Emersons APA

Formerly brewed at Emersons Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
Dunedin, New Zealand

Deep amber with a minimal head. Smooth and hoppy aroma, full of lychees, peaches and some citrus tang. Well balanced, with some freshening bitterness. Good depth and refreshing carbonation - top stuff

Very hoppy malty aroma with spice and flowers. Cloudy red brown colour with fair head and lacing. Hop flavours that overwhems you. Slight malt flavour with a hint of some kind of chemical? Flat palate.

18 Oct 05 - BIg hoppy fruit aroma. Cloudy brown colour, ordinary head that dimishs quickly. Hughly hoppy and a reasonable maltiness flavour. NIce thickish mouthfeel and big hop bitter finish, leaves a horrible hop chemical aftertaste. Overall, this a beer defintitely for hop heads.

Not a very lively aroma for an APA, strongly hoppy, yes, but not fresh and vibrant. I don’t know how old the bottle was so maybe that was the problem. Cascade hops, crystal malt, full body but lacking that vibrant, floral urge of a good fresh balanced APA.

Bottle. Golden color with white head. The taste is a nice light sweet body with a hoppy finish.

This Kiwi APA stood up well on a group tasting night when there was strong competition from a host of US pale ales. It poured a classic APA burnt orange colour with a thin head. Classic piney aroma, rich and resinous. Very fresh and citric. The body is quite full and chewy. It has real guts, very satisfying. Lots of chewy toffee on the tongue before that big wash of resinous hops. I liked this but I’m not convinced it’s Emersons’ best beer. That accolade should remain with the pilsener IMO. (Bottle, Sydney RateBeer Xmas gathering 2005)

It has taken a while to find this one and I believe it was worth it. When poured it demonstrates a cloudy appearance with a fleeting head. The nose is certainly dominant with a strong peachiness and pine needle hop aroma. My memories of SNPA and oft repeated enjoyment of Little Creatures is borne out by this beer. There is a good depth of flavour here and at 6% the ABV is both obvious and welcome. Enjoyed in good company an so the experience was heightened.

Bottle (RB Sydney XMASG ’05): Another of the highlights of this gathering. Slightly hazy amber with a tight little head. Smells lovely! Tangy fresh orange juice and lychee notes, some pinerfesh herbal echoes. I couldn’t get over how fresh this seemed. Fruity frontal flavours, founded in a slightly smokey toffee base. This had immense length wich evolved from fruits to caramelised spicy anise and faint mince pie fruits. Beautiful and well balanced, although perhaps a touch too smokey in the mouth.