Beervana 2009: Tasting Notes (Part One)

Beervana has grown. This year it is almost a victim of its own success. The doors open at 5pm – there has been a previous session from 12-4pm – and the queue snakes back across Civic Square to get into the Town Hall. It is mainly comprised of people who have come straight from work and are looking forward to kicking off their weekend with some decent ales.

Through the doors we are presented with a wrist band a glass – we make sure we get the straight-sided rather than the one with a lip that looks like a vase. It just tastes better drinking out of this one, plus it’s bigger – only one place will charge us more for choosing wisely (Hashigo Zake Limited, since you ask).

The last time I was in this building I was receiving citizenship from the mayor. I suspect this will be a somewhat different evening, although once again I am accompanied by Him Outdoors and the Weevil – both of them are present at most of the major events in my life.

Out of a sense of loyalty, and the fact that they make damn fine beer, we head straight to Yeastie Boys. They are at Beernz Limited/ Bar Edward and have a couple of new beers to sample. I try Plan K (Belgian style; lots of flavor; a bit nutty) and Him Outdoors indulges in a spot of His Majesty (supreme IPA; nice as a first one to try). They are proudly displaying their trophy, and why not? They have won best porter for their Pot Kettle Black, and deservedly so. We determine to return later in the evening when we are ready to come over to the dark side.

We find the boys supping a variety of offerings from Twisted Hop (IPA ‘very bitter, but slightly lacking’) and Tasman Brewing Company (Porter ‘like coffee in a beer glass’; Pale Ale ‘weak tasting with a cheesy aftertaste’), and we take them to find the Arrow Brewing Company. The map is so tiny that Him Outdoors says he can’t read it even with his glasses on, and it is left to me to navigate the corridors of power, and beer.

I discussed the layout with a few of the brewers and they said they generally preferred last year’s more cramped but intimate setting of the Overseas Passengers’ Terminal. There it was all about the brewers and everyone was happy chatting to each other. Here the stalls were more spread out and on the edges of the venue, like blushing wallflowers waiting to be asked for a dance.

The Arrow Brewing Company are tucked away upstairs in a corner with their casks of beer born with altitude. It’s a little early in the evening for the Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, so we opt instead for the Tobins Cask Ale which pours a gorgeous orange/gold colour with a delightful frothy head. It looks like an English drop, tastes like one too and has a long refreshing taste.

We mention that we are heading down there very soon and the friendly chaps invite us to come and visit. I envisage a few sessions on this stuff, not least because the Weevil writes in her tasting notes, ‘sippy session beer – not too fizzy and really nice.’ This makes it into my top five of the night despite the sexist advertising more in line with Tui than the actual decent beer that this is - I suppose most beer advertising is still aimed at men - sigh!

The name Tricerahops from the Ninkasi Brewing Company in Oregon seems to leap out of the page at me, so we make a slightly boozy beeline down to the Regional Wines & Spirits stall where some of the tipple is poured into our glasses. The blokes here are full of patter, ‘We’re the best beer shop in town!’ Him Outdoors has enough of sales talk for a while (he just finished working for a corporate company today) – he barks ‘I know’ and then feels sorry at the crestfallen faces and drinks up appreciatively. I like the hop content very much and find this to be a complex but subtle mix of hops and malt. Only later do I realise it is 8.8%.

We make a point of not visiting the breweries that we know we like because we have drunk their beer before and will do again. Maybe this is a bit unfair (and it means we miss out on Emerson’s Bewitched, a special festive brew apparently) but we simply can’t do justice to them all.

We hear that Epic have sold out of their Armageddon IPA anyway. When we mention this to another brewer, however, he just laughs that is exactly the sort of rumour Luke would put about to create more demand. There’s still some on at The Malthouse anyway and we have a couple of pints later, although we swore we would go straight home after the festival this time.

