ARTIST SERIES - NZ PILS
4.8% | VEGAN | FRESH, ZEST AND MELLOW
Our new NZ Pils beer is our fourth instalment in the Artist Series, where we collaborate with artists to create a design for our beer. For the NZ Pils, we got in touch with KMG, a Scottish based artist who has been creating work on the street for over two decades.
KMG was brought up steeped in the stories and tales of Northern Scotland. Inspired by the Celtic folklore stories that have shaped her own cultural identity, her work is created to celebrate, revive and reclaim the mythologies and history of oral story telling that are often overlooked and forgotten.
She uses her work as a catalyst to provoke questions on how these stories and myths translate to modern society, and the ways in which they are connected to our cultural identity and contemporary environments.
This is exactly what KMG has done with this beer.
"I was really excited because I've travelled around New Zealand, spent eight months surfing around NZ, so I got familiar with the country and cultures and I was very aware of the rich mythology from Māori traditions and folklore" … "so for me it was a deep dive in finding a connection between NZ and Scotland, and bridging that gap."
The artwork KMG has created is inspired by a Māori folklore called Taniwha, which are large supernatural beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, and were said to often take the form of a shark.
"So this made me think immediately of selkies. My family is from The Orkneys where the selkies are a big part of the mythology and culture which are women that can wear the skin of seals, so they can go between land and sea. So I though it'd be really interesting to merge the two."
In the end, the artwork showcases a surfer, tied to NZ people's affinity to the ocean and surf culture, whilst wear the skin of a shark - a combination of selkie and Taniwha, merging those cultures together.
KMG will also be live painting in our taproom Thursday 28th June for our NZ Pils Launch. Join us from 5pm!
The beer itself is a premium lager with the zesty character of New Zealand grown hops, Riwaka and Rakau. A light bready base and a sparkling crisp finish with notes of citrus and apricot, coming in at 4.8%.
FRESH - ZEST - MELLOW
We definitely think KMG has portrayed this description in the artwork: a fun and fresh beer, ready for the summer!
