Golden Weka Ale

About This Beer

A SMaSH-variant IPA on Golden Promise and Motueka. One malt, one hop, the simplest possible format for reading what these two actually taste like together.

Golden Promise is the entire grist. The Scottish spring barley gives a clean, slightly sweet base with a warm nutty quality that complements rather than competes with hop character, so a single-malt bill gives a clear read on what the hops are doing.

Motueka start to finish, across boil, an 80°C whirlpool and a large day 2 to 3 dry hop. Its lime, lemon and tropical fruit character over a herbal Saaz base comes through cleanly in a single-hop format.

Fermentation

Pomona at 18.5°C. Dry hopped at day 2 once gravity dropped below 1.020, using active fermentation for biotransformation. Stepped to 21°C then 22°C for cleanup with pressure building naturally, then cooled to 4°C before transfer.

Packaging and tasting

Kegged 15 days after brew day, carbonated to 2.4 volumes.

Tasted at kegging: promising Motueka expression and good body, with minor haze still present and expected to clarify in the keg.

Side by side with Owen’s

Owen brewed the same recipe a month later and the two were compared directly. Nose and flavour came out very similar, both showing Motueka’s lime-citrus and tropical character with light bitterness.

The difference was clarity: his came out distinctly hazy where this one was clear. No obvious cause. Possibly dry hop contact time, whirlpool temperature, or cold crash duration.

The same Golden Promise single-malt platform carries Krushd Promise, which reads Krush the same way this reads Motueka.