Craft Beers - Post what you've tried and liked

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WyleECoyoteNZ

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#242691 9-Nov-2018 15:43

After seeing this post on Riggers, growlers and flagons I though I'd start one on the beers themselves.

Let's try and keep it PG, and not start a debate about what is craft and what isn't...

Bars can be included too.

I'll kick things off

Beers:

Mean Doses Mean XPA - had some last weekend, very tasty

Mean Doses Mean IPA - A nice IPA

Mean Doses Mean Juice - currently not pouring, but is being refined.

Bars:

Heyday in Wellington is nice place to have a beer

Crafty Trout in Taupo is worth a visit if you are passing through or staying. If you've got a small group, the tour is well worth it

Papa Mos in Papamoa has good sea views from upstairs and serves mainly Good George brews.

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#2122830 9-Nov-2018 16:02

I do like craft beer, just not the price!

I'll certainly select something interesting from the taps whenever I go to our local brewpub and will buy the occasional bottle or half-dozen, but can't justify regular consumption.

My daily drink - Mac's Green Beret (an IPA) is by no stretch of the imagination a 'craft beer', but offers a pretty good facsimile of the types of craft beers I do like at a much more affordable price. Ie, it's my idea of a poor man's craft beer!

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tehgerbil

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#2122841 9-Nov-2018 16:15

Green Beret is Le Shiz.

I like my local craft beer dispensary - Punky Brewster, you can sample a bit off the tap before you buy/commit to a full litre or two.

Otherwise Liberty Citra Double IPA @ 9% is fantastic, don't buy it very often but 1 beer is enough for the night and each sip is just as tasty as the last.

davidcole

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#2122886 9-Nov-2018 17:00

My go toos are Dead Canary from ParrotDog and supercharger from Panhead.

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Geektastic

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#2122906 9-Nov-2018 18:19

It's always too cold!

I used to like the Twisted Hop in Christchurch. Proper pints, hand pumps and pork scratchings!

jonherries

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#2122910 9-Nov-2018 18:40

davidcole: My go toos are Dead Canary from ParrotDog and supercharger from Panhead.

I go for the Falcon at ParrotDog or Gisborne Gold.

Jon

farcus

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#2122915 9-Nov-2018 18:52

pretty much anything from Garage project - but a super delicious IPA that won't break the bank and can be got at most supermarkets is Garagista.

MileHighKiwi

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#2122931 9-Nov-2018 19:32

Some international beers I highly recommend:

La Chouffe - Belgian ale, can be found at New World Thorndon and Regional Wines (WLG), or online.

Lagunitas - IPA - USA

Goose Island - IPA - USA

Green Flash - West Coast IPA - USA

Sierra Nevada - Pale ale - USA

All the above have been ordered from beercellar.co.nz but are not always in stock.

I love US beers, Green Flash being my pick of the bunch.

Local favs are anything by Liberty at the moment.

Lias

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#2123054 9-Nov-2018 22:36

I found the new love of my life last weekend, Barbed Wire, Sour Rhubarb Ale, colab between 8 Wired and Fork Brewing.

In other news I _really_ wish supermarkets would stop stocking so many bloody *PA's.. tGet some variety for gods sake.. . Why can't we get more sours and wheat beers on the shelves. My local Pak n Save appeared to get one single shipment of Garage Project's "Electric Dry Hop Acid Test" a month or two back, from which I grabbed a few cans (not bad btw!) and I haven't seen it or any other sour back on the shelves since.. ditto the local New World, and I don't think the local countdown even knows what Craft beer is.

Also, do you think we'll ever see the day when "Craft" stops simply being a label tacked on to charge us ridiculous amounts of money for beer that tastes decent? I want to be able to buy $$16 dozens, but get sours, weizens, IPA's etc :-)

Also bars:

For Christchurch, my staples for a decent pint were in order, Volstead, Pomeroys, & the Twisted Hop.

For Wellington, my personal all time favourite is still Hashigo Zake, very closely followed by Fork and Brewer and LBQ.

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danielparker

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#2123059 9-Nov-2018 23:17

Hmm..

I'm outing myself. I own The Beer Cellar.

We have been trading in craft / imported beer for 11 years.

