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.

Tuatara’s  website : http://www.tuatarabrewing.co.nz

At Beer Deluxe in Melbourne’s arts and leisure precinct we found a very tasty beer with a very interesting but tragic story behind it. The beer was an ESB beer brewed by what was regarded as one of Victoria Australia’s best microbreweries Hargraves Hill. Hargraves Hill brewery was relatively new and was located at Steels Creek in the Yarra Valley but was completely destroyed by the horrific fires which swept Victoria in February killing over 200 people. The ESB or Extra Special Beer was a absolute classic and we were hoping that they would rebuild and start producing this fine beer at their brewery again soon. But after a bit of a chat with the bar staff we found that some of the local breweries are helping out letting the guys brew their beers on their premises, while they take on the hard task of rebuilding.  So look out for the Hargraves Hill ESB you won’t only be drinking one of the best beers we have tasted in quieta a while, but supporting a great brewery that nature destroyed its facilities but not its spirit.

For More Information: http://hargreaveshill.com.au/

A tasty Steam Whistle Pilsner

If you are ever in Toronto make sure you check out Steam Whistle Pilsner it is a great beer- jam packed with the freshest ingredients and none of that nasty preservatives and chemical additives so many of our beers have today. The best place to try it is at the brewery- you can’t get it any fresher than that. Just look for the giant CN Space Needle and you will find the brewery only a short walk towards the bay. The brewery offers tours of their brew house and finishes up with a taste of some freshly poured Steam Whistle, made to an old Czechoslovakian recipe using Canada’s freshest grains. The brewery not only makes one of Canada’s best beers it makes it caring for the environment with recycling and green technologies being a major part of the businesses philosophy. Look out for the beer around Ontario- and don’t forget to visit the brewery when next in Toronto- we did!

for more information: http://www.steamwhistle.ca