March 10th, 2016

Pathway to Hoppiness with Panhead 

Craft Beer College are back this Saturday with an exciting lesson on many peoples favourite beer ingredient: hops.

Even better, Panhead founder Mike Neilson (and possibly his brewing crew) will be along to tell you what goes into making a world-class hoppy beer.

Craft Beer College's lesson plan for Saturday is:

"The Pathway to Hoppiness celebrates the brewing world's obsession with hops. You will taste seven beers with a variety of New Zealand and international hops, and that build up in hop intensity. You will learn about the historical importance of hops, and the birth of the popular India Pale Ale (IPA) style of beer."

Rumour has it that Panhead's Fresh Hop Vandal will be making an appearance - your first chance at this season's wet hop beers!
Places are $44 per person, you can book by emailing Steph or over on Eventfinda.

Black Spider Stomp

Last week's Cosomonauts were so popular, we're back with more gypsy jazz this Saturday when Black Spider Stomp play the lounge.

BSS will be playing their awesome good-time gypsy jazz fusion - with Sam Thurston, James Quick and Adrian Jensen.

The stomp starts at 9.30pm this Saturday, and has no door fee as usual. But I'm sure all that jazz will make you thirsty.

Peachville, Population Brett

Making an amazing white wine barrel aged saison, fermented with 12 strains of the wild yeast Brettanomyces just isn't enough for Almanac.
Why the hell not throw some peaches and nectarines in the barrel?

Saison de Brettaville was a pretty peachy beer to begin with, thanks to the white wine barrels interacting with the funky brett. To build from this Almanac have added the real thing:

"Peach de Brettaville is a harmonious marriage of fruit and beer, bringing together our love for brett saisons and farm fresh fruit. We brewed our Saison Dolores and fermented it with twelve different brettanomyces strains, and aged it in wine barrels and our foeders with plenty of juicy peaches and nectarines."

After months of maturing and blending, this saison has developed a balance between earthy funk and stone fruit sweetness with a dry, white wine-like finish."

We're tapping a 20L keg of Peach de Brettaville this Tuesday - it's gonna go quick so don't miss out!

North End Salt & Wood

North End's new sours Rivage Brux Reserve & Baby Grand in the fridge now.

'nuff said.

SOBA Discount Changes

With the steadily increasing price of tap beers, the deduction provided by our 15% SOBA discount is also growing.
To reduce this effect and bring our SOBA discount in line with other bars in Wellington, from Sunday we'll be offering SOBA members 10% off tap beers, Sunday thru Wednesday.

March 3rd, 2016

TEDx Wellington Livestreaming

I love the TED talks format of presentations. So when I saw that an independently organised TEDx event was happening in Wellington - and was to be streamed for free online I was stoked.
I also thought it would be a good test of our sweet fibre optic internet.

This year’s TEDx Wellington is changing up the TED formula.
They’re not sharing the location, speakers/performers, exact number of tickets or even the programme for the day.

Why? The organisers explain,

“It’s an experiment. A journey. An attempt to explore the ‘what if’ question whilst banking in some of the trust from the previous years events. We believe in the adventurous side of our community and it seems they like the idea as well”

Tickets to attend the actual event have sold out, but the organisers are making a live stream available for everyone from 11am-6pm Saturday.
We’ll be playing the live stream in the red room this Saturday from opening (12pm) till 6pm.
The session times are 11am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm & 4pm-5.45pm.
Come Along and watch for 10mins, or the whole day.

The Cosmonauts Return

Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko has just returned to Earth after a 1 year stay on the International Space Station.
Sadly after a year of microgravity, he's not quite strong enough yet to join The Cosmonauts playing the HZ lounge this Saturday.

The Cosmonauts play a high-energy blend of Soviet Folk with Italian Chanson and 19th Century Balkan Pop. Our music man has condensed this to 'Gypsy Jazz' on the chalk board for succinctness. The Cosmonauts are Frankie Curac on accordion, AJ Jensen with guitar and Andrew Laking playing double bass.

The Gypsy Jazz starts at 9.30pm this Saturday, and won't cost you a thing. But we hear beer and gypsy jazz do go well together...

Double Sour NRT!

Back in December we hosted a hoppy sour showdown between Almanac's pioneering Simoce Sour & Citra Sour (which are both coming back on tap this weekend).
With this week's new arrivals from the West Coast, we've now got two more hoppy sours to pit against one another - but this time they're not US hops.
This time it's the citrusy new German hop Mandarina Bavaria going up against NZ's own Wakatu (previously known as Hallertau Aroma).

