Auckland’s 10 Best Craft Bars

After reading the blog post Auckland’s 6 Best Craft Bars from the new blog “HOPCORN” it got me thinking about the short comings of ranking based on a single personal experience as well as trying to compare many bars which all have a point of difference. I found this list of the 6 Best Craft Bars to be some what not that useful, as it didn’t address/highlight the unique things for each bars offer, that will attract different people.

Everyone is different, every craft bar offers something different, and every time you go back to the same place you are likely to have a slightly different experience, especially with so many taps with changing beers. (judging a craft bar with multiple changing taps on a single visit and they don’t have your favourite beer on tap is a bit weak).

So I thought I would not rank each craft bar in Auckland, but list what is best about each one. So maybe the title should be something like “The Best Of 10 Auckland Craft Bars“?

Listed by reverse alpha-numeric just to be different, like each of these bars are.

Vultures Lane – the slow transition from a tied Irish bar to one of the great craft bars in Auckland was frustrating initially (for me), but it has paid off in the end. An ever changing choice of beers, many evenings you can get multiple new beers going on tap. The food menu has changed several times, but currently offers some pretty amazing value for the food you get. On any typical day of the week you are likely to see a local Auckland brewer.

Sky Sports Grill – 60 taps, 40 different beers, 30+ are craft. It is like the forgotten craft bar in Auckland, as most people think of it as a sports bar, as it has so many TV screens, and every possible channel of sport playing. If you just look at it for craft beer on tap, it potentially has the best selection of craft beer on tap on any particular day in Auckland. Plus crazy pricing for happy hour on craft beer.

Lumsden Freehouse – it has possibly the best outdoor area in Auckland for a craft beer bar. This was previously a tied bar, but it made the jump overnight, huge commitment, which has paid off big. Biggest selection of Bourbons, possibly in New Zealand. Free popcorn. Great Nachos, Ribs, actually all the food I’ve ever tried has been great. It also has a secret build your own salad menu. Oh yeah and a pretty great selection of beers, that are always changing.

Hallertau Brew Bar – if this was closer to the city they would be overwhelmed by people, then again they already are and they are based in Riverhead. You basically sit in the brewery when you are at the bar. All beer brewed on site (wrong, there is a guest tap or two there). Super fresh beer. Cool food, the platters are awesome for sharing. Bit of a drive from the city but well worth the effort.

Galbraith’s Alehouse – this brewpub was so far ahead of its time, that the current generation of craft beer drinkers will have no idea of how tough it once was in this city. Brewpub. Real ale from a cask. Guest taps of some of the best breweries from around NZ. Maybe the best food at any craft bar in NZ (possibly even better than Pomeroy’s), on par with some of the best craft food I’ve eaten in the world.

Brothers Beer – this place exploded on the Auckland craft scene, with just about weekly tap takeovers. It now has its own brewery on site, own beers on tap, as well as a changing selection of craft brewers from around the country. Huge selection of bottled beers.

Brew on Quay – since becoming a free house in 2014 this bar has become what it should have been on day one. A solid selection of beers, some permanent and some rotating taps. 102+ beers in the fridge, always the best of what they can get their hands on. The chef here is amazing at what he can produce for a beer and food matched dinner. Wish I could hold and attend more of these just to taste his dishes.

blanc – this is an oasis in the dry west side of the city. huge craft bottled beer fridge, always something amazing on the FYO taps. and if you haven’t been to one of their Brew Fest’s then you should. They are currently the best mini beer fests in Auckland. Casual and you can chat with your favourite brewers for as long as you like.

Andrew Andrew – a cool name, for an interesting bar. doesn’t open till 4pm, but by that time of the day the sun is streaming into the semi-outdoor area. (it is kind of outside so smokers can kind of smoke). Craft beers on tap are all locally Auckland brewed. It’s always interesting looking at their Facebook page with photos of their customers, and to try to find one with a glass of craft beer. Any way they seem to have it right as they sell plenty of craft beer.

16 Tun – these are the new guys on the block. They have started solid with several taps dedicated to some of the best breweries, so you always knew you would have a goto beer if the rotating taps didn’t work out for you. Parking was cheap and easy to get (unlike many other inner city craft bars). Recently things have been kicked up a notch with the doubling of the number of taps. Food is pretty impressive. Chicken wings are SPICY good. Excited to see how this place goes.

