Gabriel puts up a devilishly good showing
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Beer
BEER: 666 Brewing is both naughty and nice, writes GEOFF GRIGGS.
If Graeme Mahy made wine in Marlborough he would almost certainly be a household name. Chances are his work would be regularly featured in newspapers and lifestyle magazines. But Graeme is not a winemaker, he's a brewer and in my opinion, one of our finest.
Having first brewed at home in Hamilton, Mahy's first major success came when he fended off the best home brewers from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to take the supreme award at the inaugural Tri-Nations Home Brew Championships. He turned pro in 2001 and the following year enjoyed his first success in commercial competitions with a best-in-class trophy at the New Zealand International Beer Awards.
After several consultancy roles at breweries around the country, Mahy shifted in 2003 to Marlborough to take on the role of general manager/brewer at Dodson's (formerly the Marlborough Brewing Company). From there he was headhunted by local winemaker Josh Scott, in the process of setting up his own microbrewery.
Mahy's role was to oversee the design and installation of Scott's new brewhouse and craft the first brew. The resulting beer was a totally new style to New Zealand: a Pilsener lager that underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle and was then riddled and disgorged, like champagne.
That beer was Moa Original.
Although Scott's fledgling brewery enjoyed the benefits of the marketing infrastructure and distribution network of his family's wine business, Moa Original was easily New Zealand's most expensive beer and sales grew slowly. In October 2005, Mahy was again headhunted, this time by a fledgling craft brewery in Australia.
Mahy returned to Marlborough last October and has recently launched his own brand, 666 Brewing. Although the connotation of the name and the brewery's cheeky "super-naturally brewed" slogan are deliberately controversial, the three sixes actually represent Graeme's birthday, June 1966.
666 Brewing's inaugural brew is called Gabriel an angelic rather then satanic name if ever there was one! A fragrant golden ale which Mahy jokingly describes as an APA Aotearoa Pale Ale the beer pours a burnished deep golden hue beneath a wispy white head.
Served chilled, there are appetising suggestions of passionfruit, gooseberry and cut grass from the hops (Nelson Sauvin and Rakau), but as the beer warms in the glass a rich, malty sweetness reminiscent of vanilla wine biscuits emerges. The beer has enough body and sweetness to maintain interest, but the maltiness is balanced by a long, gently drying finish.
Gabriel is available in Blenheim exclusively at The Creek the bar and pizzeria next to Lansdowne Park.
The first keg at the Blenheim launch last week sold out within a few hours, hardly surprising given they were charging just $7.50 for a full imperial pint (568ml) served in a traditional English pint glass. Great beer needn't be devilishly expensive! Cheers!
- The Marlborough Express