This Tuesday only we'll be serving up both of these groundbreaking beers side-by-side in TeKu glasses for $20. Last time they sold out after just a few hours, so come on down Tuesday or you'll most likely miss out.

If you're wondering what they'll be like, the brewery has prepared detailed descriptions of both:
Hoppy Sour: Mandarina:

"Mandarina Bavaria hops are Germany’s answer to the bold, vivacious US varieties found in West Coast-style brews. This hop is the daughter of Cascade and Hallertau, combining characteristic New World citrus flavors and aromas with the subtle spice of German noble hops. 

We blended our wine barrel-aged sour blonde ale with foeder-fermented brett saison to craft a complex base of stone fruit, oak, and earthy funk to compliment the tangerine and lime-like character of Mandarina. Each sip teases a new flavor, from grass to grapefruit to peaches and finishes crisp and dry."

 Hoppy Sour: Wakatu:

"Wakatu is a New Zealand-born hop prized for its floral and citrusy aromatics. This relative of classic Hallertau hops is light on bitterness and often used in clean, German-style lagers. 

This hop finds a perfect mate in our sour blonde base beer, combining with the tropical fruit and funk to create a tart ale with hints of lemon, pineapple, and tangerine, a dry white wine-like finish, and the subtle taste of key lime pie." 

Both hoppy sours are tapped at 5pm Tuesday. See you there.

Fresh From the West

It's less than a week away now, so this is your last reminder of our new shipment tasting on Wednesday the 9th of March at 6pm.

We'll be tasting the following beers:

- Speakeasy Popgun Pilsner - German Pilsner in a can, brewed in San Fran (4.7%)
- Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Noir - Brett Saison with Pinot Noir Must (7.2%)
- Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Grigio - Brett Saison with Pinot Grigio Must (7.2%)
- Modern Times Mega Fortunate Islands - Imperial Hoppy Wheat Ale (8%)
- Karl Strauss Six Suits A-Hangin' - Belgian Brown aged in French oak barrels (8.5%)
- Modern Times Devil's Teeth - Imperial Stout/Old Ale with Coffee (10%)
- Almanac Truthful Statement - Dark Sour Ale Age in Bourbon Barrels with Cherries (9%)

Secure your spot in the tasting now at cultbeerstore, or over the bar next time you're in.

Fresh in the Fridge

If you can't make it or can't wait for Wednesday's tasting, we have some featured beers in the fridge already - and a few other newbies.

Pop Gun Pilsner, Truthful Statement and Peach de Brettaville are already here waiting for you.
Along with the other new bottle additions of Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA plus Mosaic Session Ale and Maui Mana (pineapple) Wheat cans to top it off.

We've only got a limited amount of space in our fridges here, but there's plenty of space up the road at Beer Without Borders' chilled warehouse. You can purchase the full range of new arrivals over on Cultbeerstore now - you can even avoid freight charges by selecting to pick up from HZ (HZ pickup not available for smaller orders).

February 25th, 2016

App Facelift

Our Android app started off as a labour of love by one of our best regulars, Robin Sheat. He build a brilliant app that shows what's on tap and in the fridge whenever you want it, and will even notify you when new beers come on tap.

He did this all off his own back, and we're incredibly grateful. Robin recently moved overseas and another regular - James began collaborating with Robin on updating the app. Again, just for the love of beer.

So we were stoked when last week our Android app got a beautiful makeover to bring its visuals more in line with Google's new Material Design.

The update is live in the Play Store now if yours hasn't updated it yet, or you can download it here now.

Thanks Robin and James!

Superbad is a Tasty Beverage

"You mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down?"
-Jules Winnfield

If you pay attention to our Facebook events, you would have been expecting an exciting double header New Release Tuesday next week...
Unfortunately the shipment containing both Almanac Mandarina and Wakatu sours has been delayed, and likely won't arrive in time for Tuesday.

Luckily we have a backup plan - in the form of Gigantic Superbad Coffee Imperial Stout.

Only two kegs of Superbad made it into the country in January's Oregon shipment, making this a rare chance to try it on tap.
Superbad is a big-ass 9% imperial stout with oats, blended with local Portland Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee. 

Cold brew coffee is a great way of making coffee beers, as the cold extraction gets the more aromatic aspects of coffee into your beer while avoiding the harshness.
But the label gets pretty funky with the description:

"This beer's got somethin' that'll make you wanna shout. Got somethin' that tells you what it's all about. It's got soul and it's superbad. Tastes so nice, gonna make you jump back, wanna kiss yourself!"