Other Mentions:

There are other bars and restaurants around the city slowly adding craft beer on tap, and many more adding bottles to their fridges and menus. These other mentions are for bars that have only a handful of bars, but worth a visit to support their passion and commitment to craft beer.

Corner Bar – tiny bar with four craft beers on tap. The taps change very infrequently but it keeps the locals happy that stop in for a drink after work. Seems to be most busy after work.

My Bar – another tiny bar, four craft beers on tap and a good selection of bottles, and one of the better selections of spirits of a craft bar.

The Garden Shed – Mt Eden, next to the Belgian Beer Cafe. Only been once, beer selection great, and food was very good too.

I know there are several others, but need to finish this post up. I’ll get to you soon. No. 1 Queen, Conch, The Block, Malt, Golden Dawn, The Thirsty Dog, Grand Central….

Fallen behind the times mention:

Shakespeare Tavern – unfortunately this place has fallen from grace since the death of brewer Barry Newman, and the sale by Ron Urlich. Even though these two had a love/hate relationship, the range of 12 different beers made on site made it a must visit craft bar by tourists, craft beer drinkers and NZ Herald staff. If you visit and things have changed for the better please let me know.

(This post still needs some work done on it.)

Day 15 – Beers of Auckland – Duskrider

Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014
DAY 15 – Duskrider by Bach Brewing Company

TAP: Duskrider
BREWED: Steam Brewing Company
ABV: 6.0%

Today I got the call that Ben from Sky Sports Grill wanted a second opinion on a beer he had on tap he wasn’t sure of the quality. That in itself is really encouraging, to know that a bar manager is giving second thoughts to the quality of beer he has just put on tap. The beer was OK, but we decided that it probably didn’t meet his expectations of what he had previously experienced with that beer. Batch variation?

Since I was there I asked what was new from an Auckland brewery. Today Duskrider was on. This beer recently won Best in Class for Specialty Ales at the New World Beer & Cider Awards. The image on the front cover of The Pursuit of Hoppiness, the SOBA Magazine is from the Bach Brewing labels.

The beer is bright, fire orange/red colour, which lives up to the style name of Red IPA. The aroma, not so much as it has a pretty low hop aroma. I was expecting more. On drinking the beer, it has a sweet burnt caramel note, and a subtle nuttiness. It has a full round malty body, which is balanced well with the bitterness. The hop flavour is medium and is married well to the malt character. The beer is nice, drinkable and tasty, with just a hint of the alcohol in the flavour. Good beer. See it, drink it.

One question that kept running through my head while tasting it, was is this really a Red IPA or is it an American Amber Ale? IPA I would think would have more hop aroma and more hop flavour? Then again we live in a country where Tui is considered an East India Pale Ale, or Epic Loves Bacon is a Smoked IPA (it’s not but I thought it would be funny to call it that on the label, when it is really a Bamberg style Bock Rauchbier). So you see, IPA has become a sexy term to sell beer. 47% growth in the US last year and it made up 25% of craft beer sales. And they call me a One Trick Pony. Seems to be the best trick in the market right now. IPA = BEER, BEER= IPA These are now interchangeable.

Should brewers be selling their beers as what they really are? Recently I got to try the Lakeman beers from Taupo. The Pale Ale and IPA both were pretty good as beers, but disappointing if you had an expectation of hops, which might have been implied by naming them Pale Ale and IPA. Might have been better as Bitter and Best Bitter, as they were malt driven. Then again less people are likely to pick them up off the shelf. The other issue is do beer drinkers even know what an IPA is suppose to taste like?

Sky Sports Grill TV's — The mirrors on the ceiling at Sky Sports Grill makes it look like there is even more TV’s than there are in the place.

Sky Sports Grill Fish & Chips, they come in a big bowl. Add some Culley’s Reaper sauce to the ketchup to give it a little zing. Coleslaw is very bland.

Day 9 – Beers of Auckland – Jokers Wild

Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014
DAY 9 – Jokers Wild by Laughing Bones

TAP: Jokers Wild
BREWED: Brothers Beer
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: ?
HOPS: Amarillo & Simcoe

Last week when I was talking to John Morawski (owner/brewer of Laughing Bones and previously of Brewery Britomart) at The Lumsden Freehouse he said his new beer would be on tap at Sky Sports Grill, so I headed down today.

