February Auckland-area SOBA meeting - Waiheke Island

[Martin Bridges]

Apologies again for the mixup which led to us not having a January meeting. I'm hoping that with a bit of advance notice I can get the next one right!

As we've discussed in the past the next meeting will be held on Waiheke Island on Saturday 14th February (returning to our traditional Second Saturday SOBA slot), starting at 2pm. We have 2 brewers & breweries to visit - Alan Knight at Waiheke Island Brewery itself and a Ben Middlemiss in his microbrewery at Saratoga Estate winery.

I plan to work out the logistics with those who express an interest in going along, rather than spamming everybody. However, there is a ferry at 1pm on a Saturday which goes via Devonport so we could all go on this and share cabs on the other side. Alternatively people may want to take their car across, and there's a car ferry sailing at 12pm. Personally I'm looking at having a family weekend on the Island.

So, if you're interested in attending please let me know via direct email (not to the mailing list) as soon as possible so we can work out logistics. Partners welcome, of course.

Cheers,

Martin

[Martin Bridges]

Quick and final reminder - If you haven't let me know that you're planning to go, please do so as soon as possible. So far we've got about 10 people wanting to come along, and I'l be getting in touch with those in the next couple of days to sort out logistics.

[Tony]

Depending on numbers, we should be able to get a van. They meet all the ferries and we would probably need to book, to be on the safe side. Apart from that, the cheap, easy option is the bus, they also meet all the ferries and go right past the brewery. Does bit of tiki tour, obviously.

If you let me know numbers, Martin, I would be happy to sort it. I'll probably be going over again this week, so I'll check a couple out?

[Martin Bridges]

Well, that was the biggest turnout yet from the Auckland-area SOBA membership. I think we had 18 members and partners in total, and they all got across to Waiheke Island and back again successfully! We also managed to visit 100% of the breweries on the Island, which I think is a pretty good strike rate :-)

The trip started with a visit to Waiheke Island Brewery, where we were met by Alan Knight. Aland gave us a very interesting run down on the history of the brewery and then showed us the hi-tech (not exactly!) setup in the outbuildings. We then tasted samples of all the beers on offer. The Baroona Gold was showing the effects of a cooling problem which had led to the fermentation temperature getting a bit high, however I was quite a fan of the Dark, and the Full Malty was certainly distinctive - I picked up huge amounts of lemon in the flavour, which we couldn't exactly pin down to hops. Sadly, due to a restraint of trade issue, we couldn't purchase decent-sized drinks at the brewery, but many people bought takeaways to sample at their leisure.

Then it was a short stroll up the road to Saratoga Estate winery where brewing legend Ben Middlemiss has his brewery. This was even more lo-tech than Alan's, residing in a hastily-constructed lean-to out the back of the winery. Ben gave us a detailed talk on the technology he had at his disposal then handed out samples of the only beer he currently has available - a stunning Bohemian Pilsner. Tons of noble hop character in the aroma and a crisp, dry finish. Lovely stuff, and it's a shame that it's so hard to find!

My thanks to all who made the effort to come along, and especially to Craig who made it all the way up from Tauranga. We had a few new attendees at this meeting and we will hopefully see you again at future gatherings.

Talking of which - the next Auckland-area monthly meeting will be at the New Zealand Beer Festival at Ellerslie on 14th March. Let me know if you're planning to attend so we can arrange a meeting place, but you'll need to buy your own tickets. The best bet is to go via the website at http://www.beerfestival.co.nz/tickets. Hope to see many of you there, and we can attempt to convert the masses!