Brewery boss creates a gin for beer lovers
For his second anniversary in business, brewer Phil McArdle turned his hand to gin.
His company, Horse Box Brewery, had grown since its 2015 opening and McArdle was eyeing a return to Nelson when his ‘‘experiment’’, a beer lover’s gin, was born.
One or two domestic brewers had sparked his interest but it was a 2013 visit to his native Ireland that sowed the seeds for Horse Box’s first spirit, he said.
There McArdle rubbed shoulders with members of the Irish Whiskey Association and became one of the ‘‘founding fathers’’ of Dingle Distillery, which only started making its awardwinning whiskey, gin and vodka a few months earlier.
‘‘I brought one of their first 500 barrels on sale,’’ he said. ‘‘That was my first inkling into that market.’’
McArdle, who moved to Christchurch to expand his business last year, set about decarbing about 1000 litres of beer with the help of Canterbury distillery Workshops Whisky.
The beer lover’s gin was expensive and laborious to make because it started with a finished product – Horse Box’s Ronin Pilsner – but was easily transported and had a long shelf life, McArdle said.
He was ‘‘surprised’’ by the final product and its reception when it hit shelves across New Zealand in early November.
‘‘We had 90 bottles available commercially and we pretty much got rid of them all on the first run,’’ he said, noting he kept a ‘‘secret stash’’ of 10 bottles for himself.
‘‘I don’t know if they’re being nice or not but a lot of people say ‘I’m not into gin but this is really tasty’.’’
The pilsner’s ‘‘lemony’’ flavour was ‘‘elevated’’ by lemon peel, cardamom and juniper berries, creating a simple but unique drop, McArdle said.
‘‘It carried through so much of the hoppy character and the malty sweetness . . . it doesn’t need much stuff to go with it. I’m really pleased with it.’’
Two weeks ago, McArdle moved back to his spiritual home of Nelson.
Christchurch had a brewing community whose ‘‘profile is only going to continue to grow’’, but it was time to settle down in the top of the south, where he hoped to have a brewery established in six to 12 months’ time.
At that time, he would consider distilling a stout or IPA-flavoured gin.
‘‘It complements what I’m doing with my beer and people want something new all the time. If the demand is there and you can make it, you just go for it,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s that creative zest that keeps me interested.’’
"It carried through so much of the hoppy character and the malty sweetness . . . it doesn't need much stuff to go with it.'' Brewer Phil McArdle