[VIDEOS] So What's The Story Behind Epic Armageddon IPA

This series of videos explains the story behind the origins of Epic Armageddon I.P.A., The West Coast IPA Challenge, the reasons for putting Epic Armageddon I.P.A. into oak barrels, naming them Pete & Melissa before putting them onto the Interislander for a six week ocean voyage between the North & South Island of New Zealand (actually it is multiple sailings between the two islands three or four times a day) and then making the beer available to taste at Beervana, Wellington Town Hall, 28th & 29th August.

Epic Adventure Part 8 - Made From New Zealand
Introduction about Luke brewing in the UK for JD Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival, then brewing some Epic Halcyon at Thornbridge Brewery (UK), using two New Zealand brewers - Luke Nicholas and Kelly Ryan, plus some New Zealand hops and New Zealand water. Then two 5 litre mini kegs are shipped from the UK for tasting by an exclusive group in Wellington, and we see the unpacking of the keg.



Epic Adventure Part 9 - Made From New Zealand
Luke introduces Colin Mallon of the Malthouse in Wellington. Colin talks about how the two got to know each other, became friends(?), traveled to the UK together for some market research, Luke pours Colin the first pint of Epic Pale Ale at the JD Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival for his birthday. A meeting with Pete Brown author of Hops & Glory, Melissa Cole and a visit to the Rake in London. And a very cool idea inspired by Pete's book.



Epic Adventure Part 10 - Made From New Zealand
Luke talks to Stephen Plowman from Hallertau BrewBar, about the origins of the West Coast IPA Challenge, a trip to California in April 2008, inspired by some crazy hoppy beers, brewing for the 2nd Annual West Coast IPA Challenge, and unleashing of some pain on the beer drinking public.



Epic Adventure Part 11 - Made From New Zealand
Luke talks to Neil "Haiku" Miller about the naming of Armageddon, Pete Brown's book Hops & Glory (again), the second coming of Armageddon and a reference to the impish brewer.



Epic Adventure Part 12 - Made From New Zealand
Luke summarizes the epic journey to this point, meeting Pete Brown, reading about his own barrel called Barry (you will need to read the book to find out the full story), two oak barrels filled with Epic Armageddon IPA, an ocean voyage on the Interislander between the North and South Island of New Zealand, here's to Pete Brown and Melissa Cole for inspiring the current stage of this epic journey.

People are blogging about Epic Armageddon IPA - already!

Does My Bum Look Big in this Barrel? by Melissa Cole

To set the scene for you, a couple of months ago Luke Nicholas from Epic brewery was over here brewing for Wetherspoon's and I met up with him and his mate Colin Mallon (a Scotsman who runs a great-sounding pub called the Malthouse ) had some beers, a bite to eat and an all-round good laugh.

They went back to New Zealand, we did the Facebook thing to stay in contact and I didn't think much more about it - until a tagged photo of a barrel appeared with my name on it on Colin's page, which I found a little odd/slightly insulting!

Basically, inspired by Pete Brown's new book Hops & Glory (which I've mentioned previously), Luke & Colin cooked up the idea to put two wooden casks of beer onto the New Zealand Interislander Ferry for six weeks to see what effect it has - the decided that the barrels should be named after Pete and myself, which is sweet... I think!

from the blog Taking the beard out of beer! - A Girl's Guide to Beer

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Whatcha gonna do, Brother?

Whatcha gonna do, brother, when the hoppiest beers in the country run wild on you?

The Second Annual West Coast IPA Challenge: Battle of Champions has rightly been likened to a huge title bout with two cocky contenders out to win the spoils of victory and, perhaps more importantly, bragging rights over the other for a whole year.

This year, the Challenge kicks off on July 17 at Malthouse with Hallertau’s specially brewed Maximus Humulus Lupulus squaring off on tap against Epic’s brilliantly named Armageddon.

from The Malthouse blog

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An these have been re-blogged here The Epic Journey Has Begun

Whatcha gonna do, Brother? by Neil Miller

Whatcha gonna do, brother, when the hoppiest beers in the country run wild on you?

The Second Annual West Coast IPA Challenge: Battle of Champions has rightly been likened to a huge title bout with two cocky contenders out to win the spoils of victory and, perhaps more importantly, bragging rights over the other for a whole year.

