I don’t know how they did it, but the geniuses at Invercargill Brewery in New Zealand brewed and bottled liquid beef jerky.
Imagine, if you can, eating a fresh bag of jerky from the corner store. All the manufactured smoke flavor, sugar and weird preservatives invading every corner of your mouth until you finally swallow and remember that, indeed, you just ate beef, not a piece of flavored leather. Now, take that imagined experience and liquify it. You’ve essentially just had the Invercargill Smokin’ Bishop bock beer.
This beer actually came as a recommendation from a friend, who — to be fair — warned me that it tasted exactly like Jack Links. I picked it up on a whim, throwing caution to the wind because, well, I’m young, and I’m supposed to do that. Sometimes reckless ambition is a fruitful thing, giving you something like this beer to enjoy and remember forever.
A cursory glance at the bottle shows some highly stylized graphics that depict the label as a piece of parchment that has been burned and charred, with one area having ‘smoke’ coming off it. At least I can’t say there was false advertising.
The beer, even with a vigorous pour, yields no head, save for a small, dissipating foam that appeared to be a deep yellow. The brew itself is a warm, nutty red-brown that is extremely hazy.
Raising the beer to my nose, the smoke flavor smacked me in the face before I could even get the glass eight inches away from me. Hidden in the smoky aroma, however, are subtle notes of malt, caramel and wood, making for a strong yet inviting aroma. When a beer offers such an odd aroma that holds true to the label’s promises, the only logical next step is to taste it and hope for the best.
As expected, the smoke flavor knocked me to the floor right out of the gate, but as I picked myself up, the remainder of the flavors the aroma hinted at glazed over my palate, reminding me that this is actually a beer, not smoke-flavored soda. Malt, caramel, vanilla and a slight touch of tropical fruit present themselves in equal portions, keeping the bitterness of the smoke from making another sip undesirable.
Coming back for another go, the smokiness is less harsh, this time taking on the notes of wood the aroma implied, even providing some hints of more sophisticated meats like ribs, pulled pork or even the holy grail of meats — bacon.
Knowing the flavor evolved into a smooth maltiness allowed these more sophisticated flavors to shine through during the remainder of my session with this beer, solidifying it as a truly enjoyable, albeit quirky beer. This is the type of beer that starts a long relationship with a brewery, keeping beer lovers like myself coming back to try any of the other brews it puts out.
