Some lights just don’t shine as bright as others – but that doesn’t mean we don’t love them as much, or maybe even more.

Dim Wit Baltic Porter is the beloved third child of the Southern Malt Collective, an annual collaborative brew hosted at Invercargill Brewery where hops step back into a vital supporting role to Malt and, in this case, Yeast.

The 2016 Result is a delicious banana toffee chocolate mouthful – and for those tempted to think WTF? – think again. Think Banoffee Pie.

This year the Otago University Food Science Department once again delved into their impressive yeast collection to contribute a little something special to the fermentation, definitely Belgium in origin, delivering a banana aroma which accentuates the rich toffees of the malt profile – which includes the mysterious DD developed specifically by Gladfield for this brew.

Pacific Gem lines up beside the roasted malts to provide appropriate balance of bitterness for a big beer, while the fruit aroma of generous portions of Wai-iti and Styrian Golding support the banana aroma of the yeast.

The taste goes a lot like this … an inviting fruity aroma that’s strong on banana, toffee in the foretaste, followed by a dusky dark chocolate bitterness, ending with a lovely dry finish. Repeat as necessary (with the appropriate cautions a 7.4% beer demands).

Much thanks to an expanded 2016 Southern Malt collective of Gabi Michael Gladfield Malt; Phil Bremer, Graham Eyres, Urte Bierlin & Jamie Scrimgeour (Otago University Dept of Food Science); Mike Cheer (Maltkult Brewing, Harringtons); Grant Radka (Victoria Store Brewery); Greg Allen (Yeastie Boys); Ben Middlemiss (Ben Middlemiss Brewing); Andrew Boulton (Wanaka Beerworks); Murray Cleghorn (Brew Union); Martin Craig (Beertown); Eddie Gapper (Altitude Brewery); James Hay (Butterfly Effect); Lee-ann Scotti & Michael “The Bookbinder” O’Brien (Craftwork); Paul Kelly & Karen Gazzard (Steamer Basin Brewery); Andrew Sharpe (Red Kegs); Josh Clark & Dave Armstrong (Ombrellos); Dan Coxhead (The Fork & Tap) and Invercargill Brewer’s own Damon Milne & Steve Nally, who all converged at Invercargill Brewery in June, consolidating on several months of emails for mash-in.

This strictly limited edition will be available from all the Collaboration Brewers.