Renaissance Brewing

Microbrewery in Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand 🇳🇿

Established in 2005

Contact
1 Dodson Street, Blenheim, New Zealand
Description
Renaissance brewing was established in 2005 when experienced brewers Andy Deuchars and Brian Thiel purchased the lease on the historic Grove Mill in Blenheim. Andy and Brian, both natives of Southern California, had one goal in mind - to produce stunning beers in a region more renowned for the excellence of its wines. We are committed to using local ingredients and are one of the pioneers of craft brewing in New Zealand.

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5.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle. I highly question that these should be separate entries. My bottle states a best before of September 21, 2011, but yet has the same description as the 2009 version.
Anyway, pours with a very murky to muddy amber brown hue with a small, off-white head that doesn’t last very long. Aromas are slightly musty, grainy, raw clover honey, wet dog, citrus, tropical fruit and hay. Some esters. Not very clean. Hops are not the showcase of the aroma (at least not in this, assumingly fresh sample). Flavors of fruit (tropical, passionfruit, mango, papaya), with a quick varnish flavor and some acid. Incredibly quick duration. Bitter finish, no malt body. I am kind of perplexed as to what is going on with this beer. It is not pleasant. A decent amount of ethanol, and a slight hint of funk (brett even). Possibly an infection. Lively bubbles. Odd finish. I have had several homebrewed IPAs with Rakau before. This is not normal.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Mar 2011 at 17:01


7
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle. Chestnut brown with medium tan head. Flavour is malt, sweet, caramel, fruit, spices, bitter and hops.

Tried from Bottle on 17 Mar 2011 at 07:19


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Clear amber, tan edge head. Aroma of caramel and pepper. taste is butterscotch and pepper. OK.

Tried from Bottle on 12 Mar 2011 at 13:53


7.5
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

From a 500ml bottle on 4/3/2011. Batch 40, best before 27/10/2011. The aroma is cirtus fruit (orange and passionfruit), candy, and burnt toffee malt. There’s more sweet burnt toffee in the flavour, along with some caramel and orange marmalade. There’s a decent dose of counterbalancing hop action, though it’s certainly not over the top by IPA standards, particularly one which is labelled an Imperial. This is a good, rather sweet IPA, though it’s not the your face experience I thought it might be.

Tried from Bottle on 09 Mar 2011 at 18:41


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7

Pours amber with a large lasting head.Lots of juicy fruity hops on the nose, mostly lighter fruits like apples, grapes, pears and grapefruit. Underneath is loads of sweet malt with honey and toasty characters.Malt dominates the flavours as well with toasty overtones. The hops here are straight resin and a little grapefruit. Unfortunately there’s a slight metallic character in the short finish.Carbonation is way too high, only exacerbating the very dry finish. Watery body.

Tried on 05 Mar 2011 at 17:41


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle from Ølbutikken. Nice head with good duration. Color is brown. Aroma and taste are dried fruits, caramel, malt, wood and hops.

Tried from Bottle on 03 Mar 2011 at 12:25


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle from Wine and Cheese in Clayton, MO. Pours very dark amber with a creamy light coffee head. Aroma of sweetish malt with perhaps a touch of peat. Near full bodied. Flavors are anise, toffee, chocolate and a lot of roast malt. Don’t think there’s smoke though. Finishes on the sweet side, but not sticky. Fairly complicated stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Feb 2011 at 16:59


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

bottle from ølbutikken clear dark amber, smooth yellow head. dark caramelly, nutty, slightly roasted aroma, quite delicate and rather complex. no hint of the high ABV in the aroma. dry flowery hoppy note to balance, but not so much you actually notice it unless you look for it. flavor is sweet sugary, sweet malty, rather dry, nutty, dark bitter malty, caramelly. It’s like several different malty tastes are in play. Imagne a well behaved cross between a brown ale and a barley wine us style, but with much more moderate hopping. Quite tasty.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Feb 2011 at 14:40


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

bottle from ølbutikken dark brown, large smooth light brown head very nice roasted stuff aroma, also brown sugar, coffee. There is some hoppy balance but it is not very strong and quite hidden, makes the brew appear a little drier.in the aroma. flavor is roasted malts, flowery and dry hoppy balance, brown sugar, caramel, coffee. aftertaste is roasted malts , sweet caramelly malts, and a little dry hops. This is a very nice porter indeed.

Tried from Bottle on 25 Feb 2011 at 17:27


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Ølbutikken. Nice head with medium duration. Color is Golden. Aroma and taste aminly bitter hops, but also some caramel and malt.

Tried from Bottle on 21 Feb 2011 at 09:29