An observation I have made is it is hard to gather much information about some of these beers I am trying from the people selling them. (Not your fault Ben, you obviously hadn’t been told). Maybe there is an opportunity for brewers to spend some time with bar staff and educate them about the beer, and leave some support material for them to refer back to.

I just did a little online searching and found the label.

Jokers Wild The label promises a lot of late hops. I found the aroma offered a malty caramel character, but not alot of hops. The colour was a beautiful bright copper. It makes me happy to see brewers taking pride in the presentation of their beer. The flavour has a sweetness from some crystal malts, a hint of nuttiness, and it is well-balanced with the bitterness. There is a presence of hops in the mid palate and a lingering hoppiness on the finish.

One of the cool things about this beer is it truly is very local, travelling less than a kilometre from where it was brewed. Just up the road at Brothers Beer. Try it now while it is fresh.

Something that did pop into my mind was 6.6% alc/vol, and then thought I’ve already tried on of these. 3D IPA is also 6.6% alc/vol.

Once again I am late to posting my beer of the day and that was because I was out late attending the O-I New Zealand White Burgundy Tasting with Bob Campbell MW. It was more to see how the event was run, rather than my interest in White Burgundy. The angle was to see if something could be created for the brewing industry along a similar format.

(hey and way can’t I reorient my images anymore on WP?). (this page still some reworking)

#craftbeer #auckland #newzealand

Craft Beer in Auckland

Day 5 – Beers of Auckland – Epic Pale Ale

Epic Pale Ale, I know, but it was going to happen eventually. I was going to make it the first beer, but discovered Beachstone on Day 1.

So how did I end up here already, falling back on an easy to get Auckland made beer? I was intending to visit Sky Sports Grill at lunch time to see if I could get my hands on a Laughing Bones beer. I couldn’t make the time for this to happen today. I did make it into Hopscotch and caught up with Hugh. It’s been ages. I was there to pick up some sour beers for a tasting this weekend. Hopscotch has a secret (not so much now) but pretty cool selection of sour beers , many of which I haven’t tried before.

After collecting a few bottles of sours, I asked Hugh “what Auckland brewed beer do you have here” that I can buy for tasting today for the Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar. (Not including Epic, Hallertau or Liberty). The answer was none. We discussed a little further over a can of Beavertown Gamma Ray, which was a super tasty American style Pale Ale, in amazingly fresh condition. It is like drinking overly dryhopped Pale Ale, that hasn’t been fined or filtered, resiny, yum (Thanks to Beertique, who are bringing it in, in refrigerated containers from the UK, only enough stock of each beer so there isn’t stock sitting around for months or years. Very impressed, it is inspiring confidence in the beers they are bring in).

Is it that hard to find Auckland Brewed beer in Auckland?

So I get back to the office and Ed (Production Manager) says, dude there is a four pack of a fresh batch of pale ale in the fridge for you to take home tonight to try. Basically she was giving me home work to do. The good kind of homework. Sometime there isn’t enough time to get tastings done during work hours.

Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014
DAY 5 – Epic Pale Ale by Epic Brewing Company

BOTTLE: Epic Pale Ale
BREWED: Steam Brewing Company
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 45
HOPS: US Cascade (15 hop flowers, not different varieties)
AWARDS: Best in Class – New World Beer & Cider Awards 2014 (plus a few other, ok alot, of awards including Supreme Champion Beer 2006, NZ Beer Awards)

Best Before 19/11/15 (we put 12 months best before on our bottles, they are pasteurized, but at a low level, 12-14 PU’s) Batch 902 11:06am

Feels a little weird review this beer, which I taste most days. But here goes. Out of the Spiegelau IPA glass.

Aroma is perfumy in a floral way, centered around turkish delight, with highlights of citrus, spice and a green hoppiness. The flavour is violet-like(floral), with hop resin, the malt balances with the hoppiness, but the finish is clean and soft, with a dry bitterness, and a long lingering hop flavour. Tasting pretty fine.

This is Epic’s biggest selling beer, and likely New Zealand’s best-selling Pale Ale from an independent craft brewery. The hops have been from the Yakima Valley for the last 3 years, but the 2014 crop the Cascade hops were selected from a Oregon hop farm. So it will be interesting to see how much the beer changes in the coming months, once the new seasons hops kick in.

