From the 8 Wired website:
8 WIRED BREWING is inspired by the legendary Kiwi can-do mentality and fellow craft brewers who have dared to challenge the masses and show us all that beer is no longer “just beer”! Crafted by Søren Eriksen, a nomadic Danish brewer who has finally found permanent ground in Marlborough, New Zealand. Expect unique brews, expect ingenuity in flavour.
From Capital Times:
8 Wired is the youngest of the new breed of contract brewers to take New Zealand by storm.
Contract brewing companies like 8 Wired brew their beers in other people’s breweries meaning they can concentrate on producing striking character full products without needing to brew “bread and butter” beers to pay the bills. Like Yeastie Boys before them, 8 Wired have caused a real stir in the Wellington beer scene with their first two richly hopped brews.
8 Wired is the creation of Danish expat Soren Eriksen. During the day Soren works as a brewer at Blenheim’s craft brewer Renaissance while in the evenings he works on perfecting recipes for his own company. So far those recipes have proved particularly successful with his uniquely New Zealand take on the richly hopped American Brown Ale style, Rewired Brown Ale selling well and his intensely aromatic Hopwired IPA making the top 8 in the Capital Times Beer Necessities Survey and racing out the taps in record time.
My pick of the two would be the striking Hopwired IPA. A big complex aroma of passionfruit, rock melon, and herbaceous citrus leads into a tangy tropical punch bowl of hop flavours and a dry lingering finish. Both beers will soon be available in bottle from Regional Wines and Spirits with a second batch of Hopwired destined for the taps at The Malthouse and Hashigo Zake in the coming months.
8 Wired's Range of Beer:
Batch 18 - We always wanted to do something unique for our 8th batch but it came around so fast that we had to meet demand for our existing beers. So we decided to hold out until the 18th batch to produce a seasonal celebration of what 8 Wired has become over the last 18 months. Batch 18 is not for the faint of heart, nor the selfish. It's a huge celebration of flavour that's made to share and to savour. It's the product of our wildest imagination, brewed by hand with one goal - to make the most regal of imperial stouts. Batch 18 uses an enormous amount of malt, hops and a delicious Indian raw sugar, Jaggery. We fermented it with two different yeast strains, infused it with locally roasted fair trade organic coffee, then aged it for three months in American oak barrels. We did this not just for the challenge or the journey, but to showcase our philosophy of creativity and quality. We didn't just make it because we could, but because we had to, and it's the perfect expression of our raison d'être, ingenuity in flavour.
Rewired Brown Ale - Poor old misunderstood brown ale... It is perhaps the most versatile style of beer in the world, but is often overlooked. Why?
Does the word brown lead the mind towards less appetizing things? Is it because the colour brown is less sexy than, say, 'golden'? Or have the mass brewing companies driven the style into oblivion by claiming it for their most unattractive products? Mull that over while you sip this beer, either in the sun, in front of the barbie, with your afternoon steak and kidney pie, your Sunday roast, or just by itself because you're thirsty and deserve a treat!
Chances are that this is unlike any brown ale you have ever tasted: it's malty, hoppy, roasty, flavoursome and refreshing. Some might say it's Brown Ale 'redefined', we'd say it's REWIRED. Cheers! The recipe varies slightly from batch to batch but includes: Gladfield pale malt, munich malt, crystal malt, caramalt, chocolate malt, oat malt. Hops are NZ Pacific Jade, Cascade and Pacifica.
Hopwired IPA - We're pretty sure HopWired is the first bottled new world India Pale Ale made with NZ grown pale ale malt and 100% unique NZ hops. We bet you'll find nothing else like it on the shelves.
Although there's plenty of malty sweetness, this beer is all about the hops. But unlike an American IPA, which will mainly challenge you with grapefruity and pine-like flavours and aromas, the kiwi hops used in HopWired produce something more like a tropical punchbowl: Passion fruit, limes, oranges and Sauvignon Blanc grapes to name but a few. A local Marlborough winemaker even said it smelled like gooseberries... Gooseberries? When did you last actually smell a gooseberry??
Decide for yourself, or just enjoy it without further complication. Cheers!
The Big Smoke Smoked Porter - Now what is this? A smoked beer?? It really isn't as crazy as it sounds. 250 years ago virtually all beers were smoked (it's true, Google it!), but with the dawning of the industrial revolution most of the smoke lifted. However, in the German town of Bamberg the flame has quite literally been kept alive and to this day the town’s brewers produce world renowned beers brewed with their own special rauchmalz (beechwood smoked malt).
We’ve taken our best porter recipe and added a good measure of that same Bamberg Rauchmalz. The smoke mingles beautifully with the rich, dark roasted chocolate flavours of the porter without being overpowering. Although it pairs extremely well with smoked seafood, barbeques, strong cheeses and hearty stews, its food friendliness isn’t limited to savouries; chocolate and caramel based deserts are great companions too! Trust us; it really isn't as crazy as it sounds.
The Sultan - Originally named The Sultan of Swing, I have brewed this beer every year since I started home brewing. Every batch has been different but it was always Belgian inspired and always brewed with a large dose of sultanas. This commercial batch is the fifth version and I finally decided to base it on a Belgian Quadrupel
Tall Poppy India Red Ale - Tall Poppy - India Red Ale This is an ale that is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers. The intense, sharp and fruity hoppiness is backed by its complex, caramel-like malty structure. Big, yet refreshing. Bold but balanced. This beer has been designed to have it all, to be the greatest common denominator.
iStout Imperial Stout - Beware, this is a BIG beer. Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavours which are balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold freshness from the hops.
If you’re feeling politically incorrect try it with your favourite cigar, or a dram of your best single malt whisky. Or, if your tooth is sweeter, why not jump in at the deep end with the most decadent dessert of all; half a bottle in a glass with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream on top (beer geeks like us know it as the Imperial Stout Float). Or simply enjoy it on its own as a decadent dessert or night cap - the perfect winter warmer!
If you don’t already know the history of Russian Imperial Stouts please check it out on the internet, it’s a good story. But remember, although based on that century-old classic style, this beer is a very modern interpretation, like all our beers!
Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 10:03PM 
