Our June 2022 release of The One includes few treats from the very depths of cellar! Find a 7 year old oyster stout (just trust us!) and a 3 year old wild ale (which has never been released in bottles, until now) in among this month's selection.
What's in the box:
Sure • 200% Dynamight
Double IPA | 7.8% | Victoria, Aus
SURE’s beers first hit the market in March of this year, but the duo behind the brand, John Cope-Williams and Steve Matthews, are anything but newbies. A trip to Amsterdam saw John return to Melbourne and pioneer the popular Melbourne bar ‘Cookie’ into a leading craft beer joint of the times before starting his own import company, Better Beer, which brings some of NZ’s leading breweries to our shores. Taking on the distribution of Bridge Road he fatefully met brewer, Steve, who had worked in beer joints across England and Wellington before landing head brewer of Hargreaves Hill and later, Golden Hills. They banded together to make the type of beers they want to drink – mainly hop forward IPAs and NZ Lagers – and created SURE. ‘200% Dynamight’ is a double version of their premier West Coast IPA release ‘100% Dynamight’. Check out the can’s QR code for a curated playlist to accompany the beer for max enjoyment.
Alesmith • Speedway Stout: Double Fudge Edition
Imperial Stout | 12.0% | California, USA
AleSmith knows a good thing when they make one, and Speedway Stout is very much a good thing! This indulgent edition of the classic has been packed with cacao nibs, cocoa powder (double the choc!), Madagascar vanilla, and roasted coffee. It’s delicious decadency has us saying ‘hell to the yeah!’, with one drinker exclaiming ‘holy s*#t f^$@$n yes”! If those aren’t the reviews you want then we don’t know what is!
Deeds Brewing • Darker Motives
Imperial Stout | 14.1% | Victoria, Aus
Deeds originally teamed up with us (Carwyn Cellars) and our mates at Denver & Liely to brew this beer in honour of launching the Denver & Liely x Carwyn Cellars ultimate Beer Glass. A bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout with luscious notes of vanilla, spice and banana reminiscent of a banana foster. Grounded with chocolate and cocoa then sweetened up with an air of coconut and bourbon sugars.
Garage Project • Cabbages & Kings
Imperial Oyster Stout | 12.1% | Wellington, NZ
Originally brewed in 2015 this is the opposite of the luscious Pastry Stouts that populate the market these days. Using Horopito & Manuka smoked malt, NZ pepper leaf and 10 dozen Te Maua Bay Oysters, Cabbages & Kings has a pleasant brine character, underlaid smokiness and subtle savoury spice. You may note the Best Before date of July 2020 on the bottle; knowing Imperial Stouts are built to benefit from some cellaring, we bought this beer back in 2019 with the express purpose of aging it in a temperature-controlled environment to release to our subscribers at a later date. Well that date has finally arrived and, through diligent QC tasting, we can confirm that cellaring was a great call! The flavours have married seamlessly and the beer is presenting itself as a well-rounded, silky smooth, balanced to utter perfection, complex work of art.
La Sirene • Mahogany
Wild Ale | 4.8% | Victoria, Aus
Mahogany is a Wild Ale that has been aged under flor (the film of natural yeasts that forms atop the liquid during fermentation) for a whopping 60 months in ex-Sherry casks. The resulting dark berries, dried fruits, caramels, and acetic character make for a beautifully complex beer that calls for food. Try a cut of steak with a high degree of marbling and peppercorn sauce, the acid will cut through the melted fat, while the fruits will lend a subtle sweetness to the meal.
Allagash • Pick Your Own 2020
Sour Red Ale with Berries | 5.5% | Maine, USA
Pioneers of the American craft beer scene since the mid-90s, Allagash continue to show leadership through the creation of great Belgian-inspired brews and their dedication to sustainability and inclusivity. An ally of Black Lives Matter and member of Crafted For All (an organisation that empowers craft beverage companies to build diverse and inclusive workplaces and communities), they also re-use and recycle an awe-inspiring 99.8% of waste they produce, as well as accepting partner’s waste into their own Recycling Co-Op where they can ensure the materials are actually recycled. On top of that, they donate to clean water initiatives, use solar power, brew with a million pounds of local grain per year (a mission they set in 2016 and successfully achieved by their goal date of 2021) AND work with local farms to source the fruit for their beers. ‘Pick Your Own’ is an ode to this latter point; what starts off as a sour red ale is aged in an oak foedre for two years, with Lacto and Pedio, before aging an additional three months with the addition of fresh raspberries, cherries, strawberries and blueberries sourced from three different local farms!
The Rare Barrel • Solidarity Forever 2018
Farmhouse Ale | 6.2% | California, USA
The Pink Boots Society is a global organisation, formed in 2007, that supports and promotes women in the craft beer industry with chapters across the globe. The Rare Barrel teamed up with members of Pink Boots: Bay Area and hopped this Farmhouse Ale with the 2018 Pink Boots Society Hop Blend. Selected in association with Yakima Chief’s Hops, the 2018 blend consisted of Palisade®, Simcoe®, Mosaic®, Citra® and Loral®. The beer was then open fermented and aged for 6 months in oak prior to bottling.
Mountain Culture • Goodbye Moonmen
Imperial Pastry Stout | 10.5% | New South Wales, Aus
We know be it Sour, IPA, Stout, or more, we can depend on Mountain Culture to excel at them all, and this S’mores-inspired Imperial Stout is no different! For those unfamiliar with this North American camp-fire staple; chocolate is melted by a roasted (ah-hem burnt) marshmallow, and sandwiched between two graham crackers. All the decadent joy of camp-fire desserts, without the smoky clothes in the morning.
White Bay • Gantry Crane
Czech Pilsner | 5.0% | New South Wales, Aus
Before Covid stalled their tasting room plans and led them to create more hop forward styles, a team of mates started White Bay with the intention of it being a lager-centric operation. With Czech Pils being a White Bay team favourite, if an Aussie brewery is going to nail the style, it’s gonna be them! Using 100% Bohemian Pilsner Malt, hopped with Sladek and Saaz hops and conditioned for 10 weeks before canning.
Hargreaves Hill • Barrel Aged Double ESB
Double ESB | 6.9% | Victoria, Aus
You can feel the excitement within the Carwyn crew when Hargreaves Hill’s ESB lands in our fridges or taps. Perhaps the brewery had an inkling of the fans it had within our company when they brewed the Double ESB for our 2021 Canvent Calendar, and now they’ve taken it one step further. This festive Double ESB has been aged in VSOP Brandy and Bourbon barrels, then blended together to make this beer extra, extra special!
Hawkers • IIPA
Double IPA | 69.0% | Victoria, Aus
Hawkers has become a star staple of our fridges for many years thanks to their consistency and technique in brewing beers we always want to drink, while peppering in equally delicious special releases. Their IIPA is a mix of both, not part of their core range but a craft beer classic none-the-less. For The One, we got our hands on an ultra-fresh release of this mega-hopped, gigantic DIPA that is both fruity and spicy - with just enough sweetness to support the style. Careful, it goes down way too easy for its 9.0% ABV.
Boatrocker • Gelukkige Verjaardag
Wild Ale | 6.4% | Victoria, Aus
The Unicorn this month is a Barrel Aged sour blend the Carwyn team put together with owner/head brewer Matt Houghton for Boatrocker’s 10th Birthday back in 2019. That’s right, we have patiently been aging this beer for over 3 years! There were 2 kegs filled, 1 used for the event takeover at Carwyn, and 1 still sitting in our cellar. On top of that, these are the only bottles to have ever been released of this beer so far!
