Coffee and beer are two things that bring people together, so two of Sutherland Shire's favourites, Sunday Road Brewing and White Horse Coffee, have joined forces to create something special, Sunday Road Coffee Lager - arguably two of the best things in life all in one.
The collaboration came about when Sunday Road founder Brad Walker approached Dom the White Horse Coffee co-founder and suggested they create a beer together.
"We wanted to create something special and as one of the shire's best coffee roasters and located just around the corner from us in Kirrawee's South Village, it was a natural partnership," Brad said.
The base beer used for the new blend is Sunday Road's Vienna Lager, which is a more traditional German-style beer. According to Sunday Road head brewer Mick O'Rance, the aim was to showcase a lighter-style beer with coffee, rather than the typical stouts and porters that are out there. According to Mick, starting with a nice, clean lager gave the best opportunity for the coffee to shine through.
"Our Vienna Lager has a beautiful colour and has a bit of malt backbone and sweetness, as opposed to a typical lager which is probably a bit cleaner and drier. We thought it would be a good place to start and it has turned out really, really well," he said.
The White Horse Coffee Kenyan single origin, located in Nyeri in the central highlands, marries perfectly with the Sunday Road Lager. It has a vibrant colour and flavour, with hints of berries and currants, and a lovely bright acidity.
As with all beans sourced by White Horse Coffee, they've been involved with the coffee's journey right from the farm in Kenya all the way to their roastery in Kirrawee. Both Ross (green coffee supplier), and Brian, (head roaster) were at Sunday Road to taste the first batch.
Mick from Sunday Road adds that the lager has a unique creaminess that comes through, enhanced by the use of a high quality Kenyan bean. The lager has lots of coffee on the aroma and palette without being overpowering.
Both Sunday Road and White Horse Coffee love their crafts and had fun creating this beer together. The development process took place across several months, and much care was taken to ensure that both the brewing method involved and how the beer and coffee were blended were perfectly balanced.
At this stage the new Coffee Lager is only available on tap, but Brad says it's been such a great experience to work with the team from White Horse Coffee, and they can see many opportunities to work together again.
The launch event is at Sunday Road Brewing (147 Bath Road, Kirrawee) on September 26 from 6pm.
Tickets are limited (only 60 available), and the batch is small. If you want to be among the first to taste this incredible creation grab a ticket here for $15 which includes two schooners of the new coffee lager.