Next Friday 12th December 2014 is the Epic 9th Birthday, being held at the Lumsden Freehouse (lots of out-door space for drinking in the sun, and under umbrellas for shade when it gets too hot). You are invited to join the festivities, there is a new beer being launched on the day “1991 IPA” plus a few other treats and surprises.

Guess I could ramble on about many things Epic, and Pale Ale, but you have done well to read to this point.

#craftbeer, #auckland, #newzealand, #epicpaleale

Craft Beer in Auckland

Day 3 – Beers of Auckland – Hot Water Brewing Barley Wine

As I think about how to track down Auckland brewed craft beer on tap I am finding it not as easy as I thought. Tonight I attended an event at The Lumsden and found that they have a South Island tap takeover. (pretty cool story. Evan the owner of the Lumsden Freehouse, headed to the South Island, rented a re-location Camper Van for $5 a day, and spent a week traveling around the South Island visiting craft breweries and picking up kegs, and putting them in the back of the camper van. The trip was called Lumsden to Lumsden. Check out their twitter, follow them if you aren’t. If you live in Auckland you should visit the Lumsden right now as there are beers from the South Island you won’t see in Auckland again on tap).

So I arrive and find there aren’t any beers on tap. Boo. (well boo for this Advent Calendar Boo, not for the cool selection of beers we don’t normally see here in Auckland). Next I check out the bottled beer list. All I see is Epic (I have this as back up beer for the days I really get stuck on the Advent Calendar), Liberty & Hallertau also, but it is my plan to visit them and drink from the Fountain. I am recommended Behemoth and Schippers but the bartender can’t confirm where the beer was brewed, and I said I need to know it is brewed in Auckland.

I am now digging deep, I nearly consider getting a Steinlager Pure (the 102 metre dive could be an interesting angle) but can’t bring myself to do it. I ask for a Boundary Road Brewery Flying Fortress, with a screwed up face and probably funny sounding voice. They say we sold the last bottle a couple of days of go. I have a big sigh of relief. I am still stuck though. Oh no, what am I going to do?? Damn it, I’ll have a Hallertau #3. This isn’t the beer I wanted to review from Hallertau. I made some notes, but my evening continued on. Not happy.

I caught up with heaps of great beer industry people. Including John Morawski and asked him what beers from Laughing Bones I could try and where I could try them. I was a little confused when I assumed his beers would be on at Brothers Beer where he brews his beer, but he said they don’t stock them. He did say that his beer would be on again at Sky Sports Grill in the next couple of days.

Dave Kurth Fashion — Dave Kurth with an amazing Westport hand knitted jersey on

Dave Kurth from Hot Water Brewing Company was there and for some reason he was the lucky brewer tonight, as one of the South Island kegs ran out and his Kauri Pale Ale was put on and was tasting as good as I have ever tasted it. (quick get to the Lumsden ASAP to try some). It is always a pleasure to catch up with Dave, as I am assured of receiving some form of verbal abuse or teasing. (Love you Dave, and you make great beer, pity no one realises that yet)

Finally I catch up with Joseph Wood from Liberty Brewing Company, who turns up late. I was planning to head to Riverhead this evening to spectate at the Oyster 100 Club, but couldn’t bare driving out there and back to the Lumsden in the Auckland traffic. Joseph ate 101 Oyster in an hour and a half, and then drove to the city (with his lovely wife Christina). First thing I do is to run over and punch him in the guts. Yes he was in a distressed state and I believe he has actually eaten that many oysters. What a legend. Must also give a shout to The Plow, Dave Huff and Tom Madams from Cryer Malt, all of who ate 100 Oysters as well. Seems like an odd and difficult way to get a free tshirt. Eat $100 of oysters. Steve, you own the company, just buy a tshirt, and avoid the gastric distress. I am interested in hearing about how all four of you feel tomorrow morning.

OK, getting to the point of Day 3 of Beer of Auckland Advent Calendar. It was less than a perfect situation, so I have stretched my definition of Auckland, to Greater Auckland and included Whenuakite. Joe comes out (outside was a lovely evening with a moon getting close to full, slightly cool, a few clouds and the light getting low and dusky) with a can of the Hot Water Brewing Company 2014 Barley Wine. BOOM. That is the beer. (Cheers Joe for giving me the other half of the can)

So I had to revert to a can!?

Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014
DAY 3 – 2014 Barley Wine by Hot Water Brewing Company

CAN: 2014 Barley Wine (355ml, 12 oz, can. I don’t know why)
BREWED: Hot Water Brewing Company
ABV: 9.5%
IBU: ??
HOPS: ??
AWARDS: Gold – 2014 NZ Beer Awards

Barley Wines are not that easy to make, and really hard to sell, especially in this country. Only a small handful of breweries make them. Dave made a couple of Barley Wines while brewing at West Coast Brewing Company, which were pretty nice. But he has really nailed it on this batch. I would call out that this is currently the best Barley Wine in New Zealand. (go on show me a better one. this did just win Gold).

Aroma is rich and malty, with a slight grain huskiness when cold but as it warms there is more caramel and toffee notes. The flavour is sweet but not cloying like some barley wines, notes of toffee and raisins, fruitiness, and barley sugars. The finish seems dry and light , with a bitter edge, but after a couple of mouthfuls this lighter finish actually makes the beer more drinkable than what one would expect from a Barley Wine.

So after a nearly traumatic evening not knowing what I was going to write about I ended up with a special treat, and even got to spend some time with the brewer. You never know what craft brewer you will meet in a craft beer bar in Auckland.

#craftbeer #auckland #newzealand

Craft Beer in Auckland

Day 1 – Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014

It’s that time of year and the countdown is on for Christmas. I had a thought about Beer Advent Calendars, which then led me to thinking about maybe reviewing a beer a day till Christmas. I needed a theme, so I have come up with the “Beers of Auckland Advent Calendar 2014”. I am planning on tasting at least one beer from each Auckland based craft brewery. Brewed in Auckland, Drink in Auckland.

New Zealand’s biggest city has been slow to the game when it comes to craft beer, but things are moving in the right direction, and at an ever-increasing pace.

DAY 1 – BEACHSTONE by Bach Brewing Company

TAP: Sky Sports Grill
BREWED: Steam Brewing Company
ABV: 4.8%
IBU: 30+ (perceived closer to 40 IBU, but could be from the dry finish)
HOPS: Pacific Jade, Pacifica, Riwaka, Motueka and Nelson Sauvin

The use of these hops is obvious when you smell and taste the beer. It has a real NZ hop, tropical fruit and citrus aroma and upfront flavour. In the finish the hops evolve into a herbal grassyness which only NZ hops can do. The bitterness is for grown ups, and might make regular “green bottled lager” drinkers cry a little, and cower in the corner.

With the punchy hops, there is a solid and juicy malt base (from the Bohemian Pilsner and Vienna malt) that carries the bitterness to the end.

When drinking this I thought of Emerson’s and Tuatara Pilsners, both which have historically had the serious NZ hops driving their flavours. As of recently though both have left me less than satisfied and not meeting expectations. Beachstone looks as though it has the ability to pick up the baton. Great example of a New Zealand Pilsner.

OTHER STUFF:

Today I also tasted the Sawmill Brewery (sorry not counting them as from Auckland) Hefeweizen, tasting amazing (at Sky Sports Grill) and the best I have ever had it. Perfect banana and clove character. The yeast load was a bit high, but probably worth drinking through it if you love Hefewezien’s

New BAC level of 0.05 came into law today. If the message is don’t drive if you have had a drink, then maybe the change should have been to have a zero tolerance for alcohol. It seems like a great opportunity for the media to add value and share some facts, backed with science about the effects of alcohol, and understanding how to work out your limits. Is going to dinner and having a couple of glasses of wine OK with your meal? Is scare-mongering more effective over the long-term vs education using facts and science?

#craftbeer #auckland #newzealand

Craft Beer in Auckland

Craft Beer Bubble In New Zealand?

Over the last week or so, some interesting conversations have happened for me around where craft beer is at and going in New Zealand.

I’ll roughly outline some of the points and ideas that have been raised. Not saying I agree with them all, or that there is any specific measurable information available to prove any of the following.

2013-03-07 16.52.09 Three Lamps craft beer bar closing. Rent was too high? but the possible main point was they couldn’t get enough customers through the door to buy craft beer, in one of the most affluent parts of New Zealand. Location, parking, rent, passion? may have been contributing factors.

House on Hood (plus the other two bars) sold in Hamilton. Sky Sports Grill for sale/on the market. Why are craft beer bars being sold? cause they are(n’t) viable businesses? profitable? or location? or owners cashing up? These bars plus Three Lamps could see the loss of up to 100 craft beer taps back to the large breweries in Hamilton/Auckland.

