Pulling the sting on Wasp
Invercargill Brewery’s has re-released its Wasp Honey Pilsner with a tweaked recipe and a new look.
Brewer Steve Nally said the original Wasp recipe was designed for an export bottle market with a slightly higher alcohol content as a preservative.
“The light flavour meant it was a deceptive tap beer with a tendency to sneak up and surprise people,” Mr Nally said. “We’ve had some bars take it off tap for that very reason.”
A slight change to the honey content bought the alcohol level back to a sessionable 4.8% more suited to the domestic market, and paradoxically also enhanced the distinctive Kamahi Honey flavour.
Wasp is the first of the brewery’s house beers to sport a new slim-line label.
“The market has changed a lot in the decade since our labels were first designed. People are now far more interested in where their beers come from, and what they contain.
“We needed to be more informative, but by the same token we wanted to keep things simple.
“We went to our graphic designers with an open mind and Emotive came up with a whole new concept that was so exciting we just had to run with it across the whole range,” Nally said.
Invercargill Brewery will be rolling out new labels for all its house beers and cider over the next six months.
The Beer Facts:
Name: Wasp
Style: NZ Pilsner
Colour: Golden
IBU: 16
Hops: Pacific Jade, Motueka
Yeast: House Ale
Malt: Gladfield Lager, Caramalt,Pale Crystal, Wheat Malt
Alcohol: 4.8% by volume
Best Served: Chilled
Why Wasp?: Wasps don’t make honey, but bee’s don’t make beer! Wasps are however the ultimate wild honey raiders which is the inspiration behind the name.