a warm New York welcome and offer congratulations on the brewery's recent win of Champion Small International Brewery at the 2013 Australian International Beer Awards.

The beers:  

• Elemental Porter (draft) - Brewed in the modern ‘robust’ style, Elemental Porter is a rich, full bodied brew with plenty of dry, dark chocolate and roasty malt flavours which gradually give way to a cleansing hop-driven finish. 6% 
•  Stonecutter Scotch Ale (draft) - 7% wee heavy. Nine malts are blended together to produce layers of caramel, toffee, liquorice, chocolate and roasty flavours. These layers are balanced by a tart, raisiny fruitiness that gradually gives way to give this dark beer a lingering dry finish. Rich, full bodied, warming.
• M.P.A. (draft) - Marlborough Pale Ale, 8.5% double IPA. is a uniquely kiwi take on an American Double India Pale Ale. The style is based on the Americans intention to create a massively hopped full-bodied, higher alcohol Pale Ale to showcase the bitterness flavour and aroma of their locally grown hops. Rather than simply copying the Americans, Renaissance Brewing has taken the concept and turned it into a kiwi brew by utilising not only New Zealand grown hops but also by choosing to use only New Zealand hop varieties.
• Craftsman Oatmeal Chocolate Stout (bottle) - Craftsman is the ‘Big Brother’ to the Elemental porter. Building on the flavours given by the crystal, brown and black malts, we add a portion of organic rolled oats for a silky smooth mouthfeel, then added a small amount of cocoa nibs to the mash and brew kettle, plus a large addition of nibs to the fermentor. The beer that matured on those cocoa nibs has a lovely chocolate nose that melds beautifully with the coffee and hop notes in the beer. The resulting Stout has a full rounded palate with chocolate and roasted notes predominating and the depth of intensity that one expects from a Stout. 4.9%
• Voyager IPA (bottle) - Inspired by the boldly hoppy Ales of old that were exported from Britain to the furthest corners of her vast and glorious empire, Voyager I.P.A. is a rich satisfying Ale with an emphatic hop bite. Brewed with pale ale malt from Canterbury and small additions of European specialty malts to yield a malt base on which to build its hop edifice. Generously hopped with two Kiwi hop varieties for bitterness then finish it with Fuggles (as a nod to I.P.A.’s British origin) and New Zealand bred Riwaka hops for a spicy floral finish. 6%