Help me plan my NZ trip

[David Gilks]

I am going to be visiting NZ in late-June/July and am looking to find out what breweries, brewpubs and beer bars I absolutely must not miss.

The plan at the moment is to start out in Christchurch and then I will be driving to Dunedin, Milford, Queenstown, up the West Coast, then to Nelson and Blenheim. I will then be crossing to Wellington, Rotorua and Auckland.

Thanks for any help you've got. I'm also open to any suggestions for beers that a good hophead can't miss.

Thanks in advance.

-David

[jim matranga]

Hi David,

Welcome in advance to the Nelson region; New Zealands' center of brewing excellence. Just wanted to let you know that Golden Bear Brewing is open from 4: pm Thursday and Friday and from 12: noon Saturday and Sunday. We are closed Monday thru Wednesday.
Come on in and we'll take care of you.

Jim

[Geoff Griggs]

Hi David,

Here's the pick of the Blenheim bars...

- Ye Olde Malthouse (1 Dodson Street - adjacent to Renaissance brewery. Formerly known as Dodson Street Alehouse & Bistro and before that, Black Creek)
- The Secret Garden (30 Maxwell Road - opposite Harvey Norman)
- The Old Bank (Cleghorn Street, Redwoodtown)
- Bar Moa (Jackson's Road, Rapaura - close to the airport and amongst the vineyards)

Let me know when you'll be in Blenheim (021 867 253 or [e-mail]) and I'll try to meet you for a beer or two.

Cheers!

Geoff

[David Gilks]

Thanks all for your help. I had a great time and really enjoyed NZ. Special thanks go out to the SOBA guys in Nelson for a great night and your perspectives on beer in NZ.

Beer highlights of the trip (off the top of my head) were The Twisted Hop Goldings Bitter (the first beer I had and a great example of the use of NZ ingredients), Emerson's Bookbinder and Hop Harvest, Invercargill Biman (mostly because it was one of the better options in Queenstown), Mussel Inn Lambagreenie, Founder's Duncanweizen, McCashin's Stout (test batch), Renaissance Craftsman and MPA, Croucher The Hef, Galbraith's Alehouse Antipodean and Hallertau Humulus Lupulus Maximus. There were lots of other great beers but these all strike me as ones that were either really good or just hit the spot right there and then.

My favourite beer venues were The Twisted Hop, Hashigo Zake, The Malthouse (mostly because they had Samuel Adams Utopias by the glass), Albar, The Freehouse, The Mussel Inn and The Dodson Street Bistro.

Finally a big thanks go out to Martin (The Twisted Hop), Steve (Pomeroy's), the two very opinionated guys I met at Albar, Jim (Golden Bear), Andy and Brian (Renaissance) and Ian and Keith (Galbraith's). All of you were generous with your time and advice about where to go and what to drink and I appreciated the brewery tours from those of you involved with them. Thanks also to all of you on RealBeer.co.nz for your advice, it was much appreciated.