August 25th, 2016

Craftwork Saison Showdown

It's rare to get kegs out of a brewery as small as Oamaru's Craftwork.
When brewing at their 100L scale, a single 20L keg represents 1/5 of an entire batch, or 40 individual bottles they could get out to consumers.

So we are honoured to be pouring two kegs from Craftwork this Saturday, side-by-side.

From midday this Saturday we'll be pouring Saison Zest (saison with orange zest) and Saison Anise (saison with star anise).

Saison Zest comes across as a traditional saison - refreshingly dry with with bright zesty notes. Saison Anise is interesting as the more floral, spicey aspects of star anise come through, rather than a licoricey flavour.

Saturday only we'll be offering up 200ml pours of both these beautiful beers side-by-side in equally beautiful TeKu glassware for just $12.

Oishi Jibiru for NRT

This week we say konnichiwa to a new shipment from Baird Brewing in Numazu, Japan.
Among old favourites like Rising Sun Pale Ale and Suruga Bay IPA is one new seasonal keg: Baird Pacific Porter (8%).

Pacific Porter isn't your average porter however, it is the rare breed of Baltic Porter - a strong porter made with a lager yeast.

Brewer Bryan Baird says it best himself:

"This is the Baird Beer Pacific ocean version of a classic Baltic Porter (a strong dark beer fermented with Lager yeast whose historical roots are in the Baltic sea region countries). Caramel and roasted malts contribute to a body that is chewy but not thick and to a flavor that is sweet but also subtle and smooth.

Baltic Porter is a style that largely had been forgotten until the craft beer renaissance got underway in the 1980s.
We are doing our part to keep this fascinating style alive and relevant today."

We tap Baird Pacific Porter at 5pm this Tuesday, and keep an eye out for other Baird staples hitting the taps like Rising Sun Pale Ale, Teikoku IPA and Suruga Bay IIPA. Kanpai!

Portland Pours Persevere

The Beervana fallout continues, with this weekend looking like it'll be a mini Portland tap-takeover.

Currently on our IPA tap we have the 8% collaboration IIPA between Ecliptic & Worthy: Hopservatory Tropical IIPA. The tropical bit comes from added Mango.

Following the hopservatory keg is HUB Gear UP IPA, and due next on the taps next to it is Eclipctic Capella Porter and Zenith Grapefruit Gose.

So very shortly we'll have three taps with exciting Portland brews pouring, for you to enjoy.

Fresh in the Fridge

Te Aro Brewing's barrel aging programme is small, with only a single barrel being made of each beer. But what little beer does come out of their small stock of barrels is something to behold.

We've had the pleasure of hosting their BA beers on tap, so it's exciting to now stock them in 330ml bottles. We have:

• Rhubarb Berliner Weisse (3.5%) - $10
• Boysenberry Saison (6%) - $10
• Uncle Tom's Bourbon BA Imperial Stout (10.5%) - $16
• Pinot BA Imperial Chocolate Stout (12%) - $16

After the article broke today detailing Townshend's disastrous dealings with contract brewing it is fitting that we have added a new vintage of their amazing Flemish Stout to the fridge this week.

The 2015 Vintage of Flemish stout comes in at 9%ABV, up from 7.5%. This vintage is a blend of stout aged in oak barrels for 18 months with the Roeselare blend of yeast & bacteria, and a fresh brew of stout. This attains the perfect balance of tart acidity and roasty richness.

The 2015 vintage of Flemish Stout comes in 500ml bottles (down from the 750ml), meaning it comes in at the split-a-bottle-with-a-friend price of $20 per bottle.

Expect to see Townshend on our handpumps too, with no.9 Stout on now and the classic Old House ESB up next.