Beerly beloved: The best craft breweries you can visit in New Zealand – Stuff.co.nz

Its Friday and International Beer Day. What better excuse could there be for celebratory beersies this weekend?

As comforting as it can be to crack a cold one on the couch after a tough week, it cant compete with sampling some of the best craft beers in the country in the places they were brewed.

Rosa Woods/Stuff

Cheers to International Beer Day and the weekend that follows.

Speights Brewery in Dunedin, the Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka and Monteiths Brewery in Greymouth are surely on the radar of beer drinkers nationwide, so weve compiled a list of craft breweries which arent as widely appreciated as we believe they should be. Brewtown in Upper Hutt is an exception, but they get a mention because theyve recently gone where no Kiwi brewery has before and turned themselves into a beer-focused theme park.

Let us know your favourites in the comments.

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Ross Giblin

George Duncan (left) and Shane McGregor at Duncan's Brewing Company in Paraparaumu.

Transformed by the beers they drank on their OE in North America, George Duncan and Waimatao Familton returned to Georges hometown of Paraparaumu determined to give brewing a crack themselves.

Often using American hops, their beers tend toward the experimental, with recent additions including the Mai Tai Sorbet Sour with lime, tangerine, blood orange, molasses and Orgeat syrup; the tropical-tasting Oat Cream V.3 Hazy IPA; the Tiramisu Imperial Pastry Stout inspired by the popular dessert; and the Toasty Marshmallow Imperial Pastry Stout inspired by campfire-cooked marshmallows. The brewery hosts a pop-up bar once a month with eight beers on tap and food available from the Smoked & Pickled Food Truck. Or you can get a Passo pizza delivered straight to your table.

Quitting their corporate careers to take over a pizza joint in the small Northland town theyd grown up in, brothers Clayton and Geoff Gwynne quickly realised they were underdelivering in one key area: The beer. Big fans of the bold brews they had enjoyed on their overseas travels, they began messing about with brewing themselves to mixed success initially.

After seven years in business though, theyve got the craft down pat. They were named Champion Small International Brewery at the 2019 Australian International Beer Awards, and have a good trophy collection going for brews such as the Traders Scotch Ale. The pizzas at McLeods Pizza Barn & Brewery are designed to complement the signature beers on tap, which range from pale ale to stout. The Cooper topped with roast chicken, bacon, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan is a winner, as the vegetarian Herbalist with kmara, avocado and brie. You cant go wrong with the giant burgers either.

Its tagline the first beer to see the sun mightnt reel you in if youre not in the habit of starting your day with an alcoholic beverage, but youll want to give it a try at a more appropriate hour if you consider yourself a beer connoisseur. This is Gisbornes liquid gold.

Founded in 1989, the Sunshine Brewing crew reckon theyre the second oldest craft brewery in the country. Which is to say they were obsessing over craft beer before many of the hipsters who decided it was cool were even born and certainly long before any of them cultivated their trademark well-groomed bushy beards. Theyre still going strong: This year, the brewery won six gold medals, five silver and eight bronze at the Australian International Beer Awards. The gold-winning brews included the Gisborne Gold Lager (aka Gizzie Gold), a staple at the brewery since the nineties; the Stockies Pale Ale; Mexican Lager; Pilsner; and No Access IPA. Visit the taproom a couple of blocks back from Waikanae Beach and you can watch the brewers do their thing while you sample their creations. With pizzas also on offer, it makes for a pretty sweet afternoon out.

The Beer Project/Stuff

Craftworks Michael O'Brien and Lee-Ann Scotti specialise in Belgian-style beer.

Teleport yourself to early 1900s Belgium at this top little spot in Oamaru. Michael OBrien and Lee-Ann Scotti began brewing Belgian-style beer back in 2014 and do such a good job at it were sure even a Trappist monk would be impressed.

The pair still brew beer some of their beer in the stone basement they started out in, but thankfully visitors have been seated in a far more comfortable Tasting Room in the Victorian Precinct. Beers on tap include the Farmhouse ale, Belgian-style speciality ales, and a barrel-aged sour. The multiple award-winning Dark Lord speciality ale is a good choice on a frigid winters day. Made with Trappist Rochefort yeast, its a bit like a beer version of pinot noir the brewers describe it as rich as Christmas cake and a lovely digestif. They recommend visitors pair their beers with one or more of the New Zealand-made cows, goats and sheeps milk cheeses on offer. Craftwork was in the process of moving premises at the time of writing, but you can catch them at the Otago Craft Beer Invitational on Saturday, August 7.

