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Here at Pirate Life we are all about hops. Big hoppy flavours are at the centre of all our beers and this week we are stoked to announce a new collaboration brew with the boys from Hopco: The Hopco + Pirate Life NZ Pale Ale.
Hopco is an independent, family owned business based in Tasmania. Founded by father and son John and Sandy Ross in 2006 the business has grown to become the premier supplier of quality European, NZ and American hops to the Australian craft brewing industry.
The idea for the collaboration was born last year over a few froths. The Hopco crew had always wanted to brew their own beer and we were keen for the opportunity to experiment with hops we don’t always get the chance to play with. The final result of a bunch of brainstorming is a hop forward pale ale which showcases some of the epic NZ hops which Hopco have in their range.
The beer is an American style pale ale brewed with Pale and Munich malts to provide a smooth malty backbone to balance out the ample hops we threw at it. Hopco wanted to give some lesser known hop varieties some exposure so the following blend of hops were chosen: NZ Cascade, Motueka and Pacifica which together combine to give the beer a rich key lime pie / lemon curd cheesecake aroma and a light resinous character on the palate all backed up by a satisfying whack of bitterness. We'd like to think the NZ hop growers would get around a few pints of this one during their upcoming harvest.
We are stoked with the beer and equally stoked to have the chance to get down to the home of Hopco this week for the national launch of the beer on Thursday 11th February at the Winston in Hobart and Friday 12th February at St John Craft Beer Bar in Launceston. The Pirate Life crew will be there along with the team from Hopco so it will be a good chance to have a yarn and sink some good beer south of the Bass Straight.
Big thanks to Hopco’s for their help on this project and their support of Pirate Life since day one. We literally couldn’t brew our beers without the quality hops they supply. More information on Hopco and their sweet, sweet hops is available on their website.
Cheers - PLB Crew
