New Summer Release: 2015 Solstice Spiced Saison

Sun worshippers celebrate - the summer Solstice is upon us. The longest day of the year calls for one's ritualistic prepartion of worship to the Sun god; unearthing the ceremonial jandals from the darkest recesses of the hall cupboard; dusting off those summer tributes: togs, beach hat, snorkel…. 

In much a similar vein, back in ancient times, Neolithic man raised huge stones to observe this astronomical event. We won't be going that far. Instead we're doing what we do best - making beer. We’ve decided to brew a new Solstice seasonal beer every year - an annual tribute - as a nod to the longest day in summer. 

This year our Solstice is the dawn of a new Saison, with the release of our 5.2% Solstice Spiced Saison, spiced with ginger and Kaffir lime (grown right here on the Kapiti Coast), and now available exclusively in Liquorland stores around the country.

“We were really looking for something refreshing for to go with those hot summer nights. Big ginger, big lime, zesty - it’s not about subtle,” says our brewery manager, CJ.

“We wanted to do something summery, that was just a little away from the norm. It’s a bit different from a classic Saison. This Saison was designed to open people’s eyes to the possibilities and variety within craft beer.

“We’ve got Outrigger that fulfils that summer quench, but we wanted something to go alongside it that was a little more out of the box. Particularly with the collab with Liquorland; we wanted something that was a bit different for them to put on the shelf."  

Based off the back of the successful launch of our Sauvinona Single Hop Pale Ale - originally an exclusive release through Liquorland - at the beginning of this year, we paired up with Liquorland again out of a common goal to drive the excitement and enthusiasm for craft beer within their stores, and help establish Liquorland as a steadfast craft beer destination.

And just like they did with Sauvinova, the Liquorland team swept in from all four corners of the North Island to give us a hand in the brewing process.

We put Fraser from LL Porirua, Todd from LL Forrest Hill, Cailean from LL Palmerston North and Shane from LL Head Office in Auckland through their paces, wasting no time in mashing in, milling, chopping ginger and dunking that in with the lime leaves.

(We saved more arduous brew tasks for sales reps, Jacob and Sean.)

You can currently find Solstice Spiced Saison in 6-packs at participating Liquorland outlets or on tap in craft beer bars and Liquorland outlets around the country.