www.PeteAndKymDrinkBeerAroundNewZealand.blogspot.com

...cycling, cycling, cycling, that's all this blog seems to be about. Well, time to redress the balance. As some of you know i'm a dead keen home brewer so i've been taking the opportunity to sample some fine micro-brews on the way around NZ (and basically forcing Kym to do the same, it's a hard life eh, although just for the record it was Kym who insisted on stopping for a beer at 10am ;-) Anyway, if you have no interest at all in beer, time to skip over this post and get back to the important business of cycling. Otherwise, read on for my fairly random but hopefully slightly interesting thoughts on South Island BEER. I actually found micro-brewery touring and cycling a pretty good combination. Apart from the obvious (and illegal) hazards of drinking too much and falling off your bike it's a great way to see obscure places you might not visit and also a good reason to get off the bike for a rest. Just to get started, here's a beer bigger than Kym's head :-

I'm not a big fan of the larger breweries beers here in NZ, Monteith's, Speights, Macs, Tui's are all nice enough in the same way that a lot of mainsteam Aussie ales / lagers are but they don't have a lot of flavour and particularly body for my tastes (should probably mention right now that i'm an English Real Ale fan). Luckily, craft brewing seems to be alive and well in NZ and we've found some cracking brews made by the small guys. Most of the places we've visited have been in the Nelson area which happens to be the hop-growing capital of NZ, and also has a long heritage of German / English immigrants which I guess means a lot of keen beer drinkers / brewers. Around Upper Moutere / Motueka, there are heaps of hop fields and it really reminds me of Kent where I grew up.

I've really been struck by the diversity of approaches between even the small number of breweries we've visited. From small shop front operations using converted dairy equipment, to state of the art futuristic fit-outs, to 6th generation traditional brewers with organic accrediation. All of them make cracking beer but just take a different approach and philosophy. As well as a quick run-down on the places we visited, we've also awarded some prizes so here goes...

Best Pub

Easy one this. When we cycled over the hill into Upper Moutere and saw a pub sign with the words "Real Ale" written on it I was instantly transported 12,000 miles back to the green country lanes of Blighty. I really couldn't believe it when we walked into the pub and saw traditional beer engines, no Co2 in sight, and real ales brewed by the local Townshend brewery serving warm beer. One pint of ESB and a Ploughmans lunch later, the best pub goes to the Moutere Inn (Upper Moutere), NZ's oldest pub established in 1850 apparently.

Best Session

Believe it or not, the one and only time we really got drunk this holiday was at the Mussel Inn in Onekaka. Worth a special mention as it's based on a 1900's roadhouse, the single room is fitted out all in wood with a big open fireplace and long trestle tables. It's a top place with great beer and good food and i'm sure even better when live music is on. After 8 pints or so, we had to negotiate a rapidly rising ford, in the dark, by the light of an iPhone but I think we've already covered that in another post.

Best Beer (Pete)

Easy, the Townshed ESB (Extra Special Bitter) I had at the Moutere Inn, i've no idea how long it had been on (real ale only lasts around a week or so without Co2 and the taste changes with it's contact with air) but it had a great malty flavour profile, very full bodied, lovely creamy white head which laced all the way to the bottom of the glass, and was lovely and warm. Warm beer..mmmm.

Best Beer (Kym)
Captain Cook Manuka Beer (Mussel Inn). This beer was brewed using the tips of the Manuka tree for flavour which is quite unusual. Kym says "...this is the beer I had the most fun with and i'd certainly go back to it". He also had a lot of it on our session night ;-)

Special Mention (Pete)

Founders Fair Maiden Pale Ale. Brewed in Nelson by the Founders brewery who are sixth generation organic brewers. The pale ale had a lovely hoppy flavour / aroma and went down a treat. They'd actually run out of this when we visited the brewery.

Special Mention (Kym)

Founders Redhead. A Vienna style copper coloured lager. We both appreciated a pint of this today over lunch. Very easy to drink, a lovely rich copper colour, and a good balance of hops and malt.

