From one Epic to another

I like this one much better. :)

Spent day one in New Zealand with my buddies Luke and Kelly from Epic Brewing Company.* For those of you who watch the Brew Masters series on the Discovery channel, you already know who Luke is- and he had some Portamarillo waiting for me!

I first met Luke three years ago at the Craft Brewers Conference/World Beer Cup in San Diego, and Kelly at the conference in Chicago last year. Luke came up to Wisconsin for a visit and some brewery tours before the conference last year- seems only right I should come visit him on his turf.

So first thing we went to visit the brewery where Epic is made (Luke currently contracts out). It’s basically a big warehouse. I was more interested in trying the beer than watching a bottling line! Even though I’ve known Luke for several years, I’ve only gotten to try his Pale Ale, so I was really excited to try the rest. We sampled one of Luke’s and some others direct from the tanks, and Luke showed me some babies he’s been aging in a couple of oak barrels for almost exactly a year (which I may get to try on our return trip to Auckland? They smelled fantastic!). Then we grabbed a case and headed out for the next brewery.

Hallertau was next up. I actually met their brewer Steve in San Diego as well. I didn’t make the connection when Luke said we were visiting him and that he’d be surprised to see me (why? I don’t know this guy!), so when he walked in we both kind of went, oh! You! Anyway, Steve treated us to a sampling of his beers and perhaps the largest “sampler” platter I’ve ever encountered- three types of sausages, shrimp, chicken, cheeses, focaccia with three different dips, some kind of meatballs and antipasto. It was awesome. And I got quite tipsy. And there was still more beer to come- I had only tried one of Luke’s at this point!

So we went back to the Epic office (office! They can afford an office now! Yay for growth!) and worked our way through Luke’s offerings: Epic Pale Ale, Armageddon (IPA), Stout, Oak aged Stout, Portamarillo and the Mayhem. All of them were really good. I’m not even a big fan of pale ales and I liked Luke’s! Flowery, citrusy, yummy. I also really liked the Portamarillo- the tomatillos added a nice sweetness to it. I think the Mayhem was my favorite though (I'll post beer reviews on Madison Beer Review soon!).

By this time I was pretty drunk and thankfully Luke was driving. He dropped me off and said our farewells until March 18^th when JR and I will be back in NZ. Then our Auckland brewery tours will continue!

Update: oh! I should also plug the project that Luke and Kelly are working on- NZ Craft Beer TV! Apparently Luke got bit by the TV star bug and decided to make his own show. Check it out!

*Note: not the Epic Brewing Company in Utah, which apparently can’t come up with an original name.