Boysenbeery gains converts
You can work in a brewery and not like beer – but not for long.
When Jill van den Arend took up the job as office manager at Invercargill Brewery last year, her tipple of choice was wine.
“I’d never really drunk beer in my life – I just didn’t like it,” she said.
Brewer Steve Nally has built a national reputation on his aptitude for innovative and award-winning beers, so switching Jill’s preference from grapes to grains became a personal challenge.
The solution stemmed from childhood memories.
“Boysenberries are a very New Zealand thing. I remember picking them as a kid in Central Otago, eating more than I took home,” he said.
“The berries had a lovely tart finish to them and always needed icing sugar or ice cream – or both! So the tartness balances beautifully with the sweetness of the malt and, together with the rich colour, works perfectly.”
Things definitely got a little bit fruity at the brewery but the end result, dubbed Boysenbeery, has been hailed a success by its latest beer connoisseur.
“I love it. It’s going to be a huge hit,” Jill said.
“Boysenbeery has got such a distinctive flavour and is really something special – right down to the pink froth.
“It just got a whole lot harder to resist temptation.”
While mainstream beers have always failed to impress, Jill has developed a new admiration for specialty brews.
“You start to recognise the different flavours in the beers and really appreciate the skill that goes into melding it all together,” she said.
New Zealand brewers have tackled fruit beers in the past using an array of produce, including cherries, apricots, raspberries and plums.
“I’m unaware of anyone making one with boysenberries before so this is most likely a New Zealand first,” Steve said.
“It’s taken a long time to develop and refine it but I’ve finally got it right.”
Invercargill Brewery Flagon Club members will be among the first to tantalise their taste buds with Boysenbeery on Thursday (May 22) before it is launched on tap to the public on Friday (May 23) from the brewery’s Wood Street bottle store.