Draught Style

[ziggy]

I have been seeing a lot of beers that fall under the style of "draught" here in New Zealand. Has anyone heard of this style or know what the characteristics of it are supposed to be? It's not an official BJCP style so I don't know where else to look. It is called "draught" pronounced like draft but it comes in bottles and on tap. I asked a local brewer and he told me that anything that is a draught is an ale. The thing is it definitely tastes unmistakeably like a lager. Perhaps someone from Aus or Aotearoa can help me out here.

[BadRock]

In the US a beer labeled "draught" means that it typically has characteristics of a draft beer. Any beer that has a wiget in the container is labeled "draught" and many British style ales are labeled the same. I don't think there is any hard fast rules of using this designation other than you simply think your beer resembles that of a drawn beer.

A true draught beer would be something like Fullers ESB served from a hand pump.

[DannyW]

FWIW, Miller Genunie Draft says they call it that because they sterile filter rather than pasteurizing.

[ziggy]

Things labeled "draught" here do not have the widget in the bottles to resemble a beer drawn from a tap. It is just regular beer in a regular bottle. It seems to be a different style altogether here.

[Nate Diggler]

I did an "Advanced Search" at Ratebeer.com under the word Draught in the Name field, and NZ as the country... lots of entries... most of them seem to be of the American Dark Lager style, though there are Bitters, Brown Ales, Pale Lagers, etc. in the mix...

Things labeled "draught" here do not have the widget in the bottles to resemble a beer drawn from a tap. It is just regular beer in a regular bottle. It seems to be a different style altogether here.

[Nate Diggler]

From visiting the commercial sites, my closest guess would be an American Dark Lager type recipe (though all barley?), fermented with a lager yeast at temps closer to the Cal Common range, and using the unique NZ hop varieties... probably carbonated fairly heavy. ABV's all seem to be ~4%, and probably balanced towards malt sweetness??? Some say hoppy finish, some say more caramel... so BUGU/BV of 1.000???

Can any Kiwi's illuminate us?

[Nate Diggler]

Ok, here are the specifics straight from the people who judge them: http://www.nz-beer-awards.co.nz/classes.htm

Class 1. Classic Hybrid New Zealand Styles

Includes the following NZ styles:

101. NZ Draught
102. NZ Lager
103. NZ Premium Lager

101. NZ Draught
Generally what is classed as a ‘brown beer’ in NZ and not a ‘lager’.
New Zealand Draught beers are in effect ‘amber lagers’ – being amber, reddish brown, or copper coloured. They are medium bodied. There is a noticeable degree of caramel-type malt character in flavour and often in aroma. Hop bitterness, flavour, and aroma may be present but at relatively low levels. In essence however – ‘think sweet, brown, malty with an edge of flavour’.
Low levels of fruity esters maybe present. Diacetyl and chill haze should be absent.
Original Gravity (´Plato): 1.036-1.050 (9-12 ´Plato)
Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (´Plato): 1.008-1.018 (2-4.5´Plato)
Alcohol by Volume: 3.5-4.5%
Bitterness (IBU): < 20
Colour SRM (EBC): 5-17 (10-34 EBC)

[ziggy]

Ok thanks Nate. That definitely answers my question. I am drinking Waikato draught right now for research purposes and it is definitely amber lager tasting. It is very clean with hardly any hop presence at all. There is a slight nutty brown flavor. It almost seems like if an english brown and a light lager had a kid this is what it would be. I will try other draught style brews for further research.