#362 Yeastie Boys – PKB Remix 2010

Name: PKB Remix 2010
Brewery: Yeastie Boys (Ak/Wgtn, NZ)
Style: Black IPA
ABV: 6.8%
Source: Yeastie Boys

Ask the Yeastie Boys when the ideal time for a bottle of PKB is, and they probably won’t say “11:30am – with Chinese food.” Still, I can hardly think of a bad time to drink PKB, and if there is then Yum Cha isn’t it.

The reason I drank this at Yum Cha (after first lying and pretending it was wine, then pleading with the waiter after he read the bottle and found me out) was that I wanted to share it with some fellow beer lovers.  This wasn’t any old bottle of beer – it was Stu’s last bottle of PKB Remix 2010, and one of his favourite Yeastie Boys releases. It was a real privilege to be able to drink it, and one worth breaking all the rules (acceptable drinking times, permitted BYO beverages) for.

Like a molecular gastronomer who presents soup as a mousse, or turns a savory dish into an ice-cream, the PKB was delightful in that it completely messed with my head.

On the nose it was pure American IPA – juicy tangerine, citrus peel and pine hop aromas, perhaps some berries as well. If I’d sniffed it blind I’d be sure it was a much paler beer.

In the mouth though, all that fresh happy citrus met dark roasted malt flavours; cocoa and a little coffee, a hint of toasted wood. It was complex, yet had the balance of an expertly mixed Long Island Ice Tea, in which all those potent ingredients come together in – excuse the awful cliché – perfect harmony.

For a while I sat at the table with a dreamy smile and faraway look in my eyes – sipping the beer and idly shoveling barbecue pork into my mouth – and thinking this – this right here is perfection. What an incredibly lucky lady I am.

Today’s official thanks goes to SOBA Auckland, who have done all sorts of useful things over the year – from helping me to meet other local beer geeks, hosting cool events like The Hop and City of Ales, and reminding me of all the beer launches, tap takeovers etc that I’m terrible at remembering myself.  And now that I’ve FINALLY paid my subscription fees, I can say without hypocrisy that all Auckland beer geeks should support a good cause (the cause being good beer) and sign up. Thanks SOBA!