We may have to play some James Brown on Tuesday...
Superbad makes its tap debut at 5pm this Tuesday, we've just got the one keg so make sure you get on down.

Jazzy Mosh Pit

We're getting a little heavier than usual this Saturday, with Reuben Bradley's Death Hos jazz metal.

Featuring the music of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Steely Dan and Band of Gypsies. Music will be stretched apart and extemporised upon.

We've got Daniel Hayles on Keys, Nick Tipping on Bass and of course, Reuben Bradley on Drums.

The Death Hos kick off at 9.30pm this Saturday, and won't cost you a thing. So why not come on down for a bit of beer, jazz and maybe even a mosh.

Fresh From the West

Don't forget. we've got a tasting on Wednesday the 9th of March at 6pm of some exciting new beers arriving oon from the West Coast of the States.

We'll be tasting the following beers:

- Speakeasy Popgun Pilsner - German Pilsner in a can, brewed in San Fran (4.7%)
- Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Noir - Brett Saison with Pinot Noir Must (7.2%)
- Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Grigio - Brett Saison with Pinot Grigio Must (7.2%)
- Modern Times Mega Fortunate Islands - Imperial Hoppy Wheat Ale (8%)
- Karl Strauss Six Suits A-Hangin' - Belgian Brown aged in French oak barrels (8.5%)
- Modern Times Devil's Teeth - Imperial Stout/Old Ale with Coffee (10%)
- Almanac Truthful Statement - Dark Sour Ale Age in Bourbon Barrels with Cherries (9%)

Secure your spot in the tasting now at cultbeerstore, or over the bar next time you're in

February 18th, 2016

Bring Back the Brown

What happened to brown ales? They used to be part of most breweries lineup, but in the previous few years have become almost extinct.

8 Wired used to make the brilliant ReWired Brown ale, but had to stop making it because it wasn't popular enough. Are brown ales just not exciting enough? What's wrong with a bit of toasty roasty malt?

This Tuesday we're bringing brown ale back, with an English style brown from Coronado: Oat Brown Ale (6%).
It's just a straight up brown ale, with a touch of oats for texture. They've even resisted the American tendency to hop it up:

"This classic English style brewed with rolled oats gives this beer an extra creamy and smooth mouthfeel, delicately hopped with northern brewer and East Kent goldings hops."

We tap our keg of Coronado's Oat Brown Tuesday the 23rd at 5pm.

Long live the brown ale!

Josh Returns!

Ex-Hashigan bartender Joshua Simon has been travelling the world, but is back in Welly again. This Saturday he comes back to HZ as well, but on the other side of the bar - performing Jazz with his new band!

Josh is bringing a few friends with him too, playing a lively mix of Bebop, Manouche and '30s/'40s Swing.
With Emma Wollum - Vox/Accordion, Jacqui Nyman - Bass, Greg Crayford - Drums and of course Josh Simon - Sax!

And as always, there's no door fee.

Miracle of Malt with CBC & GP

School is in.

Join Craft Beer College and brewer Pete from Garage Project  in the lounge, this Saturday at 3pm for Beer 101: Miracle of Malt.

"Want to know more about malt and why it is so important to the brewing of beer? Join us for our Miracle of Malt tasting.

The Miracle of Malt is a celebration of the miracle of malt and the contribution it makes to the flavour and colour of beer. You will taste seven beers that will all showcase the importance of malt in the brewing process and highlight the impact on ABV. Some interesting beers will be featured.

A team from Garage Project will join us to chat about the brewery and beers. They’re always fun to have along."

Book your place on Eventfinda or by emailing steph@craftbeercollege.co.nz.

Fresh From the West

Last night's tasting 'Most Most Premium' tasting was great fun. If you missed out on any of the beers, they're all in the fridge for purchase now.

If you're keen to attend the next tasting - this time we've been super organised and have the next tasting already lined up for March 9th!

BwB's next shipment has just arrived in the country, and brings with it some exciting new beers from the West Coast.

There's exciting new cans, barrel aged beers, sour beers and even two beers with different grape musts (which we'll taste side-by-side).

So on Wednesday the 9th of March at 6pm we'll be tasting the following beers:

Speakeasy Popgun Pilsner - German Pilsner in a can, brewed in San Fran (4.7%)

Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Noir - Brett Saison with Pinot Noir Must (7.2%)

Modern Times Funky Universal Friend W/ Pinot Grigio - Brett Saison with Pinot Grigio Must (7.2%)

Modern Times Mega Fortunate Islands - Imperial Hoppy Wheat Ale (8%)

Karl Strauss Six Suits A-Hangin' - Belgian Brown aged in French oak barrels (8.5%)

Modern Times Devil's Teeth - Imperial Stout/Old Ale with Coffee (10%)

Almanac Truthful Statement - Dark Sour Ale Age in Bourbon Barrels with Cherries (9%)

Secure your spot in the tasting now at cultbeerstore, or over the bar next time you're in. Be organised like we were - it's only three weeks away!

