Mikes Organic Hopstock And Two Smoking Barrels

We used a combination of fresh Urenui Smoothcone and aged musty old Wakatu cones. The musty old cones had a rich, distinctly tobacco like aroma, so we boiled them up to create a hop tea and added this tea into the two barrels during fermentation. This provided closer control of the bitterness level as compared with adding the cones during the boil. Half the fresh hops were added green to the kettle. The other half were split in two, half roasted in a warm oven to artificially age or distress them and the remainder kept green. These were added in muslin bags during secondary fermentation. Manuka smoked malt has been steeped in the beer for a short time during secondary fermentation, adding a subtle smokiness and softening the astringent green hop character. The result of all this mucking around, is a beer with complex flavour and aroma that is very drinkable.