This year, the Challenge kicks off on July 17 at Malthouse with Hallertau’s specially brewed Maximus Humulus Lupulus squaring off on tap against Epic’s brilliantly named Armageddon. A few lucky Malthouse patrons had a sneak peak at both the brewers and tank samples of their respective brews at the very limited Epic Halcyon tasting. Halcyon was the real ale Luke Nichols made in England for a huge beer festival. Only ten litres ever made it to New Zealand and they did not last very long.

This event was, if you like, the weigh-in and the early favourite would have to be Hallertau. However, Maximus has been in the tank two weeks longer than the Armageddon so the actual showdown will be a lot closer and a heap tastier.

There was even a bit of a media scrum with some guys shooting footage of Luke and Steve Plowman (Hallertau head brewer and general bearded good guy) talking about pale ales and their contest. They worked for “YouTube” apparently so that footage is currently being edited. Luke will undoubtedly twitter and blog the appropriate link the second it is available provided he has stopped ranting about Wilson Parking. This blog will probably mention the final video some weeks later. We just work at different speeds.

So there was the media, there was the weigh-in and, wisely, both brewers declined to impersonate classic professional wrestlers in order to promote the Challenge. But if they had, it might have gone something like this:

The Nature Boy Steve Plowman: “Imp, let me tell you something. I’ve spent my entire career seeing off punks like you. Women want to be with me, men want to be me. I’m a limousine-riding, jet flying, kiss stealing, wheeling-dealing, porter noir drinking son of a gun. Woooo! My shirt costs more than your entire house. A word of advice slick, stand up when you talk to me… if you want to be the man, you have to beat the man.

You’ve got to climb Space Mountain! Wooo!

He then strutted around the room, emitted another “wooo” and then flopped face first into a table. (That final move is now trademarked by Mathieu Basteraud.)

The Imp: “Finally, The Imp has come back to the Malthouse! The Imp has taken time out of his busy Hollywood schedule to address the Nature Jabroni. His brewery is located outside of Auckland on the corners of Know Your Role Avenue and Shut Your Mouth Boulevard. You cannot challenge The Imp. How many IBU’s does your beer have? It doesn’t matter how many IBUs your beer has! The Imp will layeth the smack down on your roody poo candy ass. If you smell what The Imp is cooking!”

I’m delighted to report that both their nicknames appear to be sticking.

The hype for the Challenge already exceeds Tua vs Cameron and the end result is likely to be a lot more satisfying too. Head down to the Malthouse and, from 17 July, try the contenders and let the staff know which you think is the undisputed champion.

Remarkably, the West Coast Challenge is not the only major pale ale related story for July. Pete Brown, favoured beer author of the Handsome and Softly Spoken Scotsman, has just published a rather excellent book– Hops and Glory. He takes a cask of pale ale from Britain to India by ship, retracing the long journey which helped create this marvellous style of beer. He even graphically demonstrates some of the pitfalls of transporting beer in warm climes by having a 20-litre cask explode in a rented house. Apparently you never realise how much beer is 20 litres until you are on your hands and knees sopping it out of the carpet.

Anyway, over a quiet pint of Epic one evening, the Handsome and Softly Spoken Scotsman had the crazy idea of recreating Pete’s recreation right here in New Zealand. He asked the Impish brewer to procure some wooden barrels and fill them with Armageddon. The Impish brewer immediately agreed. He asked the Interislander ferry if the barrels could go on their ship for up to six weeks. The Interislander people immediately agreed.

The new oak barrels, called Pete (for obvious reasons) and Melissa (after beer writer Melissa Cole) will experience changes in temperature and constant movement. Tapping them and finding out what effect the voyage has had will be a little bit of history and it will undoubtedly be at Malthouse – the home of beer in Wellington.

“So whatcha going to do, brothers, when the hoppiest beers in the country run wild on you?”

Cheers


Beer Writer
Real Beer New Zealand
Beer and Brewer Magazine

Links

Epic – http://www.epicbeer.com/
Impish Brewer – http://imp.epicbeer.com/
Hallertau – http://www.hallertau.co.nz/
Steve Plowman – http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2598667299_a1de94c9aa.jpg?v=0
Pete Brown – http://petebrown.blogspot.com/
Hops and Glory –

Melissa Cole - http://girlsguidetobeer.blogspot.com/
Malthouse Facebook Group - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wellington/Malthouse/7084276173
Real Beer – http://www.realbeer.co.nz/blog/blog.html
Beer and Brewer Magazine - http://www.beerandbrewer.com/

Imp-lausibly tasty beers

This article written by Neil Miller was recently posted on the Malthouse website.