February 12th, 2016

This week's email is a late edition, as I've just arrived back from a lovely week in Northland. I was going to go straight to the cricket, but that's not going so well...

Slip Into Darkness...

“The most merciful thing in the world, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” 

-H.P. Lovecraft

Gigantic’s Slip into Darkness slipped into the country just last week, in BwB’s latest Oregon shipment.

This time Gigantic have smashed together a new-world pilsner, and a schwarzbier (dark lager) – because why not.

These are actually two styles that I can see working together well. Schwarzbier is usually not overly roasty, which should allow the big hops of the pilsner to shine through - and quite the hop combo they’ve used:
 Citra, Simcoe, Cascade, Pacifica & Magnum have all been infused into this 6.4% Black Pilsner.

Ben the brewer says:

“We took the traditional Pilsner and turned it on its head.
Heavily hopped with citrusy new world grown hops. Darkened with midnight wheat - which makes the beer black without ading much roast character”

We’ll be tapping a wee 20L keg of Slip Into Darkness this coming Tuesday at 5pm, don’t miss out on Gigantic’s latest innovation.

Strong, Barrel Aged & Weird

As revealed last week, this Wednesday February 17th we're hosting our first tasting night of 2016. It's an evening of excess, tasting the more extreme, experimental and expensive beers of BwB's recent shipments.
We'll be tasting the following:

• Gigantic Slip into Darkness (hopped up black pilsner, 6.4%)
• Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Mango Astronaut Ale (mango doughnut beer........ 5.3%)
• Coronado Brandy Barrel Aged Punkin' Drublic (8%)
• Pelican Mother of All Storms 2015 (Bourbon BA barley wine, 14%)
• Speakeasy Bourbon Barrel Aged Scarface Imperial Stout (9.5%)
• Gigiantic MOST Most Premium (Bourbon BA imperial oatmeal stout, 11.5%)
• Almanac Dogpatch Grand Cru (wine BA multi-varietal grape sour ale 10.5%)

Taste all of these amazing beers for just $40, which is below what a single bottle of almost all of these beers would cost you. We've about sold half of the spots available now, so claim yours over at cultbeerstore now!

Live in the Lounge: The X-Ray Catz

The X-Ray Catz are back this Saturday, and we're expecting them inject a huge dose of energy into the bar with their good time rockabilly/surf/swing and classic rock 'n' roll.

Darren Kicks off at 9.30pm this Saturday

As usual there's no door fee, so come on down and experience the brillian X-Ray Catz.

February 4th, 2016

A Tasting MOST Most Premium

While we bask in the heat and humidity of summer, supping pilsners and pale ales, the northern hemisphere keeps warm with imperial stouts, barley wines and barrel aged ales.

It makes sense then, that the last couple of shipments from the north hemisphere have contained plenty of brand new, big, barrel aged and bizarre strong ales. So many in fact, that we've decided to show them all off in an evening of exorbitant excess - a tasting most most premium.

On the evening of Wednesday February 17th we will be tasting the following:

• Gigantic Slip into Darkness (hopped up black pilsner, 6.4%)
• Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Mango Astronaut Ale (mango doughnut beer........ 5.3%)
• Coronado Brandy Barrel Aged Punkin' Drublic (8%)
• Pelican Mother of All Storms 2015 (Bourbon BA barley wine, 14%)
• Speakeasy Bourbon Barrel Aged Scarface Imperial Stout (9.5%)
• Gigiantic MOST Most Premium (Bourbon BA imperial oatmeal stout, 11.5%)
• Almanac Dogpatch Grand Cru (wine BA multi-varietal grape sour ale 10.5%)

Because most of these beers sit around the 10% ABV mark (and have a cost to match) serving sizes will be slightly more restrained but still plenty to get your head around each beer. This allows us to keep the price down, and you to enjoy seven ridiculous beers in one sitting.

That price is a mere $40, below what a single bottle of almost all of these beers would cost you. Claim your spot in the tasting over at cultbeerstore now!

Live in the Lounge: Darren Watson Solo

The legendary Darren watson returns to the HZ lounge this Saturday.
He’ll be playing solo classics of his own and other's making (Planet Key anyone?).

