Tuatara - Aotearoa Pale Ale

Ask and you shall receive, a philosophy that normally gets you little more than a slap, has come up with the goods... And I didn't even have to ask! It's like Christmas! (Which was several weeks ago.) One of my favourite N'Zealanders (and I say N'Zealand because I like shortening it to make it sound totally rad,) Betsy Bicknell, recently returned from her motherland with a bundle of beers for me to review and, for that, I am immensely grateful. She did not, however, tell me how to pronounce any of these words...

This APA, as they call, pours a golden brown with a frisky froth that settles down quickly. It has all those big hop smells that you would expect from something that walks and talks like an IPA under a different name but with the intriguing scent of fresh mint in the bouquet to mix things up a little bit. It is as refreshing as it is interesting, passing through a couple of flavour combinations before ending with a honeyed, bitter, finish. It's a very interesting beer and easily drinkable for anyone who appreciates the brewing arts though maybe it's a bit too bitter for the Carling/Fosters crew... Who shouldn't be reading this blog because their opinions on beer are void.

A tuatara is a funky looking, spiky, lizard type thing that lives in New Zealand and I can definitely feel a bit of spike coming through the refreshing texture of the beer, but that works to enliven the senses and keeping you wanting more. I really am dumbstruck as to how they managed to infuse a whiff of fresh mint, a taste of honey and still make a strong pale ale that is both as bitter as licking salted sandpaper but as refreshing as beer bonging a whole watermelon whilst holidaying inside a lovely, scenic, kiln. Someone in N'Zealand has some magic in them, and I'm not talking Harry Potter magic, I'm talking about real magic... Beer magic!

I've got to tell you, if this is indicative of all N'Zealand beer then I'm booking myself a flight. They may always beat us at Rugby and have more sheep than us (which means more lamb hot pots and shanks and whatnot,) but I begrudge them nothing. On top of that, more importantly, this puts them well ahead of Australia in my own personal beer rankings. I know Oz has James Squire and Little Creatures, which I am yet to try, but this is just such a delicious beer! It's fragrant, smooth and packs quite a punch because at 5.8% it hits a sort of sweet spot of session drinking for the heavy drinker.

If you, like I, have a N'Zealand native friend like Bitzy (that's how they say it I imagine... I don't really know, blame Flight of the Concordes,) then make sure they bring you back a bottle of this. If you don't then don't look at the shipping prices, they'll just make you sad.

Food suggestion: Because of the mint and honey elements I'd be hard pressed to say that this could go with anything better than lamb... Is that racist? I don't care, I bet it freakin' works, you try it! Roast up a joint of lamb with a bunch of mint sauce or, if you're feeling saucy, I bet a mutton biriyani would work amazingly well with this.

Drink this if you like: St. Austell's Proper Job or Cannonball by Magic Rock. It's got bags of flavour but it's deep and as moreish as chocolate covered heroin.