VB which is probably Australia’s most iconic beer’s has brought back a bit of its rich past with the launch of a special edition 1958 style can. Now the can design and 1958 were significant as it was the first time a can was used to hold beer. Sure it wasn’t the smooth thin aluminium we know today it was a fairly crude steel can where the drinker had to puncture the can before being able to taste the refreshing taste. Now for can collectors you need to keep your eyes out, as this isn’t the last of VB’s heritage cans, over the next 12 months Carlton and United plan to bring out a few more commemorative cans to celebrate the beer can. For those wondering, the beer in the can is the current 2011 VB as fresh and as crisp as ever. Look out for it in your local bottle shop and keep a couple as reminders of the simpler times.
Anchor Steam Beer is one of San Francisco’s icons dating back to 1896 when it was founded by Ernst F Baruth and Otto Schinkel Jnr. The Steam Brewery today still use the techniques and recipes they used more than a century ago to make an amazing rich tasting beer, they even still use handmade copper kettles and mash tubs. Like all great products there is a bit of legend and mystery about the manufacturing process and no one is really telling how the beer got it’s ‘steam name. Anchor Steam make a range of other beers which are also well worthy of a try including an ale, porter, bock and there is always a special brew or two on sale. For those visiting the beautiful San Francisco the brewery offers tours of their complex, bookings are essential visit their website for more information, and like all great brewery tours it finishes with a taste of their delicious freshly brewed beers.
Hahn Super Dry has a incredible new ad. Its been dubbed, by Hahn, “the most epic beer comercial ever”. Well to say the least this ad has to be right up there with the best. It show an interesting production line including even a ferret checking the beers coming out of the production line- now that is hard to top! The ad has been pretty successful for the huge Lion Nathan brewer with it uploaded to just about everywhere it has had over a million visitors to You Tube alone in only a week.
Saw this one via a drink coaster at the local pub, the short story is the Australian Federal Government wants to introduce a kind of id card just so punters can play the pokies in a bid to tackle problem gambling. While we at hoppsy are not a big fan of the pokies (but we don’t mind the odd mystery bet on the trots or dish-lickers) the problem here is even if we want to drop a single goldie in to a machine we are being treated like a problem gambler. Worse still, the people behind the campaign in the video above (Clubs Australia and the Australian Hotel Association) recon the plan will force up the price of beer due to lost gaming revenue, and that is bloody Un-Australian. If you want your say hit up the link below and sign the petition. Read the rest of this entry »
Good Luck Whooping Crane Beer is a special brew which can be found at the Good Luck Bar in Cuba Street Wellington. It’s quite a nice drop with a distinct Japanese Lager flavour and served at very affordable prices. Now the deal is, if you drink this lovely beer you will be showered in Good Luck, well we certainly didn’t find any bad luck after drinking it..so it must have worked. The Good Luck bar has been running for about 9 years and as well as their Whooping Crane Beer they are also known for their Harry Debu Gaki Sake and their interesting cocktails. It’s a nice little bar to visit with some pretty funky sounds for anyone in Wellington’s main entertainment district looking for something a bit unique.
Tuatara Pilsner is brewed by Tuatara Brewery from Paraparaumu which is just under an hour’s drive north of Wellington along the west coast of the North Island. Tuatara is a growing microbrewery which is has been awarded some fairly prestigious prizes for its beer. Using the best German traditions the brewery produces five main beers in the classic European style. One of the ones we were lucky enough to try was the pilsner which was sold in draft form and very fresh and crisp. The beer a Czech style pilsner has an alcohol content of 5% and is the brewery’s bestselling. The beer is brewed with noble Saaz hops, German Malt and Czech yeast plus some of New Zealand’s softest and purest water making it a very delicious drop indeed. Read the rest of this entry »
This beer is a treat, and as the New Zealander’s would say awesome!- it’s a slice of heaven!. Monteith’s have made a very tasty beer here with their Celtic Red, it’s got some very nice chocolaty tastes, a bit malty a hint of smoke. There is a bit of a dry taste but there is an element of sweetness to the 4.4% alcohol content beer. The beer is in the style of a Irish Ale and as you can see by the photo has a very distinctive rich red colour and fairly frothy head. The beer is brewed using traditional ale fermentation techniques which help give the rich and smooth flavours. Monteiths originated from the west coast of the South Island near Greymouth over 150 years ago. Now owned by DB Breweries they still brew using traditional techniques and make a very tasty range of products which even include some tasty ciders.
Overlooking Auckland’s waterfront in the city’s port district is a great brew bar for anyone visiting New Zealand’s biggest city. The bar is pretty cool, it is built in, as the name suggest the old building once home to The Northern Steamship Co. It’s been totally refurbished and designed by some very clever designers who have turned it into a very funky beer palace. Before we get to the beers we need to talk about the space, it’s amazing, there are floor lamps hanging from the ceiling, some incredible artwork including a huge piece behind the bar broken up into dozens of random photo frames, book cases full of cool stuff and some really funky furnishings. Well now for the good bit- the beer there are about 8 of Mac’s finest on tap, we will talk about them in more detail in coming weeks, but some of the line-up included Macs Gold All Malt Lager, Mac’s Sassy Red, which was delicious, Black Mac, and our favourite Mac’s Great White which was an awesome wheat beer, just to name a few. Mac’s also has some of their great ciders on tap including Isaacs’ which is a must and their food was pretty good too. Auckland isn’t the only place to have one of these great Brewbars, in fact there are five in the city, there are also bars in Christchurch, Nelson and Wellington.
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.
We had a wonderful afternoon visiting the Tui brewery and headquarters in Mangatainoka New Zealand, which is a short drive from Palmerston North on the North Island. What an awesome little set up the guys have, it is fantastic. Set amongst farmland the historic Tui tower can be seen for miles so there’s no problem finding it. There’s an amazing welcoming centre complete with bar and giftshop, plenty of outdoor seating and a huge expanse of grass to enjoy a beer or meal. The bar features some pretty interesting drops of beer too, not only do they serve the Tui we have come to love on our Beer tour of New Zealand but they also stock a couple of beers not sold anywhere else- so it’s pretty special. Tui offer tours of the brewery which is amazing, seeing how they produce beer from the freshest of ingredients. The friendly staff not only show you behind the scenes of the brewing process they end the tour as all good tours should end finishes with a taste of their tasty brews you even get to take home a Tui glass- how good is that!
