Beer News

TRY: TUATARA'S PALE ALES FOR THE PEOPLE

The people have spoken and its unanimous, pale ales are where it’s at. Tuatara are responding with the upcoming launch of their Pale Ales for the People Mix (6) Pack

The Pale Ale style is the fastest growing craft beer segment, with people falling hard for the variety of flavours within this varied category.

“Tuatara have a diverse range of pales across our 6 and 12 packs and 500ml bottles,” says Tuatara Manager Blair Harley. “The fact that one brewery can create seven distinctive year-round brews and supplement with several more limited releases testifies to the length and breadth of this style.”

Tuatara's Mix Six pack (which includes a lager, dark ale, two pales, hefeweizen and pilsner) has been going great guns since it launched, showing that people enjoy the trial and experimentation aspect of craft beer. So for the team at Tuatara it was a natural evolution to consider a pale ale variety pack, and they'd been getting requests from customers to put one together. “There was much debate within the team around which ones to include as we’ve all got our favourite,” says Harley. “I think we’ve ended up with an awesome mix of hop varieties, malt bodies and alcohol ranges that will really showcase the style.” As if to back-up their selection choice, the beers are all medal winning brews from the 2017 NZ Brewers Guild Awards.

PALE ALE KNOW-HOW

Like all ales, pale ales are made with yeasts that ferment at the top of the brew, at higher temperatures than lagers, giving them their distinctive fruity flavours and aromas. They typically have lovely, rich malty characters from the use of pale and crystal malts balanced by a generous portion of hops. 

Since their creation in 1700s England, pale ales have changed significantly from the early IPAs developed to survive them being shipped out to the colonies, to the American Pale Ales of recent decades. With their prodigious use of American hops, APAs have exploded since the late 1990s thanks to the American craft beer movement.

Most significantly to NZ beer drinkers, the past 10 to 15 years has seen the emergence of a unique ‘Aotearoa’ pale ale (make sure you know which APA you love – is it Aotearoa or American?!), popular both here and overseas. The growth of which is largely due to the quality of distinctive NZ hops and malts brewers like Tuatara now have at their disposal.   

FLAVOUR DIFFERENCES

Generally led by hop flavours of citrus, fruit and/or pine notes (depending which hops are used), the style is hugely versatile, offering everything from malt sweetness to hoppy bitterness.

PALE ALES FOR THE PEOPLE

Tuataras Pale Ales for the People Mix Pack, launching in early March, has 6 of its best, giving pale ale fans the chance to sample and compare across the category. And since we know that Toast readers like a good tastebud adventure, we thought we’d take you on a taste-teasing tour of what’s inside the box…




TUATARA ITI LITTLE BIG HOP APA, 3.3%

ITI uses US hops but its lighter malt base showcases the hop flavour and brings the beer in at a very friendly 3.3% alc/vol, creating the perfect sessionable APA.

  • Aroma: Mango and sweet citrus
  • Taste: Refreshing citrus notes, good malt body with appealing bitterness
  • Enjoy with: Bangers and mash


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COASTIN’ SESSION IPA, 4.6%

A sessionable and refreshing ale, it’s loaded with passionfruit, melon and mango from a generous helping of trans-Tasman hops.

  • Aroma: Subtle passionfruit, mango, melon and pine
  • Taste: Refreshing and juicy tropical fruits initially, finishing with a gentle herbal spice and malt sweetness
  • Enjoy with: Crispy skinned snapper


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SAUVINOVA SINGLE HOP PALE ALE, 4.7%

Sauvinova is a single hop pale ale exploding with tropical gooseberry notes from the Nelson Sauvin hop.

  • Aroma: Passionfruit and gooseberry
  • Taste: Full malt body with gooseberry tropical fruit flavours
  • Enjoy with: Duck salad



TOMAHAWK AMERICAN PALE ALE, 5.6%

This larger-than-life beer uses big-tasting American hops to create a citrus orange flavour explosion that’s bigger than Texas.

  • Aroma: Citrus and resin characters with a spicy ginger finish
  • Taste: Up front palate of citrus with pine notes. Has a nice malt sweetness and balanced hop finish
  • Enjoy with: Spicy Mexican tapas


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KAPAI AOTEAROA PALE ALE, 5.8%

With upfront flavours of citrus and herbs, this Aotearoa Pale Ale is a formidable rival for its US counterpart.

  • Aroma: Tropical fruits and orange marmalade
  • Taste: Citrus, grapefruit and herb flavours with a fresh hop finish
  • Enjoy with: Venison sausages


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HOPFINITY NEW ZEALAND IPA, 7.0%

Showcasing quintessential NZ hop varieties, this ale contains a heady blend of citrus, sauvignon grape and stone fruit hop aromatics.

  • Aroma: Citrus, pine, sauvignon grape
  • Taste: A mix of citrus, vinous and herbal hop flavours with a subtle malt sweetness, and a smooth bitter finish
  • Enjoy with: Good old-fashioned cheese burger

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