There's not a great deal of great beer around if you live in Pambula. But Mark McKillop, a former lineman turned award-winning oyster farmer, has found a pretty unique way of ensuring he's kept in ready supply, namely getting involved in some of the country's leading beer festivals and regularly collaborating with one of the country's leading breweries, Boatrocker.
This time around, brewer and oyster farmer have gone for something a little more traditional than their last dalliance, the Auster La Vista gose, in creating a smoked porter to which was added 30kg of freshly harvested oysters – shells, brine and meat. The shells were roasted beforehand to add to the character of the beechwood smoked malt too.
The outcome is a beer that certainly smells like it has risen from the depths, as briney as it is smoky. It's creamy on the palate too – like one of Mark's freshly shucked oysters, in fact – with the smoked malt character persistent throughout the dense dark chocolate characters, helping keep things pretty dry.
Published October 22, 2018 2018-10-22 00:00:00
