Ninkasi is a pretty important lady when it comes to beer. One of the oldest known documents relating to beer is a prayer from a Sumerian poet entitled “Hymn to Ninkasi”, which was found on a clay tablet dating from around 1800 BC. Ninkasi was the Sumerian goddess of beer and said text was not only a tribute to her but also contained the recipe for making what passed as beer back then, just to make sure people need never forget. So, as the Victorian Women of Beer (plus one from NSW) prepare to launch their first collaborative beer for charity, it’s perhaps little surprise that they named it in her honour.
Ninkasi’s Angel was brewed at True South earlier this year on a day when members of Barley’s Angels, the all female beer appreciation society mucked in. A big, spiced Belgian style beer, it’s due for release at an event at The Local Taphouse in St Kilda on October 25. You can read about it in an article we penned for Epicure in The Age today.
We understand that the Barley’s Angels will be invited back to help with packaging, with the beer being released in 750ml champagne bottles and all profits going to the McGrath Foundation. Not only will said bottles bear the label above but they’ll all be wax dipped too, hence why the Women of Beer decided to make further use of the readily available slave labour, sorry, willing female beer lovers.
For more on the activities of the Barley’s Angels, who are about to launch a Brisbane chapter, head here.
