Emerson's pays tribute like no other
BY GEOFF GRIGGS
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Three weeks ago one of the country's most eagerly awaited limited-release vintage beers made it into stores.
Emerson's JP is Dunedin brewer Richard Emerson's annual tribute to Otago University brewing scientist Jean-Pierre Dufour, who passed away, tragically, in 2007.
Such was the New Zealand brewing industry's respect for Professor Dufour, or JP as he was affectionately known, he was recognised with a lifetime achievers' award at BrewNZ 2006, just a few months before his untimely death.
Introducing the first vintage of Emerson's JP, Richard Emerson promised that, while the name JP would remain as an ongoing tribute to his friend and mentor, each year the beer would be made in a different Belgian style.
Accordingly, the 2007 release, an abbey-style tripel, was fermented with a yeast strain from the famous Chimay Trappist brewery.
A year later Emerson's JP re-appeared, this time a brown ale flavoured, in the Belgian tradition, with sour cherries.
For 2009, Richard has revisited the monastic theme, but with a twist. Weighing in at 8 per cent, this year's JP is a hefty dark ale that's loosely modelled on a Belgian abbey-style dubbel.
Once again fermented with the Chimay yeast, the beer's recipe also includes the aromatic spice, star anise.
Why the spicing?
"Belgian beer styles have always been about breaking rules and pushing the boundaries," Richard explains. "In fact the only rule for Belgian beermaking is that there are no rules!"
Poured carefully off the yeast, the JP 2009 settles a lustrous dark brown hue beneath a pale tan head.
Sampled from a tulip-shaped glass, there's a heady aroma of mint, chocolate and aniseed, with more spice lurking behind.
In the mouth the beer is full bodied, at first perhaps a shade grainy, but as it warms in the glass and the carbonation softens, the effect becomes more creamy and luxuriant.
There's an early suggestion of mint (toothpaste?) and licorice on the palate before chocolate and roasty notes from the dark malts reveal themselves.
The familiar bubble gum and clove signature of the Chimay yeast then kicks in and sits alongside the aniseed and dark malt flavours through into a long, drying finish.
An interesting and flavour-packed brew, for me it seems a little disjointed in its current infancy. I suspect six months or even a year's cellaring will soften the spiciness and reveal a more rounded complexity.
My advice is to buy a few bottles now while stocks are available and try one soon to see what you think. If you like it, great, if not, put the rest away and sample one every few months.
And you should feel good about your purchase; you'll be helping the future of New Zealand brewing. For every bottle sold Emerson's donates 50 cents towards a brewing scholarship in JP's name at Otago University.
Announcing his latest brew Richard Emerson commented, "Had JP still been around, I think he would have had a great time doing the quality assessment".
I suspect he's right. Cheers JP!
- The Marlborough Express
