Emerson's 1812 Hoppy Pale Ale
One of New Zealand’s first new generation pale ales and now something of a classic, Emerson’s 1812 is all about balance. Pouring a bright amber hue beneath a deep cream coloured head, the aroma hints at caramel and dark toffee balanced with a light citrusy fruitiness. Medium bodied, the palate first offers a marmalade-like combination of ripe citrus and caramelised malts before resiny hops come to the fore and lead into a lingering dry finish.
3.5
158 reviews
Dunedin, New Zealand
Community reviews
Very nice beer, strong hops taste. Has an easy drinkability. Very enjoyable.
An aromatic hop aroma with note of resin, floral and caramel. Pours a clear light caramel color with a short lasting white well laced head. A very sessionable taste of caramel, resin and floral with a lighter bodied slightly dry feel and an aromatic hop finish.
500ml bottle poured amber gold with a lasting head & a fine aroma of caramel citrus hops tatse is much the same all fruity citrus hops bitter finish went down well
Draft at the Fox in Auckland. Pours orange with a thin head. Toasted And lightly sweet malts, mild bitterness, and light earthy and floral notes. Pretty good.
On tap at the local. This was one of my favorite beers - now adulterated by the bmc, I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen! Weak thin body, made with mash efficiency in mind not taste. A hint of hops, no real bitterness or fruity NZ hop notes. Its shame what this beer has become!
Bottle. Pours a dark gold colour with floral fruit aroma, medium bitterness with a dry fruity finish.
Bottle at Chris and Ruth’s Shindig 2015. Clear amber beer with a rich off white head. Malty caramel aroma, grassy, hay, caramel, floral notes. Hoppy bready flavor, grassy, hay, biscuit notes. Ok beer.
Light golden color with negligible head. Pleasant hoppiness, but tastes diluted. All right with a meal, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
Well balanced and enjoyable, but a bit lightweight for the price. Citrus and spruce hop aroma that has a good followthrough to the taste and pleasant aftertaste. Nothing wrong with this, but I felt slightly underwhelmed. Go for the Emerson’s Bird Dog instead. Tried again and there’s more of a tropical note - pineapple in particular, but a touch too malty for my taste.
On tap at Doolan Brothers. Pours a yellow amber color with a bit of head. Mild hops and a slight bit of funk.
500ml bottle at Fox & Ferret Riccarton, Christchurch. Pours cloudy amber. Hoppy nose. Well balanced taste, but a beet more sweetness wouldn’t hurt; I find it a bit pale for an IPA.
On tap @ Emerson’s. New Zealand holiday 2011-12. Old notes. The aroma has citric hops, some malts. Clear, copper coloured beer with an off-white head. The taste is light bitter, has some toasty cookie malts amd citric hops. Easy going pale.
hazy copper with a fine head. nice aroma of citrius, caramel and grass. well-balanced taste, nice bitterness. quite expensive.
Bottle at casino, christchurch. Nice amber color, white head. Light malty aroma, little fruity. Malty body, fresh hops, fruits, dry.
What starts out as your basic caramel / toffee American malt opens up into more of a dry pet food mix and potato starch and husky over-kilned grain character. To balance this you’re provided abundant orange jam (jelly) and pine resin hops, delivered through a medium bodied, coarsely-carbonated semi-sweet malt body. Pretty ho-hum. From draft.
Light caramel nose with mild hop and turkish delight aromas. A re-affirmation of the caramel for half an instant on the palate then a big resinous piney hop coating of the whole palate. A lingering bitterness that lasts till the next day. A beer that is definitely a brewers beer, I suspect a large percentage of caramalt and bittering hops for this beer. Well made even if the palate a little light to match the hops. Lucky I like the hops!
Not as hoppy since Emmersons was sold to Lion Breweries, more bitter and caramel notes, but miss the hop flavour
The head is good, the body gold. It smells sweet hoppy, aromatic, bit malty, fruity. The taste is fruity, citrus, orange, bit malty, balanced, bit mild.
Appearance: Medium brown, clear. Some off-white head.
Aroma: Hops, mostly. Malt hidden.
Taste: Lots of hops, some malt and fruit.
Info: 425ml draft, 31/5-2013, 234/500
An original benchmark Kiwi craft beer. Still holds its own against other pale ales but probably lacking the hop forward balance expected of an IPA today. For that, try their "Bird Dog" brew - which looks to be a classic for the modern era.
doesn’t stand out but is awfully well made. everything seems to fit into place just nicely. pine bitterness and light fruits supported by solid maltiness. seems to be an excellent example of a pale ale, something that’d do well in those categorical competitions.
On tap at Brew on Quay. Served a copper color with a decent head that faded to bits of lacing. Aroma of citrus, some fruit with a hint of malt sweetness and spice. Taste of citrus with a mild malt sweetness and bit of spice. Nice bitterness and a clean finish. Medium body, crisp and flavorful. nice balance. Enjoyable beer worth checking out
This beer really deserves to be drunk fairly ’warm’, I’m guessing mine is now about 8deg C and everything is coming together beautifully. At 5% ABV, I could drink this all night. First time I drank this straight from the fridge and was totally underwhelmed, but having huge love for Emersons product I gave it another, warmer go. Totally worth it.
500ml brown bottle with expiry of 11/13. Label now states that this is an "aromatic hoppy pale ale". 5% ABV. Pours clear dark amber with decent white head that stabilises and laces nicely. Nose is hoppy but not overpowerly so (oranges, pineapple, pine needle) with a sound golden malt base. Taste is bittersweet with pleasant hoppiness. Not too bitter at the finish. Medium body and carbonation. A superior easy drinking IPA.
Bottle from Slowbeer. Pale brown, looks rather appealing in the glass. Hoppy, fruity aroma, really good balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness. A nice drop.
500mL bottle. Pours a cloudy light brown beer with a decent head. The aroma is hop dominated, though the scent is not too strong. There is a light malt hit first then the hops bitterness takes over. Not too bitter at all for an IPA, but a good balance for the style. One of my favourites from Emersons.
500ml bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden amber, with a medium off-white head, which lasts very well and leaves good lacing. The aroma is a magnificently complex mixture of resin and grapefruit hops with slightly charred bread and some dry spicy notes. Potent grapefruit and white pepper hops up front lead into a touch of lime. There is a savoury, toasty malt backbone, giving way to more lime, along with lemongrass and black pepper, in the finish, which leaves a nicely bitter aftertaste. This is a real top quality IPA, as well as being a beer I have wanted to try for some time. It’s certainly not a disappointment.
dark copper color, fully body, rounded, nice bitter finish. Nothing outstanding, but well made.
Emersons is one of those brands that has been around so long and other than the Pilsner can fly a little under the radar. Quite a big and heavy pale ale (would question the pale aspect!) this beer has good structure and a long finish.
This is my favorite style of beer. Full hoppy flavour with clean crisp aftertaste. Mid alcohol.