Beervana: Tasting notes (Part 1)

Well, my head has almost recovered after a night of hedonistic beery pleasure, and this morning’s run along the Eastern walkway with occasional glimpses of the inland Kaikouras (they were just there!) has cleared the mental decks so that I can write up some rather illegible tasting notes from this weekend’s Beervana.

Him outdoors was like a boy in a sweetshop, or indeed, a bloke in a beer shop, and was barely restrained from leaping about trying everything at once. Methodically enough, we began at the beginning, handing over our first beer tokens in exchange for some Mike’s Mild from White Cliffs Organic Brewery. You don’t often get a good (or actually, any at all) mild in New Zealand, but this is excellent. I’ve had it before and enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it again tonight – a great start to the evening.

We moved on down, or up depending on your viewpoint, to the Renaissance stand where I sampled the Perfection Pale Ale, which is a great name for a beer. Again, I have had this before and liked it – most notably after the Grape Ride where I collapsed after cycling 101km around the Queen Charlotte Sound and the vineyards of Marlborough. Re-hydrating with plenty of water and some very tasty wine from Forrest Estate , I also refreshed myself with some of the local ale and I have been a convert ever since.

I really like the balance of the bitter hops and the creamy toffee notes. At the risk of sounding incredibly girly, I also really like the label. I think the design and the shape of the bottle makes this one of the best looking beers on the market.

Next stop was Peak Brewery from Taratahi, and I tried their Monkey Point India Pale Ale. Apparently Monkey Point is the name of the first brewery in India. The chocolate notes rang out loud and clear but it was slightly too sweet for my taste. I am always impressed with breweries in the middle of wine regions and I wish Mr. Morgan well with his range of German and British style ales from his relatively new (three years old) brewery. He sells them at the Farmers’ Market in Masterton and also has a hectare of sauvignon and pinot noir vines planted on his property. I think that might just be greedy!

We couldn’t pass the Epic stall without having a taste of their Pale Ale – just to check it is as good as we remember – it is. This is my tipple of choice at The Malthouse . I believe it won gold and best in class at the awards. The trophies depicting a mash tun are very cool and those who had won them were proudly displaying them on their stalls.

We first had Epic Pale Ale two years ago when there was a beer festival beneath the Old Bank on a Saturday afternoon. We emerged blinking into the pale sunlight with a feeling we had just tasted the best beer we’d had in New Zealand since we arrived ten years previously. I loved the Armageddon Ale that Epic released recently, but sadly that wasn’t on offer, or not that I could see anyway. Does this mean it’s all gone? Bring it back please – I love it! I love hops, which may explain it. In the meantime, I will happily drink the Pale Ale.

And now for something completely different – Waituna Brewing Company from Rewa are promoting their TaaKawa Ale as New Zealand’s first indigenous beverage. Apparently it incorporates the Kawakawa herb and spring water into a beer, which sounds very clever. The marketing people have just sold a line into Tesco’s in the UK and are hoping to ‘place TaaKawa competitively at the top of the National and the International market’. It’s clean and crisp, refreshing the palate.

For old time’s sake we sampled some of the ales from Brew Moon . We used to live in Christchurch and a trip home was always completed with a stop off at the brewery in Amberley. We were asked if we wanted the hoppy or the very hoppy and subsequently I tried the Hophead IPA while Him Outdoors had the Amberley Pale Ale. A delicious drop!

One of the great things about beer festivals is the opportunity to talk to the artisans who make the stuff, and Mr Bennett himself was manning his stall of Bennett’s Fine Beer and Ale . He is a man of boundless enthusiasm, and when he is not brewing beer or running supermarkets, he makes artwork out of toast – yep, that’s right, toast, but they’re actually really good!

We tried his Belgium Strong, which was interesting and different. As the name suggests, it is made to taste like a Belgian golden ale (Leffe Blonde springs to mind) with a taste that is slightly sweet and fruity. It is also strong (7%), but you don’t really notice the kick until later. Mr Bennett claims that he wanted to make this style of beer because ‘this is what the beer gods favour.’ He could well be onto something…

To be continued...