Its Tuesday, so time for a visit to a craft beer bar. This week I thought a craft beer bar with only a few taps. So Corner Bar came to mind.
Only four taps, but generally solid craft beers and brands on tap (not the relentless rotation of beers hourly), offering people a good introduction to craft without getting smashed in the face with massive hops or alcohol (because I’m told not everyone likes that).
First up is a new beer on tap here,
Good George Sparkling Ale from Hamilton. These guys are just smashing it out these days, going from
strength to strength. I’ve even heard that DB are doing some distribution for them now, which means they are getting their beer on heaps more taps.
Unfortunately the huge success these guys are experiencing seems to have taken a slight toll on the quality of the beer. I got a diacetyl character in the aroma and flavour. Not too intense and a lot of people most likely wouldn’t get it. I’m sure the next batch will be great.
It seems that this beer doesn’t like coming to Auckland. I have never had an amazing Tuatara Pilsner like I have experienced many times in Wellington. I’m going to put it down to distribution, and lack of cold chain for this kegged beer.
If you had given me this beer blind and not told me what it was I would never have been able to pick it.
I got
DMS, stewed raisins and prunes, out of balance bitterness and a dry astringent finish. Seems a real shame knowing that when its fresh it can be one of the best beers made in New Zealand.
It sounds biased but the Epic Lager was tasting great, a little floral and citrusy in the aroma, and the flavour is light malt sweetness and soft bitterness.
It highlighted the benefits of cold storage, and cold delivery to an outlet where the beer was put immediately into the the chiller on arrival.
That does come at a cost, but it is worth it for the condition and awesomeness of the beer.
Moa Pale Ale – not sure what happened and why I didn’t take a photo. Guess I got distracted. The beer was also not in the best shape. Had a very noticeable vegetal aroma and flavour. Once again not the best example of a beer that I have had in good condition before.
From my experience Corner Bar are very good at putting kegs straight into the chiller on arrival. Even if they didn’t, they are stored below street level inside so don’t have issues with direct sun heating them up.
We sat down with our beers and the waitress came out to the table and gave us this selection of cashews (
did you know that cashews come from a fruit) and almonds, coated in something, not sure what it was, a little salty, and the small pieces of Nori were cool.
An interesting snack that complemented the beer, and made you want to drink some more.
Thought the best thing to try was the $10 pizza special for lunch. Not a bad pizza, freshly made, and delivers OK value for money. Good filler when drinking beers and talking to mates.
Too much talking lead me to forgetting to take a photo of when the pizza arrived, so this isn’t a good indication of what it looked like.
I was advised that there is a menu refresh on the cards, so maybe I’ll wait till then to revisit the food on offer.
Here is the full menu. Remember it isn’t the biggest bar, with what seems to be more outside seating than inside.
So at this time of year it is a great place to spend an afternoon or evening drinking a beer with mates, and doing some people watching.
Definitely a very busy corner, particularly at lunch or after work.
I guess this is Happy Hour. There is only one beer available for $6, and it is currently Good George Sparkling Ale.
There is an OK range of other craft beer in bottle if you can’t find something you like on tap. Sorry currently no Armageddon IPA.
I kind of like the disco ball frontage of the bar.
The walls are decorated with lots of old kiwiana advertisements from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
With a bit more time I would expand on the restaurant upstairs
“Kitchen” . I have eaten there a handful of times and been pretty impressed with the quality of the food and service. It has been a few months so would need to try again.
Kitchen was named as one of Auckland’s top 50 restaurants in the Metro 2013 Restaurant of the Year Awards.
They do offer a reasonable selection of craft beer in the restaurant and upstairs bar. Better than 99% of restaurants in New Zealand.
Also worth considering is staying in one of the
25 luxury boutique hotel rooms. I have never seen one but I’ve known people that have stayed here and they have been really impressed with the experience. Maybe I should check out a room some day.
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