Nelson home brewer's beer goes commercial

Nelson home brewer Dale Holland is about to see his award winning Belgian Pale Ale flow from the taps of one of the region’s major craft breweries, the Sprig and Fern.

Dale is one of many local home brewers who pop in to the brewery for advice and ingredients. Late last year, with feedback from the Sprig and Fern’s head brewer, Tracy Banner, Dale perfected a Belgian Pale Ale that took out the honours at the Society of Beer Advocates National Homebrew Competition in Auckland. Dale’s brew won the Belgian Pale Ale category, Best in Class (Belgian and French Ales), and then went on, against 300 entrants, to take out the overall Best Beer award.

“The judges liked the way I’d created something a bit different – putting a New Zealand spin on a Belgian Pale Ale by using locally grown Motueka hop flowers,” he said. “It adds a passionfruit aroma to the spicy clove flavour this type of beer is known for.”

Tracy and fellow Sprig and Fern Brewery co-owner David Barrett were so impressed with Dale’s award winning brew they offered him the opportunity to scale his recipe up to commercial quantities, giving beer lovers the chance to try it as a limited release at Sprig and Fern taverns throughout the Nelson region. Tracy and Dale have worked together on the recipe for the bigger brew, paying particular attention to the yeast, which Tracy said does a lot of the work in creating the traditional flavour and aroma of a Belgian Pale Ale.

“We imported the Belgian Leuven yeast from the USA - it comes in a big heavy bladder, and cost nearly a thousand dollars for just eight litres,” said Tracy. “When it arrived we all took turns cradling it like a baby and it was quite something to see the look on Dale’s face when it was his turn.”

Tracy heads the Sprig and Fern’s small team of three brewers who collectively have nearly six decades of commercial brewing experience. She says it’s been a real buzz for them to make Dale’s beer and to see him get a taste of commercial brewing.

“Dale’s a very good home brewer but we’ve seen him develop his passion and produce something that’s really professional…he captured a particular beer style, which is essential in today’s craft beer market,” she says. “It’s created interest from a distributor in Christchurch so we hope to see Dale's Belgian Ale go nationwide.”

Dale and Tracy agree the brew is a win-win for both Dale and the Sprig and Fern Brewery, and also for their malt supplier Cryer Malt, who went the extra mile to source the specialty malts required.

“I couldn’t believe I’d won the national competition and I found it just as hard to believe the generosity of Tracy and her team,” Dale said. “They were so open to sharing their knowledge and time - I’ve never encountered anything like it before in any other industry.”

Dale’s Belgian Ale will be launched in all five Sprig and Fern taverns at 4pm, Friday 24 June. For more details see the Sprig and Fern’s website - www.sprigandfern.co.nz