Anything could happen and it could be right now!

Crap instruments, simple riffs, and a shit load more humour than most New Zealand music at the time

Have you had anything to drink this evening, sir?

Well, yes, I have Friday: Tuatara Helles, Tuatara Pilsner, Tuatara Hefe, Tuatara IPA, Tuatara Porter, Tuatara APA, Tuatara Ardennes (hosting a Tuatara tasting). Saturday: Tuatara Pilsner, Tuatara APA, Yeastie Boys Lady Marmalade, Moo Brew Pale Ale, Epic Barrel-Aged IPA Sunday: Three Boys Pilsner, Emerson’s Pilsner, Matson’s Pine Tree Black, Feral Karma Citra Hey, what can […]

The rights and wrongs of contract brewing

McLaren Vale is a wine producing region, and is named after the international motorsport team founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Not everyone knows that.

Colonial Upstarts!

It may seem churlish to gatecrash Her Maj’s birthday by comparing British Pale Ales with their brash colonialist knock-offs. But there was no gong in my mail this morning, so churlish I’m going to be.

I mashed-up 100 Hop Zombies

Last Friday night I created my own Hop Zombie army

Beervana Preview 3 – Monsters from Marlborough

It’s been a monster winter for New Zealand beer lovers. We’ve had a sudden rush of new, high alcohol beers, often pushing loads of New Zealand hops. Perhaps the biggest of the monsters is MPA Imperial India Pale Ale from the Renaissance Brewing Company in Blenheim. The label tells you all you need to know […]

Beervana Preview 1 – Malthouse’s Thornbridge Three

Thornbridge is an English craft brewery with strong links to New Zealand. Those links will be strengthened next week when the Malthouse launches three Thornbridge imports at Beervana. English pale ales always seem a bit understated and stiff-upper-lip to my New World tastes, but Jaipur India Pale Ale proves me wrong again. Thornbridge describe it […]

Did Morton Coutts think hops are evil?

Morton Coutts was New Zealand’s most influential brewer, but he had some strange ideas about hops. I was at the Macs Brewery Bar in Wellington last week with a colleague. He had a Mac’s Gold and when it came to getting a second round, I suggested he try a Hopsmacker Hoprocker and tell me if […]

IPA Challenge – Over-hopped or over hops?

I was at the Malthouse on Saturday for the third West Coast IPA Challenge. I was expecting hops, hops and nothing but hops, but I didn’t get it. And that’s a good thing. Now don’t get me wrong – there’s no shortage of healthy, resinous, clears-the-sinuses American hops in both Epic Armageddon and Hallertau Maximus […]

Tis the season to be hoppy

Think of winter beers, and you’ll usually be looking at porters, stouts or strong ales. But the last few weeks have seen a sudden round of new, hoppy pale ales hit the bars, and over the weekend I set out to try a few. Epic Pale Ale set a benchmark four years ago when it […]

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