Beer – #1,087 – Mythica – Kirnis
It’s time to visit one of two ends of the spectrum of beer styles, or one of two points on the beer compass as you will with a couple of fresh beers from Mythica Brewing, a Saison and then to a Black IPA. They’re very good on the IPA’s and Pale’s and so these should be interesting.
a touch of funkiness
Kirnis comes in a wonderfully pretty 400ml can, and is beer that is 7.6 ABV, which makes it 2.6 standard drinks in New Zealand
Cheery Cherry
Loads of sour cherries have gone into this Belgian fruit beer, providing pronounced tartness combined with the dryness of a typical Saison.
The Saison yeast contributes mild esters and a touch of funkiness underlying the dominant cherry flavour.
In Ancient European folklore spirits were ofter thought to reside in trees. This beer is named after Kirnis, the Lithuanian demon spirit guardian of cherry trees.
So, What could possibly go wrong?
The aroma is a familiar funky musty that you should expect with a Saison style but also there is another note there, something I’m not quite picking but it smells sweet.
It’s a lovely pour, I was expecting pinker beer, but this is a cracking shade of cherry, it is quite dazzling in looks, and it had a lovely head of foam on top.
Honestly that’s a remarkably pretty beer and some outstanding artwork.
The aroma in the glass is much as it was on opening, a familiar musty and something sweeter.
So, the first sip is interesting, that’s a lovely saison style beer, towards a heavier take on the style, but there are some familiar and rewarding notes. The second sip when you’ve pondered that first one is when you can begin to appreciate what the cherries bring to this, and there’s still that stunning looking beer to look at.
When it’s had a chance to take stock and breath a bit is when this kicks on and becomes itself, and whilst this isn’t at all anywhere near sour, and indeed is not at all sweet, it is very engaging as your tongue dances through the different bits that this delivers.
I get now how hard it is to make this beer, and why the ratings appear low/er than a more mainstream or popular style, there are a myriad of 5 star beers in many styles if you look.
I was, in my head expecting a beer that had cherry sharpness on top of a Saison Funkiness, which might be exactly what this is, but not the way that my head said it might be.
On it’s own then, a lovely, interesting and very different beer. Personally I’d like the cherries to either to add more tartness or a tart ping, or for it to taste more of cherry without the associated sourness.
Which then leads me here. Summer beers. At the 7.6ABV point this is a summer sipper, but in some fanciful world I’m thinking that this could make a decent base for a cocktail in some way, but I’m not an expert, and so it’s probably just me railing against ‘hard seltzer’. In a moment of madness I grabbed a lemon from the tree outside and added some to this, I’m not sure it achieved what in my head was a master-stroke.
In a moment of madness I grabbed a lemon from the tree outside and added some to this, I’m not sure it achieved what in my head was a master-stroke.
Side Note; Kirnis was available on tap when I visited Mythica, but only in limited amounts.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 7.5 of its things from the thing. I think that there is immense promise in this as a thing, but that others have had a crack and by-and-large not achieved greatness points to just how big a bite this is as a style to take on. A 7.5 on the arbitrary scale is ‘better than good’ but not quite ‘very good’. I think it should be a work in progress and the beer should, in a hat tip to Garage Project, go a Raspberry option perhaps.
The highest rated beer in this style I could find. rated 4.2 from 10, that’d be an 8 on the pdubyah-o-meter usually.
The double dip review
- Where did I get it? The local Liquorland of course has these, but I got mine at the tap room in Glenfield Auckland (also on-line).
- Am I enjoying it? Despite what seems a lowball number I actually am smiling as this is a brave mash up on styles that so nearly works
- Would I have another? I would, it has a promise that it will one day deliver
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I recon if I could work out how to make a beer based drink from this, add some bitterness perhaps, or even add some cherries and some kind of garnish then it’d be a magnificent beer to bring to the table.
Music for this: ”Live At Auckland Town Hall by Marlon Williams on the Spotify player of course. Marlon Williams is NZ Local.
A life just as ordinary 