Impish brewer Luke Nicholas once wrote that he “created Epic Pale Ale for the Steam Brewing Company and liked the beer so much he bought the company.” He is now the head brewer and director of Epic Brewing Company which brews Epic Pale Ale, Epic Lager and, occasionally, Epic Mayhem and Epic Armageddon.

His brewing style is unashamedly hop-fixated. Luke has made a decision to use all imported hops for his beers as they give him the flavour and power he is looking for. While this approach can be controversial with his peers, the resulting beers are highly regarded. Epic Pale Ale was crowned Supreme Champion Beer of New Zealand just weeks after it launched. Metro called it the “Best Beer in Auckland” (by which they mean New Zealand) and the Listener also had it as the best beer of 2007 though their sole source for that assessment was me.

Epic Pale Ale (5.4%) pours a burnished gold colour and throws a punchy citrus nose. It has an immaculate balance between the rich malt body and lashings of summerfruit and citrus notes. It finishes with a lingering, almost oily, bitterness which leaves you anticipating the next drop. Luke admits to using a “shed load” of hops and says while others might consider that to be “insane”, he calls it “flavour”. The judges at the 2008 Brew NZ Beer Awards concluded this beer deserved a gold medal and was proclaimed the best in the fiercely competitive pale ale class.

For those that prefer a little less hops, Luke created Epic Lager (5%), a tasty, quaffable beer. It is bright gold in the glass, soft in the mouth with a crisp, lingering, grassy finish. The hopping is still generous by mainstream standards which means the Epic Lager is a highly quenching drop.

Both beers are now on tap at the Malthouse and are popping up around the country in swank new 500ml bottles which are better for single bottle sales, perfect for sharing and mean that I have to get and go to the fridge 37% less often.

Mayhem and Armageddon are very special beers and are brewed sparingly for fear that they will devastate the international hop market. Each can be compared to a turbo-charged Epic Pale Ale with attitude because they pack in even more bitterness and alcoholic strength. The Armageddon claimed to be the bitterest beer ever made in New Zealand. These beers are not for the faint of heart or weak of liver. One or both may make a return to the Malthouse in 2009 and, if they do, I might let the readers of this blog know. Or I may just turn up at the bar with a very large straw. We shall see.

Unlike big breweries which can afford television ads with Hollywood B-listers stuck in a creepy amusement park or computer generated native birds pooping into a man’s cereal, the Epic promotional budget is tiny. Instead, Luke uses a plethora of interactive technology to connect with the paying public. He has been so successful at this that he was even profiled on a serious business website called Management Focus. Here are some highlights from his profile:

A confirmed “gadget geek”, Luke made the decision to use on-line technology as Epic’s principle form of branding and marketing. The more traditional marketing methods would only be used as support.

“I’ve used the internet in business for over ten years and I know that on-line tools, used properly, can be very cost effective. Perhaps the biggest change I’ve seen is that my target audience is pretty technology-savvy and is becoming more so every day,”

Luke believes that people aged 25-45 do not get their information from billboards, television or even newspaper adverts anymore.

“ These people use the internet, email, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Friendfeed and Flickr to gather information to help make their real-world purchases. Epic has a strong on-line presence on all these platforms – in fact, they are all listed on the back of my business card,”

“ I guess I’m lucky as a closet computer geek that I have been able to bring my twin interests or obsessions of gadgets and beer together! ”

The full version can be read at this link.

I’d particularly encourage discerning drinkers to add Luke as a friend on Facebook. He needs more friends as he currently only has 474. You also have the ability to join the official “Epic Beer is my friend” group but I’d prefer people signed up to the rebel “Hail the Impish One” group which was created by Colin the Handsome Scottish Proprietor and me after a couple of quiet Epics. We currently have a rather pathetic and potentially unlucky thirteen members.

The final word, as usual, goes to Luke getting a little emotional and poetic about his Epic:

“ The flavours dance across your palate and invigorate your mind… which lets you reflect and contemplate the EPIC flavour experience for a moment before the desire to have another mouthful starts to grow. ”

Cheers,
Neil Miller