At Beer Club this week we are drinking…
BREWERY // Snowboarder Austin Hobson knew his hometown of Bristol would never satisfy his powder dreams so he travelled the world chasing the snow in an endless winter. Until he finally came across the magical Alpine town of Ohakune and decided to settle down. His love of beer was instilled by his home-brewing father and his mother's Belgian family who introduced him to the good stuff from the start. Austin's home brews quickly gained a reputation with his friends and it wasn't long before he took a small space in Ohakune's railway station to try brewing tiny batches commercially. An entire batch only yeilded a single keg which would sell out in a day at local King's bar meaning another 2 or 3 week wait for another brew. It was clear Ruapehu Brewing needed to scale up so a larger home was found nearby, the brewkit was drastically enlarged and the rest is history. Be sure to pop into their taproom for some takeaways next time you're in the area.
BEER // The Pale Ale is a marvellous style but all too often they can be insipid- a tragic missed opportunity to celebrate the joie de vivre of glorious hops and malt. That is certainly not the case here. This week's beer is absolutely stacked with gorgeous aromatic NZ hops. Riwaka lends a punchy hit of grapefruit and passionfruit, Motueka adds a zing of lime and lemon zest, and Nelson Sauvin rounds things off with a hint of tropical gooseberry. It is immaculately crafted with a lingering bitterness that has us dreaming that all Pale Ales could be this good.
BREWERY // Ruapehu Brewing
BEER // Everyday I'm Shufflin'
STYLE // NZ Pale Ale
ABV // 4.8%
ORIGIN // Ohakune
TEMP // 6-8°C
FOOD MATCH // Grilled fish tacos with lime crema. Charred asparagus with miso butter. Tropical fruit pavlova.
VESSEL // IPA Glass
This week Beer Club members are drinking…
BREWERY // Back in 2015 Oli & Julian decided they were sick of their jobs in industrial rope access so pooled their life savings to set up a 100L brewery and workshop. Coming from a background of climbing and mountaineering, they were no strangers to challenges and calculated risk. Before they knew it, they were racking up awards and brewing 18,000L in a year. Which is a lot of brewing on a 100L kit. Their cult following in Wanaka demanded more beer than they could brew so, a couple of years ago Neil (Julian's dad) joined the team as they scaled up their capacity. They bought a brewery kit from Dunedin which had previously belonged to the late, great Terry McCashin and cranked up production. While Oli has since stepped away to work on other projects, the Ground Up team continues to thrive, pouring from 22 taps at their bustling taproom where there's always something going on.
BEER // Brewers in the Senne Valley near Brussels have been adding sour cherries to their beers since at least the 1500s because they are delicious. Here in New Zealand, we're lucky that cherries are the flavour of our summertime Christmases, so we thought this tart treat would be a perfect pairing for festive relaxation. Acid Raindrops Cherry Sour is the latest in Ground Up’s ever-evolving series of kettle sours, following previous iterations featuring blueberries, mangoes, and holy basil. It has a bright, tangy acidity balanced by the natural sweetness of Central Otago cherries, with a clean, refreshing finish that keeps the tartness approachable without overwhelming the palate.
BREWERY // Ground Up
BEER // Acid Raindrops Cherry
STYLE // Sour
ABV // 4%
ORIGIN // Wanaka
TEMP // Cold
FOOD MATCH // Watermelon, feta, and mint salad. BBQ lamb chops with cherry and thyme glaze. Seared tuna with a citrus and cherry salsa
VESSEL // Tulip
It's Christmas Eve. You're drinking a Pétillant Bier from Beer Fontaine. Life is good.
Huge thanks to all of you who have joined us on this year's Advent adventure, I hope you've had half as much fun enjoying the beers as we did putting them together. And a massive thanks to the brewers who continue to innovate, creating delicious and unusual beers despite the myriad challenges all our small businesses face.
Cheers!
Day 23 of Advent and we're sharing a fantastic collaborative beer from Duncan's Brewing Co. & Apostle that is packed with flavour and we reckon is going to be pretty divisive! Fair warning: if you're not a fan of chillies, you might want to share this with a friend who is.
Day 22 of Advent and it’s a fine day for a lovely Pale Ale. This beauty from Mata Beer is brewed for a good cause with a hefty donation from each can sold going toward kiwi conservation
A chocolatey treat for us all on Day 20 Advent as we enjoy the Double Chocolate edition of Moon Dog Craft Brewery’s stout which is best consumed through a Tim Tam.
Head over to our NZ Beer Jerks group and share your thoughts 🍻
It’s Day 20 of Advent and we have the latest in Small Gods' series on monstrous IPAs. Chuchuna is a crisp, clean, lean Cold IPA with a focus on the beautiful Nelson Sauvin hop.
It’s already Day 19 of Advent and we’re drinking a classic from Munich. I am a huge fan of all German styles and love drinking beers from breweries like Paulaner who have been at it for centuries. Their Dunkel Weissbier is always a treat. Prost!
This week at Beer Club we’re drinking…
BREWERY // Brothers Geoff and Clayton Gwynne purchased the Northland institution, the Waipu Pizza Barn, in 2003. A decade later, they decided to open a brewery next door. The McLeod's name and design aesthetic pay homage to the Scottish settlers of Waipu, while their beer names often celebrate the stunning seaside landmarks nearby. McLeod's Brewery is one of the most highly regarded in the country, earning praise from judges, drinkers, and fellow brewers alike. Led by Jason Bathgate, their brew team has won countless medals and trophies—far too many to list here. If you're heading north this summer, be sure to stop in for a beer and one of their famous pizzas.
BEER // These days McLeod's are perhaps best known among beer fans for their 802 series of juicy, aromatic unfiltered IPAs. Cove has been around for a little while as a seasonal release and is known as 'little 802' at the brewery due to sharing the same soft mouthfeel and big hop character while being more approachable and easy-going. Cove has now joined their core range and has been honed to perfection. It's heavily dry hopped with two standout hops - Centennial provides floral and citrus characteristics, often reminiscent of grapefruit, while Eclipse provides bright mandarin and zesty orange flavours. It went down very easily in this warm weather, check out our drink-along video to find out more.
BREWERY // McLeod's
BEER // Cove
STYLE // Unfiltered Pale Ale
ABV // 4.8%
ORIGIN // Waipu
TEMP // Cold
FOOD MATCH // Avocado, Grapefruit, and Fennel Salad. Grilled Chicken Skewers with Ginger and Lime. Courgette Fritters with Dill-Yogurt Sauce
VESSEL // IPA Glass
Advent Day 18. We love it when a brewer comes up with a crazy idea and absolutely nails what they set out to achieve. Well, this is exactly the case with this super fun beer from Gweilo.
For Day 17 of Advent we have a Hazy exclusive - a brand new release airfreighted over from Modus in Mona Vale, North of Sydney.
On Advent today we're drinking a lovely historic style with a local twist from West Auckland's Hallertau 🍻
