Ales on hand pumps in NZ

[Ben Dean]

Being a pom I love drinking ales pulled from a hand pump. Very few places in nz pull you a beer with that thick creamy head like you get in uk though. Do kiwis generally prefer little to no head on their hand pulled ales?

[Barry]

At Galbraith's you can ask them to attach (or remove) a sparkler. I prefer my ordinary bitters, bests, ESBs sparkler-less but milds and porters sparkled. Each to their own I reckon, it's great to have the option.

[Paul Finney]

I'm all for the handpulled pints. So much that i brought one back with me when i last went home! I have only used it once but it worked a dream on an ordinary bitter with the black sparkler on. There are quite a few bars now in Chch that are using them

[Ben Dean]

Well you learn something new every day!

Having no idea what a sparkler is I did a quick google search. Seems the reason I have never heard of one before is because I'm a northerner. Apparently they are standard up north and you'd be hard pressed to find a pub without them, so without the option us northern folk just assume all ales should have a head like that.

Good to know I can request my beer be pulled through a sparkler in Galbraiths with it being one of my favourite drinking spots. I'm surprised I didn't know this after going there for the past 5 years or so.

I'm guessing Twisted Hop in Christchurch are using them Paul? I had a cracking pint of their Old Blighty down in Wellington a while back, shame they don't have any taps in Auckland.

Cheers.

[Paul Finney]

Yup, a lot of their beer is used via the handpumps with sparklers. Poms has three, Dark room has 2, Volstead has now got 6, and Smash Palace has 2. I think some of the newer bars also have them. 

I'm a midlander so we also have normally got the sparklers on. The only time i used to take them off when serving was if someone wanted a shandy.