Chur Chur

At the start of this month Sarah and I flew down to Canterbury for the weekend. We went because Sarah’s friend Nicky was having a Birthday party in Akoroa. We spent one night in Christchurch and one night in Akoroa. The day in Christchurch was pretty much concerned with beer. My friend and BeerNZ main man Craig took us out to Three Boys, to Harrington’s and finally back into the city to the Twisted Hop. The trip to Three Boys was fantastic as I had last visited just after Ralph had started brewing and it was great to go back and see him in his new premises across the road with the big new plant. We stood and tasted bits and pieces from tank for an hour or more and were very rosy as we left. The highlight was tasting the new season plum beer before its release with tasting the new Porter recipe coming a close second. Then it was off to Harrington’s for a taste of their award winning mild the Pig n Whistle. We ended up in a very busy Twisted Hop. Martin gave us a whirl wind tour of the new extensions before we enjoyed a ploughman’s and a few pints. Next day it was off to Akoroa via the legendary cheese store the Canterbury Cheese Monger. We had a great time out o the peninsular although beer didn’t play a big part. It was the first time in four or five years that I had been to Christchurch. I hope to return soon.

Preparations

Things are moving along towards Saturday. The pin of Townshend Old House E.S.B. is now stillaged behind the bar where it will be served directly from the cask, the Twisted Hop bright beers have arrived, I went to Moshims on the weekend to stock up on spices, paneer, chutneys and pickles, the goat will be purchased today. I have a corny of Brooklyn Bulldog on tap at the moment that is tasting fantastic and another ready to go on for Saturday. The forecast is currently for a grey day on Sat with northerly gales, hopefully it proves incorrect.

Goodbye 20's Hello 30's!

Your Invited to my 30th Birthday & Sarah, Max and Molly’s House Warming

Join us on Saturday the 21st of November to celebrate my 30th Birthday and the moving in of Sarah and the kids. We will have ales from The Twisted Hop, O-Street and Townshend Breweries on draught and an Indian and Thai themed Barbeque.

When: Saturday 21st of November 2pm till 10pm.
Where: The Mason’s Arms 381 Ohiro Rd Brooklyn
Bring a koha for the beer and something spicy for the BBQ

Gifts not expected but if you want to give me something a bottle of Thomas Hardy’s Ale for the cellar would be lovely.

Condition, Glorious Condition

A week ago Nick Paige contacted me asking whether I would be able to lend him one of my beer engines and help him set it up in order to serve a firkin of Twisted Hop Challenger that he had shipped in for a workmates party, I was of course welcome to help in its disposal. Needless to say I jumped at the chance, even without the offer of free real ale I would have been there to have a crack at conditioning an actual cask. Unfortunately Nick had forgotten to ask for a tap and spiles so we decided to serve it on end by running a beer line through the keystone with a piece of wire attached to the end to keep the line clear of the lees. On Friday Nick and Dougie whose party it was picked me up from work we assembled what we needed and headed to Dougie’s kitchen which was doubling as the cellar. Martin from the Twisted Hop had told us that since we didn’t have spiles he recommended venting the firkin by piercing the keystone with a needle. We gently hammered the needle in and then slowly removed it with a pair of pliers…

Woosh we weren’t quite expecting the fountain of beer which erupted from the hole covering the kitchen ceiling with beer and raining back down on us, Dougies partner came to the door, looked on with a bemused grin and said in her fantastic Scottish accent that she had never been all that homely so it was fine (remarkable woman), his beagle just got stuck in drinking ale from the floor. We let the fountain subside a little before returning the needle to its hole reasoning that once we knocked the keystone out we would be losing condition out the tap hole around the beer line.

Last night I showed up at the party to enjoy the fruits of our labour, the party was fantastic with a good mix of people from different back grounds and ages , a mixture of regional council employees, neighbours and beer lovers, it was a little like a British Isles club b\meeting with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Oxfordshire all represented. The BBQ was going, the ale was pouring and it was fantastic! There was a slight haze and the beer was perhaps just a little over lively but it tasted fantastic, it provided a healthy head without a sparkler, in fact it was so fantastic that we drained the cask in 3 hours. Cheers

The Third Judgement

In May I will be having my third crack at Beer Judging. I have been confirmed as a judge at the New Zealand International Beer Awards in Nelson. I’m rather excited as not only does it give me another chance to develop my judging skills, meet and learn from brewers and judges from around the world and taste some exciting beers that are not usually available in NZ but it also takes me to Nelson where the Prince Albert is, one of 3 pubs in the country to serve real ale. It’s a hard job but someone’s got to do it.