Dunedin brewer Emerson's has released its annual production of APA - American pale ale - and it is the last batch.
American pale ale uses United States-grown hops, which are increasingly in short supply (and therefore more costly) because of declining production and adverse weather conditions last year.
As a farewell gesture, this one has an extra dollop of hops.
So, if Green Man's 14.5% Enrico's Cure (previous column) was liquid malt, this one is liquid hop.
Emerson's APA (6%) was first made in 2004, and it won the trophy for the best festive brew at that year's BrewNZ beer competition.
It has been released each September ever since.
There is enough of this one to stock retail shelves until probably early next month.
United States hops have a pronounced pine/resin aroma and flavour.
That does not sound all that inviting, but it is delicious in this beer and quite refreshing.
APA is not a polite drink, because the concentration of hop causes prolonged burps.
However, hop cleanses the palate, which makes APA a nice aperitif.
It goes well with fish and chips, spicy Asian food, pizza - and might even wash down a carrot cake with its cream cheese icing . . .
When Emerson's APA is well chilled (which I prefer) the hop masks much of the malt flavour.
The malt does, however, provide good body to the brew and the concentration of hop gives it almost an oily feel in the mouth (which is probably not surprising since the hop plant is closely related to the cannabis and hemp plants from which oil is extracted).
Emerson's is thinking of a replacement pale ale that does not rely on the United States hops.
It already has an India pale ale on which APA was originally modelled.
The English got a taste for hops from Dutch beer about 1400, later using them to stop beer going sour during the long trip to the Indian colony.
Hence, "India pale ale".
Drinking too much is never good for you, but a hop-driven APA can have some benefits: Hops are regarded by some as an antiseptic, a relief for cramp, stimulating to the appetite and digestion and as a weapon against intestinal worms.
A hop tea can lead to a good sleep - and studies have shown that hop extract induces sleep.
The cones of hops have a calming effect, and hop-filled pillows were used in field hospitals during World War 1 to tranquilise and sedate.
Hops are a bitter herb, and an 18th-century book on herbs records that hops soaked in beer in a bandage around the cheeks can stop toothache or, if you have a broken or disjointed bone, you can boil hops in rancid butter and use it like a plaster.
The same book suggests boiling the hops in sweet milk and leaving it for flies to sip: "they get dizzy, drunk and die."
However, hops have also been linked to a reduced sex drive ...
- Ric Oram