Supermarkets and bottle shops, finally rationalizing the range of craft beers on their shelves, as the market continues to become more competitive. The slow-moving beers are being dropped, or just not re-ordered.

Prices dropping, as new players come into the market and try to win market share. They are sacrificing margin for volume. Is this a good move? Is it sustainable?

It seems there have been a lot of breweries open in the last year, whether through building a brewery or starting a brand and contract brewing. There is now a feeling in the market that supply has now outgrown the growth in demand from the customer. Has the growth in the number of new drinkers for craft beer in NZ slowed?

Sky Sports Grill On the back of this possible slowing of new drinkers, comes the elephant in the room, beer quality. There is a number of beers in the market that are problematic and just not that good. This was highlighted when I had a story relayed to me about a guys friend saying he has given up on trying craft beer cause “you can’t be sure if it is going to be good or not”, “best to stick to the known brands”

Also the recent New Zealand summer was patchy at best, and not a shade on the previous summer which delivered some incredible growth for the beer market.

All in all things in the craft beer market in New Zealand have gotten a whole lot tougher in the last 6 months. Time for a reality check. Improve quality, sharpen prices, offer better value (not necessarily dropping prices), better service and maybe creating some interest in the beers. (many opportunists flooded the market in the last couple of years, offering beers masquerading as craft but really weren’t much more than Crafty Beggars).

Has the shine started to come off craft beer in New Zealand?

Is the craft beer bubble about to burst?

UPDATE: always good to read the feedback on Facebook after I post a rant. It gets me a little more focused.

I forgot to mention the Sprig & Fern closing in Auckland (more craft beer taps lost)

Maybe my focus should be on the number of craft beer taps lost in Auckland & Hamilton in the last 5 years (or is it 7 years since the Cock & Bull got bought out). We are looking at approx. 100 craft beer taps being lost. But we have gain possibly as much. So maybe for the region we are where we were for craft taps as we were in 2007. The new operators seem to be more passionate about craft, and offering a wider and better(?) range of beers on tap.

UPDATE II: my reference to bubble is more about a correction vs “craft beer is dead”. Kind of like a property bubble or an IT bubble. It bursts, there are casualties, but it doesn’t goes away, and the survivors are stronger, and the growth continues.

EPIC CAROLINA – Wellington Release

THURSDAY 6th March

Thursday was Culley’s Epic Hot Wing Eating Competition at the Malthouse in Wellington, as well as a beautiful morning for taking a flight.

Greeted with the sign out front letting everyone walking by know that the competition was happening.

Once inside the door, we were surprised to see the front half of the bar filled with 20 litre kegs from Stone Brewing Co. So many different types of Stone beer. It was all the beer for next the City Tap Takeover next Thursday 13th. As well as the beer for the Epic / Stone stand at the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in Christchurch on the 29th March.

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We were ready for a hot and steamy time. There were 17 people willing to enter the competition of eating really really hot wings covered in Culley’s Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce. Half the crowd didn’t make it to the second round. Second round took another big toll on entrants. The final round it came down to a couple of guys who were dealing with the extreme pain.

Check out the final round in the video below…

FRIDAY 7th March

The following day we did another Epic Culley’s Carolina event at Skysports Grill. This was a little more low-key which suited the location. It was still a bit of fun.

For $25 you got a pint of Epic Carolina, and 1kg of chicken wings which you could add the Culley’s Carolina Reaper hot sauce to.

It was worked out pretty quickly that a 1kg of hot wings was alot. So groups of people were only buying one bowl between a group. Which was a good move as most people could only eat one hot wing with the Carolina Reaper sauce as it was too hot for them.

SkySports Grill even busted out a final keg of Hop Zombie which added to the attraction of the evening. Not sure how well the Zombie went with the hot sauce. I think it made the hot sauce even hotter.

Friday was a pretty impressive day for Auckland #CraftBeer as there were also two other special events on. Galbraith’s Alehouse had a new beer release, and Brothers Beer had an IPA special on. Therefore if you were a #CraftBeer fan, you had some tough choices to make.

[TASTING TUESDAY] 140211 – Sky Sports Grill – Part 1

Sky Sports Grill it seems is the forgotten cousin on the craft beer sense in Auckland. It has the most taps. 60 taps, 40 different beers. 30 of them craft. No where has more craft beers on tap in Auckland.

