A Long-Distance Craft Beer
11,432 miles (18,398 km) and eleven hours separate Edinburgh (Scotland) from Wellington (New Zealand), yet this little bottle manages to eliminate distances and destroy time-zone changes without any difficulty. Just uncap it and drink a drop to be convinced.
This singular performance was pulled off by Tempest Brewing Company (Tweedbank, Scottish Borders), founded by Gavin Meiklejohn in 2010. He previously lived in New Zealand, where he met his wife, Annika.
Not surprisingly, this particular beer is the brand’s flagship. The couple’s tribute is already evident by the name - “Long White Cloud” is the translation of Aotearoa, the Maori name of New Zealand.
The announcement of an extra pale ale prompts us to wonder: English? Belgian? American? Indian? And then extra English? strong Belgian? extreme American? double Indian?… The obvious, although arbitrary, answer is: a totally extra Scotch-Kiwi pale ale.
This 5.6%-ABV beer has a lot of character with a great hops punch from the outset. And yet, the clean, sweet flavour of the local Golden Promise malt never goes away. Thus the balance is completed, even if this lively mango, citrus and grapefruit beer is an ode to the exotic. A very pleasant, refreshing, juicy, hoppy tropical beer with a very friendly story.