When we started there was about 30 NZ breweries.. now I have no real idea (Guessing $300 +) (Querying our DB says 607 breweries in 11 years in NZ)

Our most popular item at them moment is our Advent Calendar

While the link above is to promote sales, I'm not here for that..

The NZ marked is saturated with good beer. Normal economics would say that in this case things will get cheaper. The reality of it is that no one is really large enough to make things cheaper.

NZ's entire Craft Beer supply is less than the beer that is spilled off the line of some U.S breweries.

My Favourite beers:

IPA - Sierra Nevada Torpedo

Stout - Old Rasputin, Yeti, Speedway + others.. no real winner here.

My favourite beer at the moment is Rochefort 8.

If you have any questions that are not overly commercially sensitive, ask away.

Daniel Parker

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#2123062 9-Nov-2018 23:25

I brew my own at The Occasional Brewer. Red IPA is currently my favourite. The Imperial Stout is a corker too, especially if you add a few dozen chopped oysters (buying frozen oysters is quite cheap) during the boil phase. No sours in there at the moment but my understanding is the brewmasters are working on at least one recipe which should be released in the not too distant future.

Dratsab

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#2123067 9-Nov-2018 23:52

I spent a week in Auckland on a course recently which coincided with Bruce Dickinson being in the city to give a talk about his life, becoming the frontman for Iron Maiden, his solo work, and promoting his book. Naturally I went. I took the time beforehand to visit the Ding Dong Lounge and try a few glasses of Iron Maiden's beer The Trooper. Very tasty it was too! While not really a "craft" beer in the sense that it's a malt forward ale as opposed to a hop forward one, it was well worth it.

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#2123152 10-Nov-2018 10:28

Dratsab:

I spent a week in Auckland on a course recently which coincided with Bruce Dickinson being in the city to give a talk about his life, becoming the frontman for Iron Maiden, his solo work, and promoting his book. Naturally I went. I took the time beforehand to visit the Ding Dong Lounge and try a few glasses of Iron Maiden's beer The Trooper. Very tasty it was too! While not really a "craft" beer in the sense that it's a malt forward ale as opposed to a hop forward one, it was well worth it.

Saw them play many, many moons ago at the Cornwall Coliseum in St Austell. Great gig from what I recall - it was the World Slavery Tour in 1984 I think. (drifts off into nostalgic reverie...)

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#2123196 10-Nov-2018 11:24

@WyleECoyoteNZ perhaps I should move this topic to the "Health and fitness" sub-forum. Seems "related"...

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Taubin

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#2123494 11-Nov-2018 08:33

For those that really enjoy beer (craft and otherwise) check out Untappd. It's a great way to share, rate and keep track of beers you've had. My wife calls it "Boy scouts for beer" because you unlock badges as well. I'm a huge craft beer nerd, and was lucky enough to live in San Diego for a while, and had many amazing beers there. Since using the app in 2010, I've had 825 Unique beers, and 1,892 total logged. If you are on there, feel free to add me.

As for recent beers

Rum and Raisin by Garage project: Extremely tasty strong ale. Quite a bit of raisin-y flavor, with a nice smooth feel.

Hop Zombie with Hidden World gin: Very spicy very tasty. A bit of pine very heavy on the alcohol flavor.

Garage Project Touch Wood: I wasn't a fan, I think it was the elderflower in it. I love tripels but not this one.

For Great Justice Coconut Porter by Kereru Brewing: One of my absolute favorite NZ beers. It's a great porter on its own, and the toasted coconut adds a ton of extra flavor to the beer. This is generally my go to beer.

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#2123500 11-Nov-2018 09:07

Big fan of Big Stouts at the moment.

My current favourites are:

Kereru Cacao Nibs Imperial https://www.kererubrewing.co.nz/shop/beer/imperial-nibs-coconut-porter

Moa Imperial http://www.moabeer.com/reserve-range#moa-reserve-range

As above I am always happy to try anything Garage Project puts out - I could list most stuff from their range that is worth a quaff!

I get a bit tired of all of the excessively hoppy IPAs which just seem to compete as to how tongue-stripping they can be rather than refining the taste, but that said I like the Kush & Knife Party from Liberty Brewing.

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