About half an hour’s drive out of Auckland along State Highway no 16 is the lovely rural area of Riverhead. The area has plenty of farmland, vineyards and fruit producers. We came across a great little brewbar and restaurant which had an incredible range of quality beers called Hallertau. They produced beers using the traditional artisan processes with nothing other than water, yeast, hops and barley and rainwater. The brewers produce four regular beers and a range of seasonable brews, we were lucky enough to try a few of them including the Copper Tart or No 3 beer which as the name suggests is a red ale with a very tasty caramel and chocolaty taste. Delicious. Their Statesman Beer or No 2 was a very rich pale ale which had a fairly bitey hops kick. They also did a nice Kolsch style beer called Luxe or No 1 which had some delightful fruity aromas and aftertastes and plenty of character. The venue had great food, there was a as they called it grazing menu in the bar area with a range of tasty treats and more of a restaurant style menu in the main part of the complex. The beer has been recognised by many leading critics in New Zealand and due to the small quantities produced is pretty hard to get outside the brewery but several places around Auckland are stocking it as a boutique craft brew.
for more info www.hallertau.co.nz
