“A staunch glittering beacon of refreshing hope and dignity in a shelf landscape of cloudy regularity” It states on the bottle, it maybe either an ode to a ray of sunlight through the generally cloudy skies of NZ or a symbol of Joseph’s drive to find better flavoured beer in a time of Lion red’s and Tui! ”
From humble beginnings…yes, we know it’s quite a cliche, but this term is the perfect way to sum up how Joseph & Christina got this small scale brewery off the ground and pouring from the taps in most of New Zealand’s trendiest bars. Anyhow, on with this review. We served into a flute glass. The pale golden appearance possesses a slight haziness with some tired-looking streams of bubbles. This certainly didn’t affect the amount of head though as a good two fingers worth is formed, gradually reducing to a thick collar around the edge of the glass. Laced well, leaving a dense sheet clinging to the sides. Very interesting aroma here. The first couple of whiffs yield a firm presence of spicy rye malts, Vita Weats and rice crackers. A couple of deeper sniffs and the fruits begin to open up, hints of passion fruit, lychee and pineapple hinge well on the biscuity malt backing. Very nice! Almost resembling a rye IPA on the nose. In the mouth it’s smooth with a silky texture. Finely carbonated with a little grip on the back of the tongue. Medium bodied. Wow, what a flavour profile for a pilsner! Upon entry we get a brilliant fusion of rye malts, passion fruit and rice crackers with a slightly assertive bitterness cutting through. None of these flavours are lost as the tongue dries up through the mid, warmed by a slight presence of alcohol (5.4%). Finishes dry and slightly bitter with suggestions of fruit and spicy rye on the back end. Good duration too, really hanging about on the palate well. This pilsner is excellent for two reasons. 1. It’s super sessional and 2. No flavours were substituted for this session ability, essentially making this a very good beer. If only all pilsners were like this. Solid offering.