Supplied

Old schoolmates Jaden and Fraser produce some of the best beers in the Waikato.

Tired of so-called craft breweries churning out beers they felt were tailored to Lion Red drinkers, old schoolmates Jaden Hatwell and set out to prove they could do better. Their first beer, the Blind Mule APA, went down a treat Waikato-wide Stuff reporter Simon Wood described it as a meaty, flavour-packed brew with bucket loads of zingy, bright hops. And blindingly good.

Their Apehanger IPA won a trophy in the strong ale category of the Brewers Guild Awards in 2017, just a year after the brewery opened. Woods verdict: dry and weighty with some powerful citrus notes coming through, followed by a wonderfully tasty belt of hops and a crisp finish. Hidden away at the back of an old dairy factory, the brewery and taproom is very industrial chic with bright red barstools, tables with kegs for legs, and space to sit outside when the suns shining. Signature beers on tap include the oak-aged Dark Saison, and the T Straight Smokey Burnout Stout. Free brewery tours are on offer on Thursdays between 4pm and 6pm.

When Seb Burke first upped his homebrewing game in June 2015, he supplied one restaurant in Twizel. It went down such a treat he soon found himself swamped with orders from the Mackenzie Region and beyond. A Kiwi pioneer in hazy IPAs, the #Fakenews version he developed for Twizels Hops and Hooves beer festival five years ago made the New World Beer & Cider Awards Top 30 this year. The judges praised its balance and easy drinkability, describing it as a very, very nice beer.

While you can get the #Fakenews hazy IPA at New World supermarkets, theres nothing quite like cracking a Burkes brew at its Lake Tekapo base, the Blue Lake Bar & Eatery. The food is pretty damn good too. Think hearty mains such as slow-cooked lamb shanks with seasonal veggies and mash, smoked beef brisket burger with brie and onion jam, and a Mackenzie Rustler pizza with lamb, mushrooms, tzatziki and mozzarella.

Chris Skelton/STUFF/Stuff

Joseph and Christina Wood of Liberty Brewing.

Tucked away down the back of a block of shops in the North Shore suburb of Helensville, this husband- and wife-owned brewery is credited with making some of the countrys best beers. Founded by Joe and Christina Woods in a New Plymouth garage in 2009, its won pretty much everything going, including Brewers Guild, NZ Beer and Society of Beer awards. Its Prohibition Porter, which is aged for nine months in whiskey barrels, is particularly highly regarded, as is its Citra Pale Ale with its mango and guava undertones.

With 13 signature beers on tap, the cosy taproom over the road is a very pleasant place to while away an afternoon. For something a bit different, try the Jungle Juice with its notes of pineapple and passionfruit, the Yakima Monster Pale Ale, or Darkest Days oatmeal stout.

When Ground Up founders Oli and Julian quit their jobs to start a brewery in 2015, they knew they had their work cut out for them. As rock climbers and mountaineers, they were used to living life on the edge, so perhaps its no surprise they handled the resultant stress and sleep deprivation admirably. The self-taught brewers developed something of a cult following in their first year and, these days, a stop the taproom is a #wanakamustdo.

Grab a seat in the brewery or on the deck and set about deciding which of the 22 brews on offer to order for starters. The fruity Crag Dog Pale Ale and Punks in the Gym IPA are popular choices, as is The KPA the pale ale that originally endeared them to Wnaka locals. More experimental brews include The Fifth Voyage with its coconut, cocoa and vanilla tones and the Alpine Start stout. Just the thing after a day on the slopes. Or of doing anything really.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF

Brewtown is home to five breweries and a distillery.

With five breweries, a distillery, ice rink, go-kart track, trampoline park, tenpin bowling and indoor paintball field, Brewtown is living proof to many that heaven is a place on Earth. Local craft beer legends Panhead Custom Ales, Boneface Brewing and Kerer Brewing have all set up shop in the self-described craft beer village, as has Wild Kiwi distiller Russel Kirk, whos teamed up with Hamilton-based Good George Brewing.

Theres plenty of good grub on offer to line your stomach, and if you like, you can join a tour which will take you behind the scenes at the breweries and see you sample at least 12 beers and sit down to lunch. Its a one-of-a-kind offering in this country: Owner Malcom Gillies has described the place as New Zealands first craft beer theme park.

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Beerly beloved: The best craft breweries you can visit in New Zealand - Stuff.co.nz