...and a few notes on the breweries in no particular order...

Founders Organic Brewery, Nelson

These guys are located in a rather odd "living museum" in Nelson, but they certainly know their stuff having brewing in the family for 6 generations, having been the first certified organic brewery in Australasia, and having won numerous awards for various beers. The range was 3 lagers and 2 ales when we visited and really they were all great. The Redhead Vienna lager, Fair Maiden Pale ale, and Tall Blonde golden lager were all stand-outs for me and I don't even like lagers that much. A pint (500ml) bottle of the pale ale seems to retail for around $11 which i'd say is a little rich, but still it's a fine beer.

Monkey Wizard Brewery, Riwaka

...a fairly new operation by the look of it. Matt (the brewer) who is from Yorkshire gave us a free tasting of his lager, English ale and stout all of which were on tap. He was in the process of fitting out the shop front and fitting a beer engine which is great. I have to say good luck to him, he's already brewing some nice beer, was very friendly and will definitely be one to check out if you're in the Golden Bay area.

Mussel Inn Brewpub, Onekaka

...the Mussel Inn is a well established brewpub in Onekaka. The pub itself is great, does good food and a good variety of beers when we visited including the Manuka flavoured Captain Cook, Golden Goose lager, Dark Horse stout, and Bitter Ass (my personal favourite). It looks as though the brewer experiments a lot with new styles and i'd definitely recommend a stop here if you're heading over Takaka Hill.

Bays Brewery, Nelson

A reasonably large operation running out of an industrial park in Nelson. These guys gave us a free tasting of their entire extensive range which was great. The star for me was a Doppelbock called eXterminator, although it was 7.5% it was incredibly drinkable.

Tasman Brewery, Nelson

Although listed as a micro-brewery I would have to say these guys are at the limit as they seem to be a big operation with a number of franchised pubs called the "Sprig and Fern" in the Nelson area. They have a wide range of beers and serve traditional pint glasses which is great. I'd have to say they were all over-gassed for my tasted though (which was actually a pretty common theme with a lot of pubs we visited). Having said that, the pubs are always packed so i'd say they are a hit with the locals and they also sell 2 litre PET bottle take-outs called riggers.

Townshend Brewery, Upper Moutere

Although we didn't visit the brewery, the pub co-owned by the (English) brewer is the Moutere Inn and they had 2 real ales on pump when we visited as well as a heap other local craft beers on tap. I was genuinely amazed to see hand pumps in NZ and I have to say the beer (an ESB & a Stout called "Number 9") was every bit as good as a real ale in England. They were in the process of renovations, and it looks as though they are planning to turn this place into a traditional English "Free-House" with great food and atmosphere to boot. I'll definitely be back!

Golden Bear Brewing Company, Mapua Wharf

An American owned and run brewery / bar on Mapua Wharf just outside of Nelson. This is a purpose built micro-brewery with all the latest equipment, producing some very nice beers. Jim, one of the brewers, was kind enough to give us a full tour of the brewery which was fascinating and very impressive (for me at least). The IPA and pale ale were highlights, these guys really appreciate their hops and were sourcing them all locally (including the American Cascade strains etc).

Dux de Lux Brewpub, Queenstown

Dux de Lux brewpubs are in a few places in NZ now. We checked out the one in Queenstown which i'm ashamed to say I didn't find until we'd been there for a few days. They have a wide range of beers all on tap and brewed on the premises. The stand-outs for me were the Wakatipu Wheat beer (an unusual Goldings hopped hoppy wheat beer) and the Nor'wester pale ale which has won Grand Champion at the AIBA awards apparently. They also had some funky local band playing when we visited.

So, that's it really. One final note is that apparently there will be a new "free-house"pub opening in Nelson soon which will be stocking a range of local micro-brews and I think it will be worth checking out. There were also a heap of places we didn't get to go, particularly the Twisted Hop in Christchurch which also serves cask ale, but I guess I can save that for next time. Anyway, thanks to all the brewers and brew-pubs we've visited for lubricating our journey. Cheers!