March 6th, 2014

It's Beetnik Time!

This Tuesday marks the beginning of a new series of beers, brewed by Hashigo Zake staff, and made possible by the kind folks at Baylands Brewery.

The first in the series is my own creation, Beetnik IPA.

Beetnik started out a few years ago, when I was living in a mouldy student flat in Aro Valley. The State of Origin rugby league series was coming up, and being an ardent Queensland fan I wanted as much maroon (Queensland's colour) as possible around when my New South Wales supporting mates came round to watch the game.

As I'd just started homebrewing, it seemed a good chance to try and brew a maroon coloured beer for everyone to drink during the match. Not wanting to just use food colouring, I asked my girlfriend's father (who has decades of commercial brewing experience) for advice on how to colour the beer naturally, to which he suggested using Beetroot.

My first few attempts only gave the beer a slight pink hue, nothing noticable. After a few batches and some experimentation, I'd figured out a beetroot infusion technique® that struck a good balance between beet colour and beet flavour (earthy beet flavour in a fruity IPA is not a good thing). Once perfected, I brewed this recipe a couple times a year, leading up to the State of Origin series.

I had a lot of fun sharing Beetnik around, seeing how people react when they taste a bitter, hoppy IPA from a beer that looks like a sweet, pink fruit beer.

Thanks to Baylands Brewery I can now share the experience with many more people, with a 50L keg of Beetnik coming on tap this Tuesday from 5pm.

Experience tells me that it won't last long, so I'd suggest getting in at around 5pm.

The next Staffie Series brew is scheduled to be Sauvin Oatmeal Stout, brewed by our recently departed staff member Shigeo Takagi.

Noodleday Friday

Tomorrow Ramen Shop once again take over our wee kitchen, with noodley goodness taking the place of our normal menu from 5pm to 9pm-ish.

If you haven't heard Ramen Shop's exciting news this week, they've signed the lease for a restaurant premises! We're still waiting for the location to be revealed...

Congratulations to Asher and Tsubasa on this big step, we wish you all the best and I'm sure our staff and customers be visiting you regularly once the restaurant opens!

Reuben Bradley Trio

This Saturday night's free musical entertainment comes from the very talented Reuben Bradley trio.

Reuben's world class credentials are rock solid, winning the prestigious Tui Award for Best Jazz Album in 2011 and working with high profile artists like Mickey Dolenz (the Monkees). Reuben and co kick off at 10pm this Saturday.

Lost & Found

You may be aware that our wholesale counterparts - Beer without Borders - recently moved into a new central Wellington warehouse. During the move, some interesting kegs were found hiding in the dark, corners of the chilled room.

Like the Takahe, these beers were previously thought to be extinct. Luckily they've been stored at a beer-friendly 4°C the whole time, so should still be in good condition. We'll be working our way through these kegs in the next week or two, so keep a lookout for: ParrotDog Otis Stout, Liberty Sauvignon Bomb and Libertau KomissionA IPA on tap soon, and if you're quick you might catch some Green Flash Symposium IPA which is on tap now.