HBC X TOM MCHUGOS STRAWBERRY SMASH SALTED SAISON
Strawberry Smash Salted Saison: a limited release collaboration from HBC and Tom McHugos. Pouring now, but not for long…
This is a story of a collaboration between a grower, a chef and a brewer. A beer almost 2 years in the making. A single malt and single hop Saison, racked over fresh strawberries, inoculated with wild yeast Brettanomyces Bruxellensis, and aged in ex-wine casks for over 18 months. The result is astounding.
A few years ago our brewers received a text from Tom McHugos saying that Littlewood Farm, one of their suppliers, had an abundance of strawberries and could we brew a beer with them? By the end of the day after a few back and forth texts we had written a recipe for a SMASH (single malt and single hop) Saison. This beer however would be a slow burn. The next step was for our brewers along with Tom McHugos chef and sous chef, desteming more than 30 kilos of strawberries. After adding them into two ex-wine barrels, the saison was then racked on top of the berries, then inoculated with a wild yeast Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. The plan was to leave the Strawberry SMASH Saison in the barrels for around a year, or until all involved felt it was ready to enjoy.
Then Covid 19 started sweeping around the world and Tasmania went into lockdown. A few days later all pubs, restaurants and other establishments were large groups gather closed, and at the time nobody had any idea how long those closures and restrictions would remain in place. During this time, the two barrels holding the Strawberry SMASH Saison lay dormant, gathering dust in a forgotten corner of the brewery. Time has treated the saison well adding amazing complexity from the fruit, oak and brett. However it could not be kegged until a dash of salt had been added to each barrel, as per the instructions of the Chef...
Available exclusively from Tom McHugos and the HBC Taproom. Check out Tom McHugos at 87 Macquarie St, Hobart TAS 7000.
insta: @tmchugos
Fruit for the project came from the wonderful people at Littlewood Farms.
insta: @littlewoodberryfarm
