Limeburners Winter Solstice Boilermaker Pack
The Winter Solstice marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year. As most are keenly aware, daylight hours grow shorter and shorter as the winter solstice approaches, and begin to slowly lengthen afterward. Every year in Australia the winter solstice occurs on June 21st.
The seeming death of the light and very real threat of starvation over the winter months would have weighed heavily on early societies, who held varied solstice celebrations and rites meant to herald the return of the sun and hope for new life. Scandinavian and Germanic pagans lit fires and may have burned Yule logs as a symbolic means of welcoming back the light. The modern Druidic celebration Alban Arthan reveres the death of the Old Sun and birth of the New Sun.
Solstice derives from the Latin scientific term solstitium, containing sol, which means “sun,” and the past participle stem of sistere, meaning “to make stand.” This comes from the fact that the sun’s position in the sky relative to the horizon at noon, which increases and decreases throughout the year, appears to pause in the days surrounding the solstice. In modern times, we view the phenomenon of the solstice from the position of space, and of the Earth relative to the sun. Earlier people, however, were thinking about the sun’s trajectory, how long it stayed in the sky and what sort of light it cast.
Cameron Syme of the Limeburners Distillery in Albany Western Australia owns and runs one of Australia’s oldest and most established distilleries. He has created a whisky from peat collected by hand from the deepest darkest parts of the Valley of the Giants. The barley was smoked for an extended period, resulting in a heavier, more intense style of whisky ideally suited for cold winter nights and shorter darker days. This whisky was matured in an ex-bourbon American Oak cask and has been matured to perfection. The whisky exhibits spice and floral aromas when neat and a splash of water unleashes malted barley and intense complex smokey aromas. Bottled at 63.5% abv with no colouring or chill filtration.
We have paired this whisky with a smooth robust ale from Wolf Of The Willows named Johnny Smoke Porter. Dark brown to light black in colour, the senses are met with aromas of espresso, dark chocolate and campfire smoke. Rauch (smoked), Munich, chocolate, brown and black malts provide a firm malt profile that is smoky yet balanced by malt sweetness on the palate. The inclusion of East Kent Goldings and Willamette hops provides an earthy but gentle bitterness. With a smooth, moderate body and medium carbonation, this new take on the classic robust porter finishes with layers of chocolate, espresso and hints of smoke.
When offered together you are able to experience the ultimate boilermaker combination to make your winter solstice a night to remember.
Grab a pack today and receive a free Spey whisky glass.
Available now till stocks last.
