Limburg Hopsmacker

Brewed by Steam Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Auckland, New Zealand

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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(5 Oct 04) Tasted this in an unlabelled bottle before it had hit the retail shelves (and apparently was the first time it had been in the South Island). Big hoppy aroma of passionfruit, apricot, orange and melon. The nose also has a lactic character with notes of passionfruit yoghurt. Its body is golden with a fluffy head and tastes of passionfruit with a citrus dryness and toffeeish, biscuity flavours. The finish is very drying.

Love this beer, this years batch of hops have a great passionfruit aroma. Such a clean taste, it’s such a pleasure to drink. Beautiful looking, beautiful tasting!

Crisp and fruity with a not too bitter hoppyness produced partly by the aromatic Saaz hops (fuggles I gather for bittering). Slightly cloudy this beer has an appearance of a wheat beer but with more of phat hoppy lagery style flavour and palate. I’ve managed to reproduce something simlar using Muntons continental lager with simmered Hallertau and Saaz hops (15 mins), black rock light malt, arataki honey, and eventually honey as a secondary primer. A quite elegant and refreshing drop best served chilled on a hot day with a backdrop of women in short skirts.

A deliciously juicy example of New Zealand brewing. They do a fine line in pale ales brewed with local hops, and this seems to be one of the best. There’s no longer any mention of Fuggles on the label, instead referring to NZ Saaz and "other New World hops", which tends to confirm my impression that this is now closer to an APA than an EPA. It’s a cracking beer, whatever the style. There’s very little to fault, from the towering head with lashings of lace to the gloriously fresh and zesty aroma and the exquisitely balanced flavours. Loverly stuff. Gives off big drafts of lychee, passionfruit, orange Fruit Gums, gooseberry greenness and Curacao. Soft carbonation. Tart, juicy tropical fruit with some US APA-style toffee malts and pine. All very restrained and balanced. After starting an NZ holiday with a few duds, this one lifted my whole mood because I knew I had something really good to drink for the rest of the week. (330ml bottle from Scenic Cellars, Taupo)

Good crisp, bitter hop flavour (NZ hops). This is much better than Limburg’s Tribute Pale Ale and is quite a nice NZPA.

(Bottle 33 cl) Pours a clear, deep golden with a creamy, lacing, off-white head. Very pleasant, peachy hop aroma. Medium-bodied with lightly sweet notes of caramel malt and then otherwise completely dominated by the rather sophisticated hop blend that leaves lots of flavour but not so much bitterness. A fantastic session beer. This may be based on an English style but with the Kiwi twist it certainly came out as a brilliant APA. 240108

UPDATED: MAY 4, 2005 Fill your own flagon from Regional Wines and Spirits. Tasted 14/15 December 2004. Aroma is very floral with some grass and citrus. Some sweet malt detected. Very reminiscent of Emerson’s Maris Gold. Lovely bright orange-hued amber appearance rates highly (even without the short skirted girls in the background). Can be cloudy, but not this time. Quite bitter dominant flavour (bitter oranges) with nice hoppy floral aromatics in the mouth. A little astingency on the palate and a lightish mouthfeel are the only real weaknesses in my book.

On tap @ Rosies Hastings 19/10/06. Slightly cloudy, big fruity citrus floral nose. Stonefruits, grassy & passionfruit. Big thru to the finish - love it. Nice to meet Chris too...

Pours a clear light yellow with a white head. No sweetness just bitterness. Does have a light caramel maltyness. Quite hoppy with aromas of pine and a bit of resin. Medium bodied. Lively carbonation. Bitter finish.

Here is another APA style that has a character not unlike SNPA and the Aussie Little Creatures. From the tap it has a really firm hop resin nose and good cloudy/cream presentation. The is a lot of pine and citrus in the taste and it finishes well. I think this one has had a makeover as I think she is a pterry young thing.