Darren Kicks off at 9.30pm this Saturday

There's no door fee, so there's no reason not to come and enjoy one of NZ's best blues performers up close and personal.

What more can we say?

Superbowl Monday

Just four sleeps till the biggest NFL game of the year kicks off in San Francisco. The coverage starts at midday, so we'll be opening half an hour early at 11.30am so you can get set up with plenty of time to spare.

As I said last week, we'll be tapping a keg of the wonderful Almanac Saison de Brettaville, which will be matched with the seafood stew Cioppino (pronounced "chop-pee-no").
For vegetarians we'll have BBQ Pulled Jackfruit buns, but these will now be matched with Almanac India Pale Ale.

You can grab a 300ml glass of Saison de Brettaville with a bowl of Cioppino for $20, or a pint of Almanac IPA with pulled jackfruit for $20 as well.

If you're planning on coming with a group of four or more, make sure you book one of our four red room tables to ensure you have the best possible seat for the big game. Give us a call or an email to reserve your table.

Happy Birthday Adam!

Adam Laird is a brewer out at Baylands Brewery, but he has his own side-project label: Maiden Brewing Company.

To celebrate his birthday Adam brewed a special beer, which he's keen to share with everyone: Three Rivers Nectarine Sour.

Adam says: "It is also my birthday. I'm old-ish I guess, 29. Meh! Would be great to have everyone down to try the limited batches, hang out and even join in the SOBA awards."

It just so happened that Adam's birthday is on a Tuesday, so NRT was the perfect platform. 

So at 5pm on Feb 9th we'll be tapping the first keg of Three Rivers. 

Adam describes it as "a Yellow Flesh Nectarine Sour" at 5.5% - plus it's looking like there's only going to be 20L for the night!

Because it's Adam's birthday we're also gonna tap a keg of his first beer, Richter city - a 5.7% Toffee and Biscuit Brown Ale with Cranberries (which received a medal at the Brewer's Guild Awards).

Be there at 5pm Tuesday - before all the SOBA members drink it all!

January 28th, 2016

Munter Halloween?

After years of decline it looks as though the annual celebration of getting drunk in a costume near some rugby 7's is finally dying.
This year's abysmal ticket sales has enabled us to avoid the traditional locking of the doors, and this weekend we'll be open as normal.
Our door staff have strict instructions to deny entry to costumed idiots - so even if there are some wasted Where's Wallys around they won't be in HZ.

Think of us as your safe haven from the 7's zombie apocalypse.

New Release Tuesday: Coronado Coconado

It might seem counter intuitive, but in many arid parts of the world stouts are the main choice of beer drinkers. So Summer must be the perfect time of year to drink big, rich, dark imperial stouts right?

Luckily for us Beer Without Borders' lastest US shipment contained a one-off imperial milk stout from Coronado, cleverly named Coconado.

A little confusion arose from the research around this beer, as many websites list it as an 'imperial chocolate milk stout' and others just as 'imperial milk stout'.
Judging by the keg ring, we're fairly certain this one has cocoa and lactose added. Online reviews seem to back that up, agreeing that it's big, rich and sweet:
"Full bodied, rich, and warm toasty chocolate flavors finished with a sweet-clean roasted smoothness."

We're tapping our keg of Coconado this Tuesday at 5pm, let's hope for a hot sunny day...

San Fran Superbowl L

The teams have been selected and the hype train is at full speed in the lead up to the clash of the Denver Broncos & Carolina Panthers, in the historical 50th Super Bowl on Monday Feb 8th (NZ time).
The 8th is also a public holiday so you won't even have to skip work this year! We'll have the game showing from midday, with all the sound and commentary from the game and more importantly - the half time show.

Usually we'd try and find some beer from one of the team's home state, but we don't have any beer from Colorado (yet...) or North Carolina.
So we're focusing on the venue instead, with San Franciscan beers and food to enjoy along with the game.

We'll be tapping a keg of the wonderful Almanac Saison de Brettaville, which will be matched with the seafood stew Cioppino. Apparently "Cioppino" is a traditional San Franciscan seafood stew, something I'd never heard of 'till Google told us about it. It'll be rich and full of fish, prawns, scallops etc.

If meat aint your thing, our resident vegan American Tori has discovered a brilliant 'murican vegetarian option: BBQ Pulled Jackfruit buns. Think pulled pork buns, but not pork. We'll be matching these with Speakeasy Baby Daddy IPA, another SF native brew.

We'll have a special combo price for these beer/food matches.