With much thought, maybe it is when people think about it as a destination, the sports bar theme jumps to mind first.

When you arrive for the first time you might actually think there are more TV’s than their are beer taps. (the reflective mirror panels on the ceiling give an impression there are more TV’s than there really are.)

If you love your sport and your craft beer, then this place is heaven.

If not, you may still be in heaven with a great selection of craft beer, there is an outdoor (ish) area where you are away from the AV overload.

Located in the Viaduct Basin, it is the only place that really offers a choice of beer beyond the large brewery tied bars and restaurants that line the water front.

To the beers I tried today. There was no way I was going to try all 30 different craft beers in one go, so this is Part 1 of my posts about Sky Sports Grill.

Schippers Geezer 4.4% abv. a honey/grainy aroma, flavour was underwhelming but seemed balanced, the questions is a Golden Ale the same as a NZ Draught? Looking for something cold and thirst quenching?

ParrotDog Bitter Bitch – one of the better examples I have had of this beer. It seems well made, balanced and clean. The hop character seems to be dull, maybe it is just end of seasons hops losing their pop. In pretty good condition.

Tuatara Pils – better/fresher than the one had at Corner Bar last week. Found out that this one was delivered direct from the brewery. This batch seemed to lack the expected hop intensity in the aroma and flavour. Overall good.

Black Sands IPA – note to self “contact brewer and advise of problems” IPA’s have hop character. Hop notes in this were vegetal.

Panhead APA – very impressive perfumy aroma, the flavour didn’t deliver as much intensity but would definitely drink a pint of this. Odd character I noted as it slightly warmed was it had a pencil shavings character in the finish (this might just be me), only had this once before in the Bach Brewing Hopsmacker, I’m going to put it down to Riwaka hops until I can work out what the common factor is. Don’t get me wrong both of these beers are excellent examples of how great New Zealand craft beer can be.

Stoke Biscuit Lager – Vienna Lager. which biscuit is it? I am going to say it is a little ANZAC. This beer doesn’t have more than a caramelly sweetness. Nothing wrong with it, just a bit underwhelming if you are looking for flavour in your beer.

Speights – I wanted to try New Zealand’s number 1 selling beer. It had been a very long time, and it will be a long time before I try it again. It is sad to think so many people chose to drink this. They obviously don’t know any better, having never tried anything with flavour. All I got was a fermentation stink (aroma is too nice of a word to describe this character), beyond the yeasty note there was a sweetness guessing from priming, and no perceiveable bitterness, then again my taste buds probably can’t detect anything below 20 IBU. Technically very well made. The shareholders will be happy.

Kereru Woodfired Toasted Coconut Stout – end of the keg, but one of the best coconut flavoured beers I have ever had. I will be looking out for another chance to try a pint of this if I get a chance.

Kronenburg 1664 – this was terrible, why would anyone want to drink this. It had notes of cider, apple, pears, a belgian yeast fermentation. If this was 9%-12% abv and I was drinking a tripple, then these characters I could live with. A 5% lager, not so much.

LUNCH

A selection of snacks from the menu

Wings, 1kg for $20. That is a lot of wings and they are great. Could do with extra hot sauce, but maybe that is just me.
Jalapeno Poppers – Awesome BBQ sauce, the cheese filling overwhelmed the pepper
Salt & Pepper Squid – fair, seemed like they came from a freezer bag and deep fried.

Nachoes – the bowl they came in made it hard to access all the toppings for getting a good mix on your chip. Pretty good. Guessing the green squiggles was Avocado. Always nice to see jalapeños.

Next time will try the burger. They looked incredible coming out, and the size was huge. So if you buy and pint and can get one of these for $10, that will be a win.

So what is cool, and what don’t you know about Sky Sports Grill

booths, I love a booth.
lots of TV’s &; lot of sports (if you like TV’s. I don’t like them in bars as they distract me)
toilets smell good and look clean
everyday 5pm -7pm Happy Hour – 5 craft beers on special
Monday – “All You Can Eat Chicken Wings” $20
Everyday – Buy a pint get a burger for $10

Overall the selection of craft beer and quality was worth making the effort to visit and drink beer there. There are specials on every day, and the value on the food for what you get is really good.

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