The redesigned appearance of Hagger 2021 makes one really curious. Tell us about the new image. How come you decided on a complete redesign?
We all are evolving and growing up so in a similar way i see our brewery. i am not afraid of learning and change if it is for the better. So with Hagger idea of paperbag was cool in 2014, but in 2019 I somehow realised that we might wanna change some things. For quite a while I was playing with idea to have cork and wirehood as closure for our barrel aged beer. Since I wanted to be sure we will not damage such precios brew I give us some time to test all needed. There was also investment into corking/wirehood machines. This for sure is long term investment and in a way a bit of our classical romantical view on business where I just want things to be as I want, but financially it is hardly, if even, feasable.
We loved the previous editions. With the new look - did the base of Hagger now change, too? Tell us about the new blend.
As we are evolving, learning and growing in experiences our beer in general is getting better and better. We do many little things to make great beer even better so the same goes also for Hagger of course. The base recipe is in fact the same since 2017 I think. And in the end there was very little change from the beginning since it was amazing from batch 1. Each year we try to play around with different spirit barrels. This year is exclusively from bourbon barrels, but as always from different distilleries.
Anything special about Hagger 02/21 apart from whole new packaging?
When you smell and taste Hagger you will always know it is Hagger. But each year you can find some nuances. So this year during tasting and blending it I felt there is also a nice aroma of berries, kind of cranberries and currants jam complementing the whole complexity.
Which kind of food would accompany Hagger at its best?
I guess something strong. Aged cheese, charcuterie, rich and hearty meat dish, as digestif on its own or with nice rich creamy wallnut vanilla ice cream.
Hagger has about 12% alc. Sounds almost like an Aperitivo, perfect for special occasions.
It is such a great beer. Life should be enjoyed every day so good food and good beverages are very important. Such beer is generally meant to be a sipper. But I really suggest to take almost mouth full of it and play around for few moments with this gorgeous beverage and then swallow. You will get all the richness and incredible mouthfeel sensation. In this way you will really find the whole beauty of it and tastebuds will